Yes, I’m still bummed we never got the Sue Heck spinoff, and yes, you better believe I want all the inside scoops about The Middle sequel series that almost was. Now, Eden Sher is opening up about the pilot they filmed for this show with Brock Ciarlelli – who played Sue’s bestie Brad – and I wish we could have seen this!
For a bit of context, Sher and Ciarlelli are starting a The Middle rewatch podcast, which premieres on July 31. So, to get people hyped for it, they spilled a bit of spinoff tea. They both noted that they “filmed it,” and they really thought it would get picked up. So, when Sue’s show wasn’t greenlit, it was tragic. As Sher said in her Instagram video:
And it was pretty, honestly, devastating when it didn’t go. We were both, we were all pretty devastated and pretty shocked, to be honest.
They both thought the show would get picked up, and they had a lot of faith in it. Honestly, I would have too, based on what the Sue Heck actress said about the pilot:
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, Brad [comes].
She also explained that the series took place a few years after The Middle, and caught up with Sue post-college. I feel like her working at and saving a hotel feels so on-brand for the character, and that kind of unpredictable setting with surprising people would have been perfect for Sher and her physical and silly sense of humor.
The two went on to say that Brad literally flew in on a taxi and was “prancing” into the episode. And then Brock Ciarlelli explained how the episode ended, saying:
So we have our whole like, we have our whole little like Brad Sue stuff, we’re used to that, and then we danced in the streets of Chicago and it started to snow. And that's how it ended. It was so cute.
That sounds like buckets of fun, and it’s a bummer we never got to see it!
Also, I would have loved to see a more mature version of Sue. While she was headed in that direction toward the end of The Middle, she was still a kid in a lot of ways, and I’d love to see her spread her wings and grow some more. Plus, we know Eden Sher and Patricia Heaton are still close today, and I feel like this spinoff would have featured all kinds of fun The Middle cast cameos.
They also talked about the photo shoot they did for it, and the Sue actress quipped that she looked “damn cute,” and she did, as you can see in the full IG video she posted.
Overall, while the ending of The Middle was perfect, knowing that this pilot was shot and almost saw the light of day makes me want more desperately.
Luckily – while it’s a bummer we won’t get Sue and Brad on TV – we are about to get so much of Eden Sher and Brock Ciarlelli through their rewatch podcast The Middling. So, as we learn about more fun stories from their days on the ABC sitcom and the tea about the spinoff that almost was, we’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, you can go back and stream The Middle with either a Peacock subscription or an Amazon Prime subscription.
