The Middle

E1

1. Pilot

30 Sep 2009 · 23m

Meet the Hecks – an ordinary family struggling to survive each other and life in Middle America. PATRICIA HEATON stars as a working mother whose family life is one big happy mess.

E2

2. The Cheerleader

7 Oct 2009 · 21m

Facing financial disaster, Frankie tries to save her job; Sue fails swim team tryouts, then learns she needs glasses; and Brick starts reading his mother's steamy romance novels.

E3

3. The Floating Anniversary

14 Oct 2009 · 21m

Frankie and Mike's romantic plans for their anniversary are thwarted by a sick Brick, a lovesick Sue, a learner's permit-toting Axl, two crazy aunts and their diaper-wearing dog.

E4

4. The Trip

21 Oct 2009 · 21m

Frankie urges Sue to fight for her right to attend a class trip after making the grade by selling thousands of dollars worth of sausage and cheese; Brick gets his first girlfriend.

E5

5. The Block Party

28 Oct 2009 · 20m

After Brick’s teachers tell his parents that he’s “socially challenged,” Mike tries to help Brick make friends; while Frankie needs her son’s coveted football jersey.

E6

6. The Front Door

4 Nov 2009 · 21m

Mike insists that only Axl fix the front door after he knocks it down; Frankie must sell a car within a week; and its school picture time for a photographically challenged Sue.

E7

7. The Scratch

18 Nov 2009 · 21m

Frankie must create the illusion of a picture-perfect family when an accident causing a small scratch on Brick leads a social worker to visit the Heck household.

E8

8. Thanksgiving

25 Nov 2009 · 21m

Frankie’s dream of the perfect Thanksgiving turns into a nightmare when Mr. Ehlert forces the staff to work on the holiday – and Axl loses Brick in a corn maze.

E9

9. Siblings

2 Dec 2009 · 21m

Frankie encounters two perfect siblings and vows to make her children stop fighting and become a loving family. Meanwhile, Aunt Edie makes a costly mistake at the quarry and Mike considers firing her.

E10

10. Christmas

9 Dec 2009 · 21m

Mike takes over the responsibility of organizing the Heck family Christmas while Frankie practices for a solo that she is singing at midnight mass. However, she gets jealous when Mike seems to be doing a better job than she ever did. Meanwhile, Frankie and Mike help Brick get over a problem so he can get into the Christmas spirit.

E11

11. The Jeans

6 Jan 2010 · 21m

A hormonally charged Sue wants a cool pair of jeans in order to fit in with her peers, resulting in Frankie and Mike enduring the unpredictability of teenagers, while Axl wants a car to impress a girl. Meanwhile, attempting to teach Brick about responsibility, Frankie and Mike reluctantly allow him to take care of Aunt Edie and Aunt Ginny's dog Doris for a few days.

E12

12. The Neighbor

6 Jan 2010 · 21m

When Sue has a run-in with her sons, Frankie fears that a confrontation with the trasy neighbor may be at hand. Meanwhile, Axl attempts to bribe Brick after he's asked to teach his little brother how to kick a ball for a gym requirement. However, Brick is the one turning the tables and it ends up bribing him for another favor.

E13

13. The Interview

13 Jan 2010 · 21m

Mike loses his job when the plant shuts down for scientific research after he discovers a dinosaur bone in the quarry. However, Mike starts to get irregular feelings when he discovers how drastically things have change technologically over the years when considering the terms of searching for a job. Meanwhile, Frankie feels she must once again come to Brick's rescue when he decides to run for school historian.

E14

14. The Yelling

3 Feb 2010 · 21m

Frankie makes a deal with her kids, that if they do their homework and keep chores she won't nag them. Meanwhile, Mike takes a job as a night driver with Bob.

E15

15. Valentine's Day

10 Feb 2010 · 21m

Valentine's Day unexpectedly finds Frankie and Mike home alone and ready for a romantic evening while Brick is away at his first sleepover, Sue goes to her first boy-girl party, and Axl has a big date night planned with some friends. But Cupid's arrow doesn't exactly hit the target, and the best laid plans soon begin to unravel.

E16

16. The Bee

3 Mar 2010 · 21m

When Mike discovers that Brick is a spelling whiz and won the school spelling bee, he puts all his efforts into training him to win the regional bee, which could ultimately lead to competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee. But as the family gets set for their road trip to Chicago for the regional bee, Frankie and Mike are horrified when they realize they forgot one thing -- Sue's birthday.

E17

17. The Break-Up

10 Mar 2010 · 21m

Axl is heartbroken when his girlfriend breaks up with him; Sue and Brick watch a scary movie.

E18

18. The Fun House

24 Mar 2010 · 21m

Frankie fears for her job when a motivational consultant comes to get the sale team into shape. While Frankie is putting in many extra hours, Mike has to deal with the children and their issues, including making the house more fun for Axl and his friends, giving advice to Sue's ex-boyfriend and helping Brick with a school project.

E19

19. The Final Four

31 Mar 2010 · 21m

Mike's dream comes to fruition when Frankie's boss, Mr. Ehlert, offers him two tickets to the Final Four. Unfortunately, Frankie's uncle dies and the funeral is set for the same day, leaving the two in a battle and Frankie making Mike chose what life event is more important to him. Meanwhile, Sue gets Brick out of going to a birthday party by impersonating Frankie over the phone, but the plan hits a bump when Frankie needs to call and tell them that Brick cannot attend because of the funeral.

E20

20. TV or Not TV

14 Apr 2010 · 20m

After failing to pay the electric bill on time, the electric company shuts off the Heck's power. This leads Frankie and Mike to cut down on their unnecessary expenses, including their cable TV. The kids take up other activities to fill the void, but Frankie and Mike have a hard time figuring out what to do. Meanwhile, Brick and his other socially-challenged friends have to go outside for recess when the school library shuts down.

E21

21. Worry Duty

28 Apr 2010 · 21m

Frankie is worried that Axl's going to get his heart crushed again when his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Morgan, re-enters his life and tries to mold him into the man she wants him to be. Meanwhile Brick learns what it means to be a mother hen when he has to watch over a baby chick for a school science project.

E22

22. Mother's Day

5 May 2010 · 21m

Mother's Day for Frankie is anything but serene when she finds herself doing more for Mike and the kids and less for herself. But she learns that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree when she escapes the family for a few hours to go to her mom's and ends up acting like a child by making her mom wait on her hand-and-foot. Meanwhile, Sue feels guilty when she steals a motivational magnet from a store whose message actually enticed her to shoplift it.

E23

23. Signals

12 May 2010 · 21m

Frankie points out to Mike that his social ineptness has been passed on to Brick, leading Mike to decide that both he and Brick need to be more social, and the Heck family BBQ is the perfect time to try. Meanwhile, Axl volunteers to clean the family pool in an attempt to get girls to stop by and swim and Sue tries to raise money for a local parish because her new friend, Reverend TimTom might be leaving in order to keep costs down

E24

24. Average Rules

19 May 2010 · 21m

Parent-Teacher conferences cause Frankie to worry about the kids. In them she's told Axl is gifted but not applying himself, that her teachers still do not know who Sue is, and Brick may have to repeat the second-grade due to failure to return over 30 library books.