‘The Middle’ spin-off about Sue Heck could be coming to ABC

When ABC’s “The Middle” aired its final episode in May, fans thought they’d seen the last of the Heck family — but it turns out a whole new series might be starting. The network is interested in airing a spin-off that would revolve around Sue Heck, the fan-favorite middle child of the clan.

Heck yes!

Sher Earned High Praise For Role

Eden Sher played Sue for all nine seasons of “The Middle,” earning critical acclaim for her performance as the bubbly-but-awkward young lady. Sher is reportedly in talks to return to the character for the spin-off, which would be written by the creators of the original series, Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline.

According to Deadline, the spin-off would be set several years following the finale of “The Middle,” which saw Sue in her final years of college. If the show does happen, it likely wouldn’t air until 2019.

When “The Middle” started in 2009, Sher was just 17 years old, and was playing a character who was only 13 years old. Sue literally grew up before our eyes and we got to witness every excruciatingly awkward moment of her formative years. So you have to wonder, would a fully grown Sue Heck still be just as unstoppably optimistic as her teenage self? I certainly hope so!

Actress Said She Channels Herself In Character

In 2013, Sher told Teen Vogue that she has a lot in common with Sue, saying, “I think when I’m channeling Sue, I’m channeling Eden in her purest form.”

Despite the age difference between herself and her character, Sher said she felt Sue “caught up” to where she is over the past few seasons.

“I’ve always been four or five years older than this character,” she explained in an interview. “But since she started college, she sort of caught up to me. Twenty-one feels way less of an age gap than 13 to 17. I used to eschew the whole ‘Sue is different than me’ attitude, but now it’s like, I don’t know. She’s actually not that naïve. It’s this weird blurred line where Sue ends and Eden begins.”

Sher Wished Show Jumped Into Real-Life Politics

Off-screen, Sher is an outspoken feminist, writing opinion pieces about the lack of female directors in Hollywood and saying she wished “The Middle” would have gotten into real-life politics more often.

“I’ll be honest, this is something that I have to tell myself in order to be okay with not making any statement on the world around us on the show: It exists in its own world and you can’t look at it as a reflection on the actual issues that are happening,”she told Vulture. “Different shows do different things. I feel it was a conscious effort on the writers’ part to go away from anything political. For me in my personal life, I like to do things that make a statement and relate to the real world, but I have to accept that ‘The Middle’ is a different beast.”

Maybe her new show will do that, if she has anything to say about it!

If ABC does pick up the series, it would be the third spin-off of one of its shows to premiere in the past year. “Grown-ish,” a spin-off of “Black-ish,” debuted on Freeform in January, and “Schooled,” a spin-off of “The Goldbergs,” is set to debut this fall.

RELATED: The Cast Of ‘One Tree Hill’ Are Reuniting For A Christmas Movie

Could New Spinoff Be “Roseanne” Replacement?

The timing of the new show comes as ABC looks to replace its top-ranked “Roseanne” series, which was canceled following a controversial social media post from show creator and star Roseanne Barr.

Here are a few other series that are coming to an end this year:

Are you pumped for Sue Heck to get her own series?