Summary

• "Sue Sue in the City" was a planned spinoff of "The Middle" TV series.
• The spinoff would have followed Sue Heck as she navigates young adulthood in Chicago.
• The pilot for "Sue Sue in the City" was shot but ultimately not picked up by ABC or any other network.

Sue Sue in the City was a planned spinoff of the ABC sitcom, played by the underrated actor Neil Flynn appearing post-Scrubs. Set in the fictional town of Orson, Indiana, the Hecks are a lower middle class family facing the daily struggles that come with work, school, and relationships.

Sue is by far the most enthusiastic member of the Heck family. One of the funniest running gags of The Middle is Sue's insistence on trying out for anything and everything and, more often than not, failing. What keeps this joke from being mean is how defeats roll off Sue's shoulders. Perpetually giving an effort, it's hard not to root for her. That's why it's cheer-worthy in the series finale when she finally succeeds in expressing her feelings to Sean Donahue (Beau Wirick) and, in a flash-forward sequence, it's revealed that after a period of breakups and reunions, the two marry. But why didn't Sue's spinoff come to fruition?

Sue Sue In The City Was Announced Shortly After The Middle Series Finale

Soon after The Middle's series finale in May 2018, Variety reported that there were rumblings of a Sue Heck spinoff in the works. Then in August 2018, a Sue Heck spinoff pilot was officially announced to be in development and more details were revealed (via Yahoo). ABC's official premise for the show was:

“Cue the Sue happy dance. More Sue Heck is on the way. The series follows the twentysomething adventures of eternal optimist Sue Heck 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.”

In October 2018, the series received its name Sue Sue in the City, titled for Sue's legal (and accidental) birth name. It was also revealed that the show would specifically follow Sue working at a Chicago hotel (via Cinemablend). The Middle's Brad Bottig (Brock Ciarlelli) was set to reprise his role in the show, and newcomer Finesse Mitchell was announced as a new friend of Sue's named Hudson, a kind bartender also working at the hotel. Though never released, the pilot for Sue Sue in the City was shot around the same time as these announcements, in October 2018.

ABC ed On The Sue Sue In The City Pilot

Unfortunately, ABC ended up ing on Sue Sue in the City. Though the network never gave a reason why the series was not picked up, there's some speculation that they already had a full slate of family sitcoms, including Splitting Up Together and Schooled. As Ciarlelli said in an Instagram Live post, "The unfortunate thing is it was such a good pilot but the timing of it just wasn’t on our side." The Middle spinoff series was shopped around to other networks but everywhere decided to , meaning the pilot of Sue Sue in the City will probably only ever be seen by the talented people who made it.