ABC's The Middle has won over audiences with the Heck family's middle-class, Midwestern slice of life. Surrounding the Hecks in their fictional home of Orson, Indiana are plenty of other folks who are allegedly average yet just a bit quirky. I recently caught up with John Gammon, who plays Axl Heck's teammate and friend Darrin, to ask him about what he'd like to see for his recurring role and what else may be in his future.

"I like the show so much that whatever I'm doing, if they give me a call, I'm going to drop it," said Gammon, who told me he doesn't yet know how many episode...

It's that time of year again. Television fans have appointments with their couches as the fall season kicks off this month with tons of returning favorites and new shows. DVRs will be working overtime as viewers record their must-see-TV programs and talk about them later at the watercooler.

Check out the premiere dates of the new season (brand new shows are indicated with italics and by *). All times are eastern unless otherwise indicated.

Monday, September 10
The Voice 8 p.m. NBC

Tuesday, September 11
Go On 9 p.m. NBC *
The New Normal 9:30 p.m. NBC *
Parenthood 10 p.m. NBC

Wednesday, ...

Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg has landed a guest spot on hit TV comedy The Middle after cornering star Patricia Heaton to ask for a role.

Goldberg recently interviewed Heaton on hit talk show The View, on which she is a co-host, and she took advantage of the opportunity to campaign for a cameo on one of her favorite programs.

Heaton took the request to the show's producers - and they created a character especially for Goldberg.

The Ghost actress took a break from The View to film The Middle last week, and she's delighted to have scored the job.

Explaining her absence on the daytime t...

Happy Endings producers Jonathan Groff and David Caspe joined their colleagues at Modern Family, Suburgatory and The Middle for a panel of ABC Comedy Show Runners for the Television Critics Association. Pulling Groff and Caspe aside at ABC’s evening party, they revealed a few funny tidbits about upcoming episodes of the show.

“Max gets a boyfriend,” Caspe said. “He runs into the guy he used to date that broke up with him on Valentine’s Day. He runs into him on Valentine’s Day so that should be fun. Dave struggles with a very weird addiction to a certain type of clothing.”

Another future s...

ABC.com is bringing you a hilarious new video series, “ABC.Comedy”! The online exclusive show launched last week and squeezes as much funny juice as it can out of ABC’s already brilliant comedy lineup. Each episode will highlight the hilarious, most buzzed about, and sometimes embarrassing moments from all your favorite ABC comedies, making sure you never miss out on a good laugh! Hosted by actor/comedian Ben Begley, the weekly wrap-up show will feature cast interviews along with footage from The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Happy Endings, Suburgatory, Apartment 23, Last Man Standin...

Labor Day is over, signaling the unofficial end of summer and the start of the new TV season. While television is somewhat entertaining during June, July, and August, it's the fall debuts that many TV addicts anticipate.

Next week the networks start rolling out new and returning series, kicking off with "90210" and "Ringer" on the CW on Tuesday, Sept. 13.

Check out the list below to see when your favorites air:

Tuesday, September 13
8 pm 90210 CW
9 pm Ringer (NEW!) CW
10 pm Parenthood NBC

Wednesday, September 14
8 pm H8R CW
8 pm Survivor: South Pacific CBS
9 pm America’s Next Top Mode...

New series for ABC's 2011-12 season are "Apartment 23," "Charlie's Angels," "Good Christian Belles," "Last Man Standing," "Man Up," "Missing," "Once Upon a Time," "Pan Am," "Revenge," "The River," "Scandal," "Suburgatory" and "Work It."

"America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Body of Proof," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Happy Endings," "Secret Millionaire," "Shark Tank" and "20/20" join previously announced returning series "Castle," "Cougar Town," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Private Practice." "Sat...

ABC has announced its finale dates that include a two-hour episode of Desperate Housewives and a one-hour episode of Cougar Town.

Fall 2011 TV scorecard: Which shows are returning? Which aren't?

Check out ABC's full list of season finales:

Read More >

Other Links From TVGuide.com

Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Dancing with the Stars, Grey's AnatomyAmerica's Funniest Home Videos, Brothers & Sisters, Private Practice, Wipeout, Castle, Cougar Town, The Middle, Shark Tank, Modern Family, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Better With You

How many friends does Chandler still have? Well, it turns out Matthew Perry had nearly 10.6 million who checked out the premiere of his new series, Mr. Sunshine.

Taking the timeslot (9:30/8:30c) usually occupied by fellow Friends alum Courteney Cox's sitcom, his show greatly improved on her numbers; last week, Cougar Town got 6.6 million. The last time ABC did so well during that half-hour was...

Read More >

Other Links From TVGuide.com

American Idol, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox, Criminal Minds, Human Target, Cougar Town, The Middle, Vampire Di...

In an early vote of confidence, ABC renewed six series for next season. None of the choices is particularly surprising since none were on the bubble. The shows are:

‘Grey’s Anatomy’

‘Cougar Town’

‘Private Practice’

‘Modern Family’

‘The Middle’

‘Castle’

Missing from the list? ‘Desperate Housewives,’ said to be held up by contract negotiations, but expect it to be back. Any series not on this list does not mean ABC will not renew it; the network has until May to make final decisions, and sometimes it goes down to the wire. Stay tuned.

This week on "The Middle," Brick's arguing his case to staying home alone, even though Frankie thinks he's too scatter-brained to be granted the privilege.

"You know how distracted he gets," she tells Mike in bed. "That reminds me, he ate another Band-Aid this morning."

"One of ours or one he found?" Mike asks.

Brick wants to stay home because he dreads being Frankie's "errand boy," which involves being dragged around from one menial task to another, like choosing which shade of blue fabric Frankie should buy, or hooking her bra in the dressing room.

Mike's got his own problem to dea...

Patricia Heaton has admitted to getting a little subtle plastic surgery.

"The Middle" star explained, "I do stuff. I'm not gonna look like a freak or blow my lips up or all that crazy stuff, but you've got to maintain a little bit."

With so many actresses denying it, it's refreshing to see one admitting it! What do you think?

Click for more great Patricia Heaton pictures:

It's Halloween on "The Middle" this week, which means Frankie's dragging Mike to a neighborhood costume party. The problem? A mix of stodgy and too-cool-for-school, Mike refuses to dress up and look like an idiot.

Axl and his buddies, meanwhile, are planning to drive a bunch of dates out to a haunted house, hoping to cash in on their fear, lending a shoulder to cry on and cozy up to.

Finally, Sue -- who's wearing her cross-country hoodie and lavender jeans for a sixth consecutive episode -- failed to nab a date for the school's Halloween dance, and is now forced to attend the holy hayr...

"We'd love to, but we're so busy with... recycling, and everything," Frankie explains to a friend at church, who encourages Frankie to participate in a foreign exchange program, in which the Hecks would host a student from Japan.

But with Axl and Sue going at each other like coked-out hyenas, Frankie eventually thinks that the program would teach her children the importance of tolerance and cooperation.

"Is there a catalogue we can look at?" Axl asks, hoping the student is a hot blonde from Scandinavia.

Frankie tells the family they're going to be ambassadors, and that the Japanese stud...

"Apparently the half box of donuts I stole from work wasn't enough," Frankie gripes, complaining how one of her duties as a cross-country mom is to bring healthy snacks for the athletes.

It's this sour attitude that kicks off this week's episode of "The Middle," and it's what caused Frankie to pray at church that cross-country would get cut at the upcoming school budget meeting. Although it's the sole extracurricular daughter Sue has successfully joined (she's been wearing her team hoodie non-stop for four episodes), Frankie's bitter about having to thanklessly prepare signs, make food an...

Life in American suburbia -- how do we define it? By the subdivision block parties every summer? By backyard barbecues? By housewives getting sloshed on wine coolers every third Tuesday, under the pretense of a "book club"? Wednesday night, "The Middle" tackled high school homecoming. Its football games and parades make the annual event a big deal "here in 'the middle,'" Hoosier mom Frankie tells us.

Her oldest kid Axl's made his high school's varsity football team, which means Mike and Frankie get to walk him across the field in a pre-game homecoming ceremony. Frankie sees it as her...

We’ve got some good news, some bad news and some greater news. The bad news is that summer is over although you’ve probably realized that already. The good news is that fall brings with it a bevy of new television programs to entertain us while we are stuck inside, hiding out from the nippy weather.

The greater news is that ABC has an exciting fall line-up of new and returning series that are not only entertaining, but are definitely must-see TV. With a few new shows that will cater to the reality television lovers and the scripted drama adoreres (courtesy of documentary style filming), gi...

"The Middle," which follows the antics of the quirky Heck family in Indiana, entered its second season on ABC Wednesday night. It also marked the show's first guest star of the season: Doris Roberts. Yup, the mom from "Everybody Loves Raymond." She reunited with "Middle" lead and "Raymond" star Patricia Heaton, playing the teacher of youngest child and strange, whispering savant, Brick (named after the Indianapolis Brickyard).

It's the first day of school, and the Hecks' morning ritual is spiraling into cereal-spilling, teeth-brushing, "shut up"-flinging bedlam. Axl's barel...

The slapstick sitcom "The Middle" is about a working-class family in the U.S. heartland. It follows the daily strife of frazzled mom Frankie (Patricia Heaton) as she tries to balance the demands of her job at a car dealership with those at home with her husband and their three kids, including youngest son Brick, whose unusual behavior makes him an outcast at school.

Frankie Heck is a superhero. Well, no, not an actual superhero - but sometimes it seems to Frankie as though getting her kids out the door for school every morning is a superheroic act.

Middle aged, middle class and living in...

There are a lot of TV shows returning and premering in the fall. Start making room on your DVR now because there are many can't-miss series on the boob tube.

I spent hours last weekend clearing out tons of space on my DVR. I know it can be a chore, but it's so refreshing afterwards! (Did that sound like a body wash commercial to anyone else?)

Check out the list for your favorite shows, mark your calendars and get ready for a long winter with some great TV.

Shows marked with an asterisk (*) are new and all times are ET/PT.

Tuesday, Sept. 7
Sons of Anarchy (FX), 10 p.m.

Wednesday, Sep...

The big networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox & CW) unveiled their schedules for the 2010-11 season this week at their various upfront presentations. Several shows were canceled (such as "Heroes," "Ghost Whisperer" & "Law & Order"), while many new series were added to the lineup ("Hawaii Five-O" & "The Event.")

Check out the schedule to see if your favorite shows made the cut and to find out which new series are coming your way:

FOX

MONDAY
8 p.m. House
9 p.m. Lonestar (new)

TUESDAY
8 p.m. Glee
9 p.m. Raising Hope (new)
9:30 p.m. Running Wilde (new)

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Lie to Me
9 p.m. Hell's Kitch...

Viewers will be in season finale/series finale overload during the next two weeks. The season finales of "Desperate Housewives" and "Survivor" kicked things off last night, and it is only going to get better from here, starting with the possible series finale of a favorite CW drama.

"One Tree Hill" - Monday, CW

The seventh season finale of "One Tree Hill" airs tonight, yet viewers are still waiting to hear whether the episode will serve only as the seventh season finale or also as the show's series finale. Fans have been hanging by a thread for months now, but they haven't been sitting q...

The Middle shows an all-American family, the Hecks, and finds humor in the daily struggles every family faces. This weekend, the stars of the show plan to celebrate Mother’s Day with their real families.

Patricia Heaton will be the real working mom who holds the family together. “My kids, if they even remember it I’m lucky so I’m going to make some plans for myself,” she said. “We’ll probably go out to eat. Tomorrow I’m going to go to a store and pick out something nice for myself and have them come get it and wrap it up for me.”

Even though Neil Flynn is not married and does not have chi...

Contrary to modern belief, the sitcom (or “comedy” for those born after 1995) has not been derailed. Yes, that little thing called reality TV has made networks almost forget about that television genre that made the ‘80s, and part of the ‘90s, so great. But, fret not. Networks haven’t completely forgot about sitcoms.

With new favorites like Modern Family and Glee and older favorites like How I Met Your Mother and The Simpsons dominating the ratings, there’s the little-show-that-could called The Middle that may have slipped off the radar.

Set in the small fictional town of Orson, Indiana, ...

It's that time of year. You've checked out the new shows and by now you know if you love them or hate them. Networks are either ordering additional episodes of their fledgling series or quietly letting them burn off until nobody notices they are gone. And some networks stayed cautiously conservative by looking back to previous television icons and failing miserably (we are talking to you, NBC).

Check out the crop of new series and whether we think they should stay on the air or be put out of their misery. Let us know if you agree!

ABC

FlashForward - Keep it

ABC took a gamble o...

In "Cougar Town" (Wednesdays from 9:30-10:00 p.m., ET), Courteney Cox stars as Jules, a recently divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture. While most women in their twenties go through life experiencing the challenges and often humorous pitfalls of meeting men, Jules took on the responsibilities of marriage and raising a son. Now in her forties, she embarks on a journey to self-discovery whilst surrounded by fellow divorcees and singletons eager to live or re-live a time gone by.

In "FlashForward" (Thursdays from 8...

Since CNN has such a blast creating a report card to track the Presidency, we decided to have some fun with television. Which networks come out strong and which ones need to do better homework?

MAJOR NETWORKS

ABC: B

The Good: The dramas are what keep us coming back to ABC. Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, FlashForward, and V are worth looking forward to. The one comedy that stands out and may hold itself against NBC's stellar comedies, Modern Family, is worth a few episodes past the pilot.

The Bad: Dancing With The Stars is extremely popular, however sometimes too much of a ...

Patricia Heaton is back with another TV comedy. Now, we know what you're thinking. She already tried to follow up Everybody Loves Raymond with Back to You, that newsroom comedy. Well, this one is back in her wheelhouse.

ABC's The Middle stars Heaton as a married mother raising her family in middle America. Each of her kids have their own special demands, and the first episode already has her wearing a Superwoman costume for a last minute school presentation.

As a working mom herself, Heaton knows The Middle is all too real. She was happy to share her experiences, both real and dramat...

Even though summer has just begun, many TV addicts are itching to know when their favorite shows will be returning and new ones will be premiering. ABC, CBS, NBC, The CW & Fox recently released their schedules, and we have compiled them in one convenient list.

As often is the case, networks revise or tweak their schedules over the summer. So check back often for updates!

New series are in bold. Click on the show's name for photos, cast lists and more!

Tuesday, September 8

8 pm 90210 (The CW)

9 pm Melrose Place (NEW! The CW)

10 pm Sons of Anarchy (FX)

Wednesday, September 9

...