You know how sometimes you see an actor or actress and they look so familiar, but you can't remember where you saw him or her, or what the TV show was? That's how I've been with the little boy who plays Brick on The Middle. His name is Atticus Shaffer, and since the ABC sitcom began this fall, I've been scratching my head over him. Where did I see him before?

Turns out that it was on a commercial for AIG. Yes, AIG, that huge insurance company that was a big part of the economic collapse. The company that was too big for America to let fail.

Well, this commercial from two years ago tells a different story. In fact, it implies that AIG is all the security any family will ever need. Take a look:



You know, just a couple of years later and I'd say that Atticus Shaffer is doing a heck of a lot better than AIG! While the company is embarrassed by the bailout, little Atticus has become one of the stars of a terrific new comedy series.

It's interesting to watch this commercial and realize that it plays almost like an audition for The Middle. The kid in the spot could be Brick -- although if it were, he'd take a word like liability and whisper it to himself... "liability."

You wonder if the casting folks at The Middle watched this one commercial and said, "That's it! We found our Brick. Call off the nationwide search."

Yeah, I'm sure it was just like that.