Art seems to imitate life for Patricia Heaton, who came on 'The View' (weekdays, syndicated on ABC) to talk about her show 'The Middle.' Barbara Walters pointed out that like her character Frankie, Heaton is a busy working mother: While Frankie has three kids, Heaton is a mother to four boys.

Stories from Heaton's own family life often end up on the show. The 'Foreign Exchange' episode, where a student from Japan stayed with the Hecks, was based on an experience she had. "I brought our Japanese student to the set ... and he was enamored with Sue Heck, of course, but he never said a word in the ten days he stayed with us," Heaton said.

When the Heck family returns on the Season 3 premiere of 'The Middle,' they'll be joined by a very special guest -- Patricia Heaton's former 'Everybody Loves Raymond costar Ray Romano.

But don't worry -- just because the ABC sitcom is now attracting guest stars like Romano, former 'Saturday Night Live' star Molly Shannon and former 'Glee' star Chord Overstreet doesn't mean the show will lose any of what star Patricia Heaton calls its "Heck style."

In the Season 3 premiere (Wed., Sept. 21, 8PM ET on ABC), the Hecks go camping -- Heck-style, of course -- and if you're thinking that sounds like a recipe for disaster, you're absolutely correct.

Below, Heaton sounds off on her hatred for camping, reuniting with Romano and which pop culture obsession Frankie will harbor next now that the Royal Wedding is over.

Patricia Heaton wears a wig on 'The Middle.' It's not because she doesn't have the glamorous hair her character demands, she said today on 'The Wendy Williams Show' (weekdays, syndicated), but rather because a wig saves her about 45 minutes. That's time she can sleep in and come to the set a little bit later, a significant amount of time when you have kids. Tummy tucks also save time.

"I have to be in at 5:45 in the morning to work," said Heaton. "But with the wig, I don't have to come in until, like, 6:30." Heaton is also up front about having had plastic surgery to keep herself looking and feeling more fit. "We're having our kids later, so we need to stay energetic and alive and moving around for our kids," she said.

Tummy tucks in particular were singled out for high praise by both Williams and Heaton. They were able to eliminate sit-ups from their routine, an even bigger time-saver.

Patricia Heaton, star of 'The Middle' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' is known in left-leaning Hollywood for her conservative stance on weighty issues like abortion and stem cell research.

Although Heaton is happy to explain how important her Christian faith is to her, and how it shapes her views and career choices, she feels that her views have caused her to lose potential roles in the past.

"My feeling is all these things come from God and as long as I know I'm staying in line with Him, I don't have to worry if there is backlash," she told me during a visit to AOL's New York offices. "God will open any doors he wants to open and if he closes doors that's fine to."

Telling me that she has many gay friends and doesn't oppose gay marriage, Patricia gets frustrated being automatically lumped together with other conservatives, a characterization she says has cost her possible work.

"We know for a fact there are some people who have said they wouldn't want to work with us because of our politics," she said, with her husband David Hunt adding, "We get lumped in with lunatics."

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.

Why do 'The Middle' co-stars Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn always get cast as blue-collar characters? The actors sat down with us to answer that question and more submitted by readers for our Outside the Box interview show.

The two sitcom veterans joked that their limited range and acting abilities have typecast them, with Flynn noting that "no one has ever tried to have me play the rich guy in the mansion on the hill. What dictates it I think is my appearance. You can only play what you look like you're supposed to be."

Heaton wryly added, "I'm limited, I can only play moms.'

Jokes aside, they also talked about how personally close they are to their characters and their surprise at how often topics and scenarios mimic their real-life families.

On the new episode of 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM ET on ABC), youngest child Brick Heck learns the true story of his birth ... on his birthday. The horrifying tale has been kept hidden for many years. But now that Brick (Atticus Shaffer) is turning nine years old, he wants to know what really happened.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Brick's birth involved a slight mishap -- just a minor switcheroo. When Frankie and Mike Heck (Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn) arrived at the hospital, they went to the wrong room. The room really belonged to a "Mrs. Ferguson" -- but it was huge and swanky, and even had a flat-screen TV. Frankie pretended to be Mrs. Ferguson in order to keep the place, saying that she wanted to experience "the horrors of childbirth in luxury" for once.

Oh, to be a teenager again! After all, adolescence is the best time to come up with really bad plans that never work. Generally, these plans involve "hottie" girls. And yeah, these plans always fail. But at least they're entertaining.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

On 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM ET on ABC), it's Halloween time! Which equals girls in skimpy costumes. Teen son Axl Heck (Charlie McDermott) has an idea. He and his pals will take some "hottie" girls to a local haunted house. Once they're inside, the ladies will be so overcome with terror that they'll fall gratefully into the boys arms. Then, kissing will happen.

Of course, there are flaws with this plan. One of them: Even the boys are scared of the haunted house, and no one has made it through "without barfing." And barf doesn't generally lead to romance. But Axl shrugs away his friends' objections: "Think about it! [The girls] throw up all over the place, look to us for comfort. Boom! We're making out with them!" Brilliant! The guys high five, overcome by their own genius.

If what you really want is a pet, then you shouldn't get a human being. Animals are fluffier, after all. Plus, you don't really have to talk to animals so much. It's a win-win all around.

On 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM ET on ABC), youngest son Brick Heck (Atticus Shaffer) really wants a dog. But his mother Frankie (Patricia Heaton) decides to go in a different direction. She adopts a Japanese exchange student instead.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

One sure sign of impending old age is that you have to get fitted for adult diapers. Though actually, the preferred term for "adult diapers" is "briefs" -- since the word diapers is considered a little, well, babyish. Still, whatever you call them, they can't be that much fun. And on 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM ET on ABC), Frankie Heck must confront the fact that she is old enough to be a candidate for an "adult incontinence product." Yikes.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Frankie (Patricia Heaton) is lounging around at home, when her daughter Sue (Eden Sher) calls on the phone. Sue is off at a babysitting assignment. However, the parents haven't left her any diapers -- and the baby in question is "double-loaded, " which sounds kind of ominous. Sue needs diapers right away, and so Frankie is pressed into service.

Back when Patricia Heaton and Doris Roberts appeared on 'Everybody Loves Raymond,' the pair's characters had a pretty antagonistic relationship. That pattern continued tonight when Doris guest-starred on the season premiere of 'The Middle' (Wed., 8PM ET on ABC). Roberts plays Ms. Rinsky, the new school teacher who has Brick Heck (Atticus Shaffer) in her class.

[Warning: Spoiler alert.]

Brick is the youngest and most precocious child in the Heck family. And so when his parents Frankie and Mike (played by Heaton and Neil Flynn) show up to talk to Ms. Rinsky, they're understandably hopeful that they can get Brick some "special attention." Ms. Rinsky isn't in the mood to humor them, though, and takes specific aim at Frankie. "Every parent thinks their child is 'special',"she tells Frankie. "[But] they can't all be." Okay, that's actually a good point.

Even though they didn't get nominated for an Emmy (and win -- ahem, 'Modern Family') or go on tour all summer (ah, 'Glee'), the cast of 'The Middle' is ready for their second season.

I sat down with stars Patricia Heaton and Neil Flynn to hear what they have in store for their little engine that could sophomore show, including an 'Everybody Loves Raymond' blast from the past for Patricia in the season premiere (Wed., Sept. 22, 8PM ET on ABC). They also take stabs at what art-imitating-life stories we might see, including Japanese exchange students and Harlem Globe Trotters.


And when talking about 'Modern Family' -- part of their same ABC comedy block -- and the fact that they've already gotten to do a big Hawaii vacation episode, these comedy pros take it all in stride: "Well, they seem like nice people." Gotta love that attitude.

Everything's coming up Betty White these days. First, the comedienne got to host 'Saturday Night Live.' And now, she's a guest star on 'The Middle' (Wed., 8:30PM ET on ABC).

[Spoiler alert.]

Spring is in the air, and it's time for the annual Heck family BBQ on 'The Middle' (Wed., 8:30PM ET on ABC). This time around, Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton) wants her husband Mike (Neil Flynn) to be a little more social and outgoing at the party. But unfortunately, being "social" can sometimes have unintended consequences.

[Spoiler alert.]

How much love is too much love? That's the question facing Frankie (Patricia Heaton) on 'The Middle' (Wed., 8:30PM ET on ABC). Frankie is surrounded by her husband and three kids on Mother's Day -- but their affection seems a little excessive, and also a little annoying.

The kids give her breakfast in bed, presents and Mother's Day cards. Then, one of them manages to spill the breakfast in bed all over Frankie. After that, her husband Mike (Neil Flynn) suggests a mad rush to the drug store to get even more presents. "We got twenty minutes to hit the [store] and get your mom something she'll treasure forever!" he says. It all might be too much love for one woman to handle.