Best TV Show of the Week
The Middle on
ABC
By catherine Nailog
The honor of
Best TV Show of the Week
is given to ABC’s October 19th episode of
The Middle
(Wednesdays, 8:00 p.m. ET). It is the American dream to own
a home, but for many Americans it has become a burden in the current dismal
economy. The Hecks were particularly familiar with this plight. Quite a few of
their neighbors had lost their homes to foreclosure. In fact, the Heck home was
in desperate need of a new roof. When it rained, each member of the family had
been trained to strategically place containers around the home to catch
rainwater that leaked through the roof, which included placing a protective
covering on the most important item in the house—the television.
Mike and Frankie couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage and pay for a new roof.
And to top it off, while Frankie and Sue were having a discussion in the
kitchen, the dishwasher started to spew water all over the kitchen floor.
Frankie was fed up with the house. Her coworker, Bob, suggested moving to
Hickory Arms, an apartment complex that’s affordable and free of
responsibility. She convinced Mike to check out the complex.
Frankie became excited over the new apartment’s amenities, which included a
non-leaking roof, a clean carpet, and a dimmer light switch for the kitchen.
The kids were absolutely against the idea of moving, but Mike began to like
Hickory Arms and considered moving. Frankie and Mike realized they needed to
move to Hickory Arms as they emptied rainwater-filled containers found
throughout their home.
But while Mike was patching up the roof before the move to Hickory Arms, a
neighbor offered him leftover shingles from his own roof repairs. Another
neighbor offered his nail gun. The Hecks’ leaky roof became a neighborhood
project. Mike and Frankie were touched at their neighbors’ help. And that was
the one thing Hickory Arms didn’t have: a sense of community. They could no
longer even think about moving.
What was special about this episode was the predicament of the Hecks. Was it
better for them as a family to move to a brand-new apartment than deal with the
run-down home they had lived in for almost twenty years? It would be much
easier on them financially to move to Hickory Arms, but they would have missed
the block parties and the camaraderie among their neighbors—friends they’ve come
to know. And it is rare these days to know who one’s neighbors are. It is very
easy to become insulated, to not know who lives a few feet away from you. A
neighbor could one day be a saving grace: to pick up mail while one’s away on
vacation, to borrow a nail gun, to lend a helping hand. This episode of
The Middle
depicted a quality that all families and neighborhoods
should aspire to, and that is why it deserves to be the
Best TV Show of the Week.
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
