In a bit of surprising news, the upcoming ninth season of The Middle will be its last.
The series scored an early ninth season renewal in January. It moved to Tuesdays last season, from its longtime slot as the anchor for ABC’s Wednesday night comedy block. That spot was taken over last season by The Goldbergs.
In its new slot it was still a solid performer so I don’t think ratings are an issue here. It could be creative reasons or, since it’s a long running series, escalating costs could be a factor.