Funny, heartfelt, and sometimes fearlessly silly, “The Middle” examined life for a family living, well, in the middle of the country. Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton) never did have any grand plans for her life, but being a saleswoman who has plodding success was not something she dreamed of while growing up. Her husband, Mike (Neil Flynn), who works in construction, is a grousing but a good dad and spouse. Fortunately her kids — the happy-go-lucky people-pleaser Sue (Eden Sher), popular and confident Axl (Charlie McDermott), and socially awkward bookworm Brick (Atticus Shaffer) — have dreams, hopes, and ambitions of their own that just might take them out of Orson, Indiana — or prove that they should remain in their little midwestern hamlet for good.

Sometimes, the show feels like a precursor to “Young Sheldon,” and sometimes it feels like a solid throwback to sitcoms about settled families from earlier eras. But what “The Middle” does most of all is deal with dreams deferred and claimed. Believe it or not, as of this writing, it’s been nearly five years since the series wrapped. Here’s what the cast has been up to since then.

Journeywoman actress Patricia Heaton already had one acclaimed role under her belt when she took on the mantle of Frankie Heck. But while she’ll always be long-suffering Debra Barrone, wife to the title character on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” for a certain segment of the population, Heaton’s career had range and depth even before she became reliably known as a sitcom mom. That’s her as Brie Wilson in “Beethoven” and as the independent Natalie Holloway in the “Designing Women” spin-off, “Women of the House.” Between “Raymond” and “The Middle,” she appeared in “Back to You” with Kelsey Grammer, and she’s done anything but rest on her laurels since “The Middle” wrapped.

Post-Frankie, Heaton headed up the CBS sitcom “Carol’s Second Act.” Starring Heaton as Carol Kennedy, a schoolteacher who decides to become a doctor, the show lasted a single season. She then appeared in the independent film “Mending the Line.” As of this writing, she has a recurring role as bartender Holly on Season 2 of the Paramount+ “Frasier” reboot.

Like his co-star, Neil Flynn came from a well-populated sitcom background as well. He played a small role in “That 70’s Show,” but was probably best known as Janitor on “Scrubs,” before his time playing Mike Heck on “The Middle” introduced viewers to an entirely different side of him, one that was hinted at when he played Cady’s father in “Mean Girls.” When “The Middle” wrapped in 2018, Flynn immediately joined the cast of another sitcom, NBC’s short-lived “Abby’s.” When that series closed up shop in 2019, he began to take on guest-starring roles on sitcoms like “Girls5Eva,” “PBC,” “Lopez vs Lopez” and “Shrinking.”

Flynn is also a prolific voice actor; you can hear him in both the original version of “Clone High” and its reboot, where he voices Julius Caesar along with other characters. You can also hear him in “Chicago Party Aunt,” “Superman: Man of Tomorrow,” and “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.” His most recent voice acting credit is as the voice of reindeer Donner in the Disney+ series “The Santa Clause.”

Charlie McDermott’s life as a child and teen actor definitely seems to have reached a peak with “The Middle.” Before the show cast him as the independence-craving eldest child Axl Heck, he built up a solid resume of parts. He appeared in the film “Hot Tub Time Machine” and the series “Future Man.” He also popped up in TV movies like “Super Clyde” and “Bond of Silence.” 

He has acted sparingly since “The Middle” ended and you definitely haven’t seen him onscreen recently. He’s only appeared in the Mark Wahlberg-centered family film “Instant Family” and the horror outing “Countdown,” as well as the miniseries “Unbelievable” for Netflix. He expressed interest in becoming a director, and led an episode of “The Middle” during its run. But McDermott has mainly moved on to music now that his sitcom gig’s closed up shop, per his Instagram. Playing ambient and folk tunes, he’s taking bookings across the world and keeps his audience updated on his gigs on his social media. It seems to be a traveling life — ironically, just the kind of future that the rebellious Axl would have claimed for himself.

Eden Sher had plenty of experience when she nailed the role of optimist Sue Heck in “The Middle.” She’d recurred on “Weeds” and played Carrie Fenton in 11 episodes of “Sons and Daughters” before embodying Sue. Since the sitcom stopped production she’s been the most active of the Heck children in the acting world, so if you haven’t seen her lately, take a look at the LA stage. 

Sher has also become a voice actress, taking on the role of Star Butterfly in “Star vs the Forces of Evil” and she continues to pop up in recurring and guest starring roles, including a three-episode gig on “Jane the Virgin.” Per her Instagram, she’s been busy creating and writing pilots and short films.  She was also the center of a greenlit-and-then-cancelled “The Middle” spin-off, “Sue Sue in the City.” 

Unsurprisingly for the woman who brought the terminally positive Sue Heck to life, Eden Sher has spent the last couple of years looking at the funny side of being a sitcom kid — she’s developed a one-woman show about her life called “I Was on a Sitcom,” which she performed in Los Angeles in 2023.  And it turns out at least one of her fellow “The Middle” actors supports her stage turn; Charlie McDermott warmly promoted Sher’s one-woman show on his Instagram in 2023. On top of all of that, Sher got married in 2020 and is a mom to identical three-year-old twins. It looks like she definitely continues to embody Sue’s ambition and activity as she grows. 

Atticus Shaffer made an indelible impression as the awkward but loveable Brick Heck on “The Middle.” Brick’s tendency to whisper the last few words in many of his sentences makes him one of the show’s most memorable characters. Ironically, Shaffer has been using that voice to  earn his supper since “The Middle” wrapped. He’d already established himself as a voice actor in shows like “Fish Hooks” and the big-screen version of “Frankenweenie.” While working on “The Middle” he voiced “Steven Universe” characters PeeDee Fryman and Sour Cream and Ono on “The Lion Guard.” 

Post-“The Middle,” Shaffer has continued his work in voice acting, playing Melvin in “Harvey Girls Forever!,” voicing multiple characters in “Pete the Cat” and multiple characters in “Firebuds.” His live-acting appearences have been rare, but he’s shown up in a single episode of Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” in 2021. Time will tell if he snags more time in the onscreen limelight. 

In its earliest years, “The Middle” had some extra sitcom firepower in the form of “Saturday Night Live” veteran Chris Kattan. He portrayed Bob Weaver, who’s been Frankie’s best friend for years. The two work at Ehlert Motors together, and even though Mike hates him, they have a pretty tight bond — primarily because Bob has no family of his own and still lives with his mother. The character pops up every now and again on the show after Season 2, but when Frankie ends up moving into the dental field, Kattan’s Bob is phased out of the show as a regular.

Kattan has since split his time between a busy voice acting career and one in live-action acting. You can hear him in “Hotel Transylvania 2,” and he had a regular role in “Bunnicula.” His recent live-action credits include an appearance in “The Ridiculous 6,” “40 Love” and “Say a Little Prayer.” It’s the kind of job security that Bob would dream of.

“The Middle” was an incredibly successful show for ABC when it aired, so why did they stop producing the sitcom? It turns out that the choice was dictated by the sitcom’s producers.  Executive producer Eileen Heisler explained to TV Guide during the 2017 TCA Press tour that it was all about leaving while audiences were fond of the show versus overstaying their welcome.

“The decision for us to end the show was a personal decision. We had all talked together as creators and cast. I kind of feel like that moment for us when we felt it was time was wanting to leave when people still wanted more of it rather than staying so long that people go, ‘Whatever, why did they stay for so long?'” she said at the time. They pitched the notion of ending the show to ABC, which is why the final season does such a solid job of tying up everyone’s loose ends, flashing into a future where the kids are happy and all right grown-ups, Frankie is satisfied with her dental career, and Mike keeps on keeping on.