ABC has passed on moving forward with the proposed spinoff of family comedy “The Middle” revolving around Eden Sher’s Sue Heck character.
ABC shot a pilot and had been developing “Sue in the City” as a potential followup to Warner Bros. TV’s “The Middle,” which wrapped its nine-season run earlier this year. The spinoff was penned by “Middle” creators DeAnne Heline and Eileen Heisler.
ABC confirmed the decision Wednesday afternoon.
The decision comes as ABC and other networks are poised to make a slew of development decisions for the 2019-20 development cycle. ABC is in the midst of an executive transition as entertainment president Channing Dungey has stepped down and will be succeeded by Karey Burke, formerly a top programming executive at Freeform and NBC.
Sher’s character was a fan-favorite. “Sue in the City” was set to follow her adventures as a young adult after leaving her small fictional town of Orson, Ind., where “Middle” was set, for a new life in Chicago.