The Middle is an American sitcom about a lower middle class family living in Indiana and facing the day-to-day struggles of home life, work and raising children.

The series features Frances "Frankie" Heck and her husband Mike who reside in the fictional town of Orson, Indiana. They are parents of three children - Axl, Sue and Brick.

The series is narrated by Frankie, initially an under-performing salesperson at a used-car dealership and later a dental assistant. Her stoic husband Mike manages a local quarry and serves as a stabilizing influence in the family, though Frankie complains about his lack of affection at times. The kids are quite different from one another: oldest son Axl, a popular but lazy teenager, does well in sports but not in academics; daughter Sue is an enthusiastic young teen but chronically unsuccessful and socially awkward; and youngest son Brick is an intelligent but introverted compulsive reader with odd behavioral traits loosely hinted to derive from Asperger syndrome.