I confess that I didn’t give either of these shows a look until recently. While I am generally a fan of scripted comedies, both of these shows seemed to be derivative and/or predictable (Modern Family seemed to be combining the Office’s faux-documentary style with any number of prior family dramedies, while The Middle seemed to be a cross between Malcolm in the Middle and, well, the Midwest). The commercials for them didn’t help much, and I was unhappy at the attention they seemed to be getting at the expense of Better Off Ted, which (as I’ve noted before) is a great show that could use a little more love from the network.

Now that I’ve watched them, it’s clear that they’re both pretty derivative of shows I’ve watched before, but I now realize I watched those shows because I liked them. Moreover, both shows (but especially Modern Family) take on these somewhat cliched premises and deliver really sharp characterization and writing. Moreover, the two shows actually complement each other nicely: If there’s one failing of Modern Family, it’s that the children are generally written as “wise soul” precocious proto-adults (the adults, in contrast, are handled beautifully). In contrast, The Middle is all about the kids (and the parents’ lives dealing with the kids, but not so much with other adults), who really do represent more typical kids in their attitudes and dialog. I’m also intrigued that the two shows settings correspond well to the locales of my own childhood (including Muncie shout-outs) and those of my kids. I wonder how many people are watching both shows versus just one (they’re definitely pitched at different audiences, it seems), but I’m really enjoying watching both of them.