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The spinoff of The Middle will not send Sue Heck into the world alone — or without a title.
Brock Ciarlelli, who had a heavily recurring role on the late ABC comedy as Sue Heck’s (Eden Sher) best friend, Brad Bottig, will be a regular on the spinoff, now called Sue Sue in the City. The show went into development shortly after The Middle ended its nine-season run in May and has a pilot production order from ABC.
Sue Sue in the City (yes, two “Sues” in the title), which, like its predecessor, comes from Warner Bros. TV, will focus on Sue as she leaves college and her hometown of Orson, Indiana, for the ups and downs of a career and young adulthood in Chicago — apparently with Brad still as part of her support system. The Middle creators DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler are writing and executive producing the pilot through their studio-based Blackie and Blondie Productions.
Ciarlelli appeared in 56 episodes of The Middle — a little more than a quarter of its total of 215 — as Brad, Sue’s longtime friend and confidant. The character came out as gay midway through the show’s run.
The series finale of The Middle showed Sue, in a flash-forward, going through an on-and-off relationship with neighbor Sean Donahue (Beau Wirick) — after they finally got on the same page and admitted they loved one another in the present — and eventually marrying him at some point in the future. Whether that story will play out in the spinoff remains to be seen.
Ciarlelli is repped by TalentWorks and MC Talent Management.
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