"Hank"/"The Middle" Review: Grammer and Heaton Are Back

A couple of weeks ago in my “Herald-Dispatch” print column, I said that sitcoms built around big names made me wary…

Too often shows spend so much time promoting the star that they forget to worry about the scripts. The early days of the failed FOX sitcom, “Back To You,” starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton is a perfect example of that (although the show did get it together just before it was cancelled).

Now both Grammer and Heaton are giving it another try in separate ABC sitcoms—“Hank” and “The Middle.” I was sure I had reason to be wary about “Hank.” So imagine my surprise to find the show was actually funny.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Grammer is playing the same snob that he always plays. The only difference is that this snob has a family and is poor…

Grammer is Hank Pryor, the CEO of a sporting goods retail chain. When he’s forced out by his board, he has to move his family back to his hometown of River Bend, Virginia. Now, not only must he face life without being the boss, he must also get to know the children he has never spent much time with—his teenage daughter, Maddie (Jordan Hinson), and his geeky son, Henry (Nathan Gamble). Hank’s wife, Tilly (Melinda McGraw), is also having a tough time adjusting to life outside of New York City. Also around to complicate Hank’s life is his brother-in-law, Grady (David Koechner).

As I said, Grammer is playing the same character he always plays, but since I find that character funny, I find “Hank” funny. McGraw is perfect as his wife and Koechner—who has been known to get on my nerves—actually works pretty well here.

The biggest problem with the show is the laugh track. A little laughing is fine, but this one goes way overboard laughing at every single line. I REALLY wish everyone would recognize that the laugh track’s day is over…

In all honesty, there’s nothing very original here when it comes to story, but I’m not sure that really matters if it’s funny…

Unfortunately, I can’t really speak as highly of “The Middle.” There are some funny moments, but they’re outnumbered by the fairly awkward moments…

Heaton is Frankie, a working mother of three—Axl (Charlie McDermott), the teenage jock; Sue (Eden Shur), the awkward pre-teen; and Brick (Atticus Shaffer), the oddball youngest. Her husband, Mike (Neil Flynn), is a manager at the local quarry, while Frankie sells cars at the town’s last surviving car lot.

In the premiere, Frankie and Mike must deal with Brick’s teacher wanting to get him special help and Sue wanting to try out for the show choir.

Heaton and Flynn are great. And Chris Kattan provides nice support as Frankie’s co-worker, Bob. The problem here are the kids. The show tries so hard to give each of them an interesting character quirk that they’re just not funny. Rose failing at everything she tries is okay, but Axl continually walking around in his underwear is stupid. And Brick’s weird whisper that “soothes” him is really stupid.

“Middle” has promise if it fleshes out the kids a little more and cuts back on the annoying narration. And, since it’s single-camera, there’s no laugh track, which is always a good thing these days…

But even if “Middle” wasn’t my thing, I have to admit that ABC has built a pretty solid comedy block that could prove to be very successful for them. And Grammer and Heaton are always a welcome combination...

“Hank” and “The Middle” premiere Wednesday, September 30th beginning at 8 p.m. on ABC…

Photos Credit: Bob D'Amico/ABC