Seven years later, Eden Sher is contemplating where Sue Sue Heck ended up.
The Middle alum recently looked back on the unaired spinoff pilot she filmed for Sue Sue in the City, which centered on the middle Heck child, following the ABC parent show’s nine-season run from 2009 to 2018.
“We did shoot a pilot. It was actually a little bit tragic when it didn’t get picked up, because I didn’t even want to do the spinoff in the first place,” she told ScreenRant. “I didn’t want to do it at all. I was like, ‘No, I’m done with this character.’ And then, after months and months of developing it and creating this thing I felt good about, I was like, ‘Oh, actually I could play this for another show. I feel involved enough, and I feel good enough, and I feel like this is opening a new chapter. It’s not just repeating the last nine years.’
“Then we shot this, I think, really good pilot… And then they were like, ‘Nah, just kidding.’ After I was all invested! I didn’t mourn Sue properly, and now I don’t know how. I’m super grateful that I put a period on it, and it was great, but we shot a full pilot that I think it was really good. I’m going to find a way for people to see it somehow,” added Sher.
The show was set to follow the twentysomething adventures of the titular eternal optimist 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.
With Brock Ciarlelli set to reprise his role as Sue’s best friend Brad, The Middle creators Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline wrote the pilot for Sue Sue in the City and were set to executive produce.
In November 2018, ABC opted not to move forward with the spinoff.
Meanwhile, Sher’s onscreen mom Patricia Heaton, said she doesn’t think The Middle needs a reboot as she called the ending “perfection,” telling Yahoo Entertainment: “The way they wrapped it up, where we got to flash-forward in the lives of the Heck family and see where they all ended up, it was so beautiful, and I think people have such a good feeling about the show.”
