After The Middle ended its nine-season run on ABC back in May 2018, fans thought for a moment they wouldn’t have to say goodbye to at least one member of the beloved middle-class family, as the planned Sue Heck spinoff series was in the works. And it made perfect sense – considering Eden Sher’s character was beloved, The Middle was considered by some to be one of the best sitcoms of all time – to expect that the spinoff would move forward.
But just like the Dwight Schrute-centric The Farm that never went anywhere, Sue Sue in the City filmed a pilot that was ultimately not picked up, leaving fans wondering “What if?”
If you fall into that camp and have spent the better part of the past six years asking about the Sue Heck spinoff and are wondering why it never ended up coming to ABC or any other network, we’ve got a bittersweet story for you. Below we will break down what the show would have been about, how far it got into production, and the events that transpired before it was ultimately given the ax a half-decade ago.
The Middle Series Finale Aired In May 2018
Before we get into what the Sue Heck spinoff was going to be about, we first need to dive into how things played out for the Hecks during The Middle series finale back in May 2018. While preparing to set off for Africa, Sean Donahue (Beau Wirick) finds the snow globe Sue (Eden Sher) left for him and decides to go back and tell her how he really feels. The family has already left on their road trip by then, but Sean chases after Sue and finally catches up with her before the two share a long-awaited kiss.
The two-part series sendoff concludes with a flash-forward of Sean and Sue happily married but, according to Frankie's explanation, only after the two years of ups and downs with their on-again, off-again relationship. This is presumably where Sue’s spinoff would come in and fill in the gaps.
The Sue Heck Spinoff Was Officially Announced In August 2018, Given Sue Sue In The City Title That October
Not long after The Middle aired its final episode, word began to spread that a Sue Heck spinoff was in the works at ABC. Besides the fact that the show would follow Sue, details about the show, or even when it would take place, were essentially non-existent at that point, but that would change in a matter of months.
In August 2018, ABC revealed that the spinoff was in active development, as well as the basic premise of the show, which would have followed Sue between the events of The Middle and the flash-forward that concluded the original series. It would have been set in Chicago and centered on the Heck daughter as she pursued her career and a new life in the “Windy City.” That October, TV Line reported that the show would be called Sue Sue in The City, which was fitting considering the spinoff’s location.
What Was Sue Sue In The City Going To Be About?
The title was Sue Sue in the City (a play on the character’s legal name in the original series), and at the time was said to focus on Sue Heck as she worked at a Chicago hotel called the Seville. That wasn’t the only thing that was confirmed at the time, as Brad Bottig (Brock Ciarlelli), Sue’s former boyfriend-turned-bestie from The Middle cast was also set to join in on the fun and play an integral role in her Chicago adventures.
In a July 2024 Tik Tok video promoting her Middling with Eden and Brock podcast with Ciarlelli, Eden Sher broke down the Sue Sue in the City pilot and provided some key details about how it all went down. In short:
Basically, Sue goes to Chicago, tries to save a hotel, and the cast of characters was just really good. And then, when she’s at her lowest point, guess who comes to Chicago.
In case you were wondering, that person was none other than Brad, who, according to both Sher and Ciarlelli, came “literally prancing” in to see his best friend. And after they had their grand reunion, the two longtime friends began dancing in the streets of Chicago as snow fell from the sky.
The Sue Sue In The City Pilot Was Shot In Late 2018
Although the Sue Sue in the City pilot has never been seen by the public (and who knows if it ever will), those who worked on the episode – written and produced by The Middle creators DeAnna Heline and Eileen Heisler – thought highly of the premise and tone of the show. During a since-deleted June 2020 Instagram Live broadcast, Ciarlelli described the project as fun and fabulous but that things just didn’t work out, stating:
The unfortunate thing is it was such a good pilot but the timing of it just wasn’t on our side.
When discussing the matter on the Middling podcast in August 2024, Ciarlelli said he was excited to see Sue and Brad’s stories (both together and separate) play out and that now it’s what he’s “saddest for” about the show never being picked up.
ABC Decided To Pass On Sue Sue In The City In November 2018
Sue Sue in the City ended up not getting a season order from ABC when the broadcast network passed on the pilot in November 2018. No reason was given at the time, but Deadline reported that the network didn’t really have a major need for 30-minute comedy shows in late 2018 considering shows like Splitting Up Together and Schooled were filling up those spots, though both were later canceled.
When discussing the situation on the first episode of the Middling podcast, Sher never came out and said exactly why it wasn’t picked up but she did think a “regime change” at ABC could have played into it, stating:
We also had a regime change at the network, which is never a good thing for us. Never a good thing when you’ve had a reliable symbiotic thing - a good relationship for nine years - and all of a sudden, that person is like a new person. ‘Who are you? We had a thing going.’
In the same podcast episode, Sher and Ciarlelli both talked about how weird it was for the show to not be picked up because they had so much momentum going after The Middle wrapped up, with Sher saying “I truly thought we were going to get picked up.”
Warner Bros. TV, which produced the pilot, reportedly approached other networks in hopes of selling the series, but nothing ever came of these discussions and the project died a quiet death in late 2018. Speaking on the situation years later in the Tik Tok mentioned above, Sher said that she and Ciarlelli were “pretty devastated and pretty shocked,” to hear the news.
People Have Seen The Sue Sue In The City Pilot
Though ABC viewers, or the public in general, never got a chance to see the Sue Sue in the City pilot when it was first made nearly six years ago, TV Line writer Ryan Schwartz published a story in August 2024 stating that they were able to watch the ill-fated spinoff and that what they saw was promising. The piece pretty much describes the pilot episode much like Eden Sher and Brock Ciarlelli did in the Middling podcast, but also added more context to the whole situation by providing insight and analysis of the doomed show.
While Schwartz did like the overall tone and feel of the show, they felt waiting until the 18-minute mark to reintroduce the Brad character was a mistake and quite possibly could have been a decision that led to ABC executives pulling the plug. If the powers that be would have gotten to see more of the Brad and Sue dynamic earlier, who knows what would have happened.
That catches up with the short life of Sue Sue in the City, the continuation of the adored family comedy The Middle. And while we won’t see the spinoff on the 2024 TV schedule, there are still plenty of great shows that could feel that Sue Heck size void in our hearts.
