I actively disliked this episode and pray it isn't some backdoor pilot for next season.

I grew up in Maine (a little bit of the South up North) and I will always associate "Hee Haw" with Sunday nights, watching TV with my brother and dad. They always aired them with "The Muppet Show" and "The Irish Rovers" - talk about an Niche show!

I am a 37 year old White woman who knows nothing about Football
(I think I feel safe enough to reveal that here within the anonymity of the Internet)

Sorta Continuity
I liked the brief attempt at continuity with bringing up the My Chemical Romance song, but then they forgot to mention that it was Sue who pushed them to sing the song in the first place.

Jerry Philbin, yes. But also a heaping cup of Morey Amsterdam.

To be fair…
…I imagine most of these people neither picked the songs, nor the idols they may have actually wanted. Getting rights to songs is the name of the game on Idol, now and forever. I can't imagine that Thia CHOSE "Smile" over every other song in the Michael Jackson catalog. Hell, it might even be public…

Hank and I can't be the only people in the world who watch both shows, but we may be the only people on AV Club to watch both shows. I watch a lot of shows, but I'm not pitting any show against another. I don't win anything by doing that.

Cash Cab Canada
I love Cash Cab here in Canada, but as an American living in Canada, there are a lot of questions that I can't answer to save my life.

Dr. Blondie
Actually, Dr. Blondie is Head Nurse Blondie.

Ayn Rand's Adventures in Wonderland
Or what Madame Rand would think when coming in contact with Americans in 2010.

Currently I'm living undercover in Canada and I can assure you that the Canadian hospital would be more than pleased to accept the non-tax paying American's money. At least in Ontario, you have to live here for three months to qualify for OHIP (heath care).

I would totally agree that THE MIDDLE is a pretty accurate representation of lower middle class life, but much less goofy than HOPE. There's a lot of talk about money and job woes including the above mentioned $200 eye concealer plot.

What I like about The Middle
…is it's look at a lower middle class family. It's so rare to see a family on TV that has to worry about money and isn't rushing out to buy a new iPad or (again!) trying to get their kid into an exclusive school.

Hey, I worked on Good Time Max!

Remember, Sports Monster? Hell, I have all the episodes on pristine VHS AND an official Sports Monster baseball cap. I got it when I was an Audience of One guest on Night After Night with Allan Havey.

I used to be a Razzie member and the "ceremonies" are one step above your kid's Little League banquet. But fun nonetheless. And yes, I was there for the Hallie Berry acceptance speech. And yes, it was awesome.

I'm just glad you're still recapping this show
I see I'm only one of a handful of "reasonable" commenters, but I just want to say keep up the good work. It will never be the most popular recap, but it's a quality show that rarely includes a fart joke. And those shows need love too.

She DOES look PhotoShopped, but she isn't really a member of the family proper. Also, that dingus in the back of the picture was only in the pilot and then pulled a Chuck Cunningham.

What? No love for Benjamin on the brilliant but departed Saturday Morning show, Science Court or WordGirl?

Not only that, he's from WOODinville, WA.