Old and new sitcoms are set to collide on primetime! We already know the mom on The Middle, Patricia Heaton, was a veteran sitcom star on another beloved series, Everybody Loves Raymond. Now, an actress from the former CBS series is making an appearance on the ABC comedy for an upcoming episode. Audiences can expect to see Monica Horan making her debut on The Middle in a role tied directly to Brick.
Monica Horan, who played Robert's wife Amy in Everybody Loves Raymond, will reunite later this spring with her former co-star on The Middle in the role of "Brick's second mom," Anna Ferguson. Horan's part is a call back to Season 2 of the series, for an episode where the Hecks recalled accidentally taking the wrong baby home from the hospital instead of a newborn Brick. After a full month, the family realized their mistake and switched the baby they had for Brick, who was their actual child. Connecting the dots yet?
Known as the Fergusons, the family was mentioned, but the mother was never shown. Now, fans of The Middle will finally get to meet Anna Ferguson through Monica Horan's performance. One can only imagine how Brick, as well as the rest of the Hecks, will react to her arrival. TV Line is sparse on details as to why the Ferguson mother is making contact yet again, so we can only imagine what this means.
This will not be the first time a former star from Everybody Loves Raymond has appeared on The Middle. The main man himself Ray Romano appeared on the Season 3 premiere of the ABC comedy and reunited him with his former television wife Patricia Heaton. In that episode, Romano played Mike's former high school acquaintance and ruined the couple's honeymoon. I wonder if the creative team is considering throwing Brad Garrett into the mix for Season 9!
An Everybody Loves Raymond reunion is not the only thing cool happening in this future episode, either. Monica Horan's episode of The Middle will be the second directorial credit for Charlie McDermott, a.k.a. Axl Heck, who had previously helmed the independent short film ImagiGary in 2015. It will be interesting to see what, if any difference, we will see in the filming of the episode.
The Middle is in the midst of Season 8 and has already been renewed by ABC for Season 9. That will tie the series with Everybody Loves Raymond in terms of season count, and provided the show keeps with the average episode count next season, the still-airing series will pass Raymond in episode total! How many shows can say they've done that? What are the odds one of the shows on our midseason premiere guide last that long? Give it a look and make your picks.
