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Veteran actors stumble in 'Hank' and 'The Middle'

Published online on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2009

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Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton combined in 2007 to make the unfunny Fox comedy "Back to You." This year, they have their own comedies airing back-to-back on ABC: Grammer's "Hank" and Heaton's "The Middle." The result is twice as unfunny.

"Hank" has Grammer playing a CEO who has fallen on tough financial times and decides to return to his small hometown to rekindle his business passion. Grammer's so miscast it hurts. He has no chemistry with Melinda McGraw, who plays his all-wise wife.

And Grammer's efforts as a father are like watching a moose try to drive a car.

As if the show didn't have enough problems, David Koechner plays Hank's annoying brother-in-law - and not in a good way. He tries to cover up the fact that he has the acting skills of a sofa by shouting his lines.

"The Middle" also suffers from a massively annoying character.

Patricia Heaton's new series casts her as an average mom juggling home and work. Heaton can handle such a role after so many years on "Everybody Loves Raymond." And Neil Flynn makes the transition from the Janitor on "Scrubs" to playing a dad.

The Achilles heel is Atticus Shaffer, who plays their youngest son, Brick. Humor is mined from how Brick repeats most of what he says in a whisper.

This comedy bit might work for an adult character, but it is just creepy in the youngster.

Brick's not the only problem. The show feels lifeless, and jokes repeatedly fall flat.

At least when Grammer and Heaton were together, they only produced one bad show.