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Nine seasons of The Middle taught me to never underestimate Sue Heck, yet as far as I can tell, that’s precisely what ABC did when they chose to pass on 2018’s Sue Sue in the City, a charming spinoff teeming with potential.
Six years after ABC nixed the Eden Sher-led offshoot, I managed to get my hands on a copy, and here’s what I’ll say: While it isn’t as strong an introduction as 2009’s The Middle — and lest we forget: there was a previous version of The Middle with Ricki Lake that was later recast and retooled — there was a good show here, with potential to become a very good show had it been given 13 episodes to find its footing and flesh out its supporting characters a bit more.
The discarded pilot picks up two years after Sue’s college graduation — so, roughly three years after the events of The Middle’s 2018 series finale. Sue is living at home, working at a quaint bed-and-breakfast in Orson, and waiting to follow her future husband/doctor-in-training Sean Donahue to Lincoln, Neb., where he is set to complete his residency. Then, out of the blue, Sue receives an email from the general manager of Chicago’s Hotel Seville (sounds fancy, right?) who offers her an interview for the assistant manager position.
In that moment — and inspired by the motivational posters that hang on her bedroom wall — Sue makes the rash decision to break things off with Sean (for now) and blaze her own path in the Windy City. Alas, upon her arrival, Mike and Frankie’s daughter discovers that A) the once-illustrious inn is now a run-down dump, and B) the GM cannot be bothered to meet with her. Only later does she find out that the offer letter was sent a full two years ago, and the Hecks’ pesky Wi-Fi is to blame for its improbably late delivery.
Sue, of course, is nothing if not determined. She returns to the Seville, day after day, where she comes across a cast of capital-C Characters — including chef Remi (Creamerie’s Kimberley Crossman), bartender Hudson (Saturday Night Live’s Finesse Mitchell) and bellhop Otis (Unstable’s Aaron Branch) — and eventually meets with the owner, Nick (Silicon Valley’s Chris Diamantopoulos), who is looking to sell. She convinces him that his hotel is worth salvaging; it just needs a little love. It’s a particularly great scene for Sher, who gets to take stock of how often her alter ego has been overlooked and how it has made Sue fight twice as hard for the things she wants. “Everything I have ever gotten in my life has started with a ‘no,’ so no isn’t really the end for me. It’s actually kind of the beginning,” Sue explains. “When I hear ‘no,’ my brain replaces the N with a G and I just start fighting.”
Because Nick has more money than God, he decides to take a chance on Sue. He tells her that she has six months to turn the ship around; if she doesn’t succeed, he’ll cut his losses. Suddenly, Sue finds herself under immense pressure. She begins to worry that she’s made a huge mistake uprooting her life. And when she’s at her absolute lowest point, perched on a city curb, a yellow taxi pulls up and out comes Brad. Surprise! Inspired by Sue’s big move, the former theater kid has decided to make a go at it as a working actor in Chi-town.
At one point, Brad tries to cheer Sue up by jumping onto the hood of his cab, where he attempts to launch into a musical number. The driver then puts his foot on the gas and insists that Brad get down. It’s easily the funniest moment of the episode — and as I watch it, I realize just how happy I am to have this best-friend duo back on my screen. Unfortunately, this is also where their story ends. As Sher and Brock Ciarlelli say on the debut episode of their Middling podcast, the shocking call from ABC came on Thanksgiving Eve 2018. Sue Sue in the City would not be moving forward.
Having now seen the pilot, I can say that this show had so much going for it. Namely, I was eager to see Sue and Brad embark upon this next chapter of their lives together. If anything, it might have been a mistake to wait until the 18-minute mark to reintroduce Ciarlelli’s character; bringing Brad in sooner might have shown ABC executives more of the show they would have seen going forward. On the plus side, I quite liked the idea of hotel owner Nick setting sky-high expectations for Sue because he’s one of the first people to see her true potential. Lastly, as a longtime Middle fan, it would have been fun to see Sue branch out on her own before settling down with Sean. So much of The Middle’s final season was about whether she would wind up with the boy next door; it would have been a wholly new experience watching Sue navigate adulthood as a single woman in a new city, away from her family, before she inevitably settles down. That would have made for a delightful show had ABC given the greenlight to Sue Sue in the City.
They could have at least given it a 13 episode chance !!!
Sue & Brad brought so much fun to the Middle. Having a comedy with these two would have brought many smiles to so many. How sad for us that they never got the chance.
I always thought they picked the wrong Heck child for a spinoff. Axl has become a much more well rounded character by the end. Watching him become an adult had real promise — much like Fraiser going out on his own.
This is kinda exactly why I’m excited for Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage – Axl and Georgie aren’t too different and when’s the last time a character like them was the actual lead of a series? And not the main joke?
“Well rounded character”? Axl was the Gina Linetti of the show! A huge, unlikeable a-hole, that for some reason got an incredible amount of love from friends and family that he never deserved. I recently tried to rewatch the show, but stopped after a few episodes because that character pissed me off too much.
I would have watched it! Seems as good (or not so good) as the shows they’ve had over the past few years.
HUGE mistake!
Sue Heck is and always will be a legendary TV character that easily could of made this series gold.
I hope someone at a network or streamer is seeing all the love there still is for this show, and will bring this back. Of everything that has returned, there is such a strong fan base for this show!!
Bring back Sue
I hope Warner Brothers letting copies of this get out, is a sign that there is still some interest in reviving some version of The Middle. We still stream it on Peacock every day.
They should tack it on as a bonus episode of The Middle… The Middle Presents Sue Sue in the City!
Same, I hope this means that someone at Warner Bros shares our passion for this show and might still want to make it happen!
Friendly reminder: at that time the merger of parts of Fox into Disney/ABC was taking full affect with the departure of Channing Dingey als head of entertainment at ABC (“the person responsible for the program”). Dungey was said to have been a huge champion of this spin-off, she was the one ordering the pilot. The sad truth is: with new management, new programs come in and (almost) everything that’s not a slam dunk gets cut.
TV is fascinated with rebooting, maybe the pilot could still get a makeover reboot… Sue, now divorced, moves to NY and runs into her old high school pal and… why not?
Exactly, hasn’t even been that long. Sue would only be 27-28, and it would be a revival people would actually be interested in watching!
Oh wow! How much do I have to Venmo you to get a copy, lol.
So happy they’re doing a rewatch podcast.
It sounds like early season ugly Betty vibes, another show I sorely miss. More characters like Sue really need to be on tv, especially now when everything is so gritty and dark or snarky.
This was my exact thought. I feel like Sue could easily be the Ugly Betty of a new generation. And at the same time her and Brad could be the new Marc & Amanda.
I already know without seeing it…I probably would have loved it
The Middle really does have one of the most passionate fan bases. Awesome to read all the comments. Miss this show so much!!!
I feel like there would have been something missing without a will they won’t they… Sue being engaged with Sean… There needs to be a will they won’t they for a sitcom to succeed 😉
I feel like they could still do the series if they truly wanted. I think there would be an audience for it on Hulu or Disney Plus.
They really could! It hasn’t been that long since the show ended, and Sue at 27 would be great for stories!
Eden is far from age 27.
That quoted dialog is so perfectly Sue i can actually hear it in her voice. Whoever passed on this should be kicking themselves!
the reason people turn away from network television is bc networks don’t honor their audiences. this would have been a phenomenal show with a built in audience.
I would so watch this! Like someone else mentioned I will pay you to get a copy 😁. Maybe somehow a version of this can still happen. I’m rewatching The Middle now and it’s just as funny as the first time.
I’m so mad about this.
I’d be in the front row if the ever decided to make this show. As others have mentioned, they could still do it. The show was really popular when it was on because the fans were so loyal, and so many new fans have discovered it over the past few years! Just make it now!
Can’t imagine why hollywood wouldn’t want to make this today. A built in fan base, and I can’t imagine it would be a super expensive show to produce. Somebody needs to give this a chance.
Would have liked this show. When it wasn’t given a chance, it made me sad.
In the past 12 months, there has been a wildly successful 1 woman show about this series, a popular YouTube channel from the guy who plays Brick, and now a podcast that just premiered all about The Middle. What more does WB and a network to see that there is still a desire for this show!!!!
Stop bragging, you saw it but I don’t get to? That burns a bit😂
I love The Middle but quite frankly found Sue very annoying and could not imagine a whole show centered around her. I can see why this was a no. Just my opinion.
Anyone remember the post Friends flop Joey? I’ll bet the network execs do!
This would have been a great show! The writers are great and so are the actors. Someone needs to give this show a second life! This is exactly the kind of show we need right now!