ABC has decided not to pick up the Sue Heck-led “The Middle” spinoff starring Eden Sher, an individual with knowledge of the decision tells TheWrap.
The comedy, titled “Sue Sue in the City,” was set to follow the twentysomething adventures of eternal optimist Sue Heck (Sher), as she leaves the small town of Orson to navigate the ups and downs of a career and young adulthood in the big city of Chicago.
As TheWrap reported in May, ABC was in development on a Sher-led spinoff shortly after the single-camera comedy wrapped its nine-season run, though at the time no deals were in place. ABC ordered a pilot of the spinoff in August.
Brock Ciarelli — who appeared on 56 episodes of the sitcom as Brad Bottig, Sue’s best friend — joined the project last month as part of the spinoff’s main cast.
“The Middle” creators Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline wrote and executive produced the pilot, which hails from the duo’s Blackie and Blondie Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Premiering in 2009, “The Middle” starred Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn as a middle-class couple raising their three kids in the fictional town of Orson, Indiana. Charlie McDermott and Atticus Shaffer also starred.
The single-camera comedy was a reliable performer for the network, and had the project gone to series it would have been be the second comedy spinoff at ABC this season, joining the “Goldbergs” offshoot “Schooled.”