The end of The Middle after nine season back in May came as a blow to those fans who could have watched the Heck family's shenanigans indefinitely, but the Middle's end doesn't mean the whole family will be gone from the airwaves. A spinoff is in the works for middle child Sue, and the project finally has a title as well as a series regular fans will recognize from the original series. Sue's spinoff will be called Sue Sue in the City and she'll have her BFF Brad by her side.
No, there's no typo in Sue Sue in the City. The title of Sue's spinoff does indeed double up on the Sues, according to THR. Something tells me we're not in for a Sex and the City 2.0 starring Sue Heck. The spinoff is likely to feature a lot of new cast members as new characters, but Sue won't enter the next stage of her life without best friend Brad Bottig at her side. Brock Ciarlelli had a recurring role as Brad on The Middle; he'll presumably have a much larger role in the spinoff, where he has been cast as a series regular.
The addition of Brock Ciarlelli to Sue Sue in the City should come as very good news for fans who were concerned that Sue wouldn't have any of her friends or family around her in her new life. The premise of the project is that Sue leaves her hometown and college behind her in Orson, Indiana. She'll pursue a new life in Chicago, with a career and all the challenges of leaving home. At least she'll get to bring a little bit of home with her with Brad at her side. No details are available about how Brad will fit into Sue's life, although my money is on a roommate situation.
Sue's future in The Middle's finale flash-forward featured Sean rather than Brad, so he really has a blank slate. Then again, there's no guarantee that the spinoff will hold itself to what happened in the flash-forward. Will & Grace disregarded its previous finale's ending for the sake of a second run, and Roseanne resurrected Dan to bring John Goodman on board its revival (and upcoming series The Conners). We'll have to wait and see.
At this point, there's not even a 100% guarantee that the spinoff will get a series order and wind up on the airwaves. Although the addition of a title and Brock Ciarlelli as a regular bode well for Sue Sue in the City at ABC, it has only received an order for a pilot at this point. The new news could be a sign that ABC has faith in the project, and The Middle was consistent enough a performer than the network has reason to believe Sue Sue in the City could attract viewers. Hopefully an announcement for a series order comes sooner rather than later. For now, at least there are plenty of fall viewing options.
