While 'Modern Family' gets all the accolades, and 'Cougar Town' gets a lot of attention for its terrible name, 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM on ABC) has just been sitting back and making a quality family sitcom for a season-and-a-half now.

The performances and characters are neither outrageous nor sensational, but they are genuine and honest.

Take, for example, this week's major crisis for the Heck family. Frankie accidentally bought a $200 bottle of make-up, thinking it was $20. Unable to return it, she and husband Mike had to take on extra jobs to make ends meet.

But what was eating Frankie up about it was that Mike wouldn't yell at her, even though she admitted to the screw-up. So she took care of the yelling for him by having both sides of the argument.

What followed was a brief madcap argument that was both familiar and reasonable, even if both sides were coming from the same mouth. Even Mike felt she'd said it all pretty well.

As it turned out, Mike wasn't mad at Frankie for making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. He was frustrated that a $200 mistake could be so devastating to their daily lives.

That's a reality many of us can relate to, and that's why 'The Middle' is perhaps the most honest sitcom on television.