TV Sitcom: The Middle

The TV sitcom originally was filmed in front of a studio audience or just with a laugh track. The sitcom usually takes place with a recurring cast of everyday characters in everyday places, such as a suburban home or common workplace. Usually the main characters are all members of the same family. It is common that in the featured home, there is an implied television where the camera is.  Sitcoms were originally episodic, with a situation coming up and resolving itself all in one episode, returning the situation of the characters to normalcy. Each episode usually would end with the characters learning a lesson.

The Middle is a good example of what the classic sitcom has morphed into. While featuring a normal family, with the members in fairly normal careers (car saleswoman and quarry manager), there is no live studio audience or laugh track. The show also uses more locations than sitcoms originally would, transitioning more like the average movie than a classic sitcom. The show is, for the most part, episodic. While situations are resolved, they occasionally come back in another episode. For example there is an episode where the son Axle gets a girlfriend his mom doesn't like. The episode ends with them breaking up, but the girl comes back in another episode when they begin to date again. Unlike the standard sitcom, there is not always a lesson, but episodes occasionally end on the theme of family camaraderie.