I AM.

Michael was also mentioned in the first episode of the season (I believe) as a joke by Pam to Jim that they would be naming their new son Michael.

One minor upside to this season — the show's increasingly hilarious demeaning of Gabe.

Finally the show returns to the same level of excellence as the pilot.  Not that I've thought the other episodes weren't good, but it was hard to live up to such a great first episode — glad to see them do it here.

The astronaut on the right, Mike Massimino, is a real astronaut who fixed the Hubble telescope, playing himself.  How cool is that?

Amen.

This was definitely an average episode of The Middle, but an average episode of The Middle beats any episode of Modern Family.

And one question remains… is the game still afoot?

Three great moments from this episode:  the sequence of Tarzan narrating his morning routine, Kat's "bitches" comment, and Mike giving Tarzan the finger at Tribal Council when Tarzan thanks them before leaving.

Amen.

Will Christina and Chris Mann just do it already?

After the Microsoft pointless product placement, I was shockingly surprised that there was no direct mention of Hawaii 5-0 — the fact that they only referred to that shaved-ice actor guy who is on nearly every episode of Hawaii 5-0 as "famous Hawaiian actor" seemed utterly strange, but I'm not complaining.

Taran Killam = best SNL actor of the season.

With all the talk of the opening credits, it should be noted that Seth Gabel was still listed as a regular cast member.  Me likey.

I for one will gladly put up with shameless product placement by Sprint, Nissan, Dell, etc. given that it helps to fund such an awesome show.  Whatever it takes…

Interesting…

You're right that the writers have worked themselves into a three couple structure and this episode squeezes them for some considerable comedic gain, but there is one major problem with this structure and his name is Raj.  You can't have seven main characters, pair them up, and have it all work out.  Raj is stuck with…

A truly excellent episode.  I loved the unspoken bit of continuity with regard to Axl/Brick's bed situation from the last episode.  I laugh just thinking about how crammed their room is now with that giant bed, Axl's old bed (Brick's now) and the 10-games-in-1 table.

I loved Kat's insistence that Kim, at 28, is SO much older than she is at 22.

Maybe it's just me, but I have never been THAT close to one of my cousins.