RIP: DORIS ROBERTS

Doris Roberts, famed for her portrayal of a loving but intrusive mother on  TV's Everybody Loves Raymond, died Sunday.

Roberts' son, Michael Cannata, confirmed the news of his mother's death in a statement issued Monday.

The 90-year-old actress, whose celebrated career spanned six decades, won four Emmys for her portrayal of Marie Barone on the popular CBS comedy series which ran for 9 seasons (1996-2005). She won an Emmy earlier in her career for supporting actress for her role on the drama St. Elsewhere.

Raymond star Ray Romano, who played Raymond, remembered the actress who played his character's mother in a statement: "Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me. She never stopped. Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a young, green comic trying to make it as an actor, she did it all with such a grand love for life and people and I will miss her dearly."

On Raymond, Roberts' Marie was a loving, sometimes smothering and often all-knowing (at least in her own mind) presence in the home of Raymond and his wife, Debra (Patricia Heaton), who did not always appreciate Marie's intrusion into family affairs.

The late Peter Boyle played Marie's husband, Frank, and Brad Garrett played Robert Barone, Raymond's brother who felt like Marie's other son compared to the coddled Raymond.

Roberts, who was born in St. Louis, was a veteran of Broadway before starring in various TV series over a career that spanned more than 60 years and includes some yet-to-be-released projects. Her stage credits include The Desk Set, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Bad Habits, for which she won an Outer Critics Circle Award.

Besides Raymond, Roberts had memorable roles in other TV series, including Remington Steele and Angie. Early in Roberts' career, she appeared on such classic shows as The Naked City and Ben Casey and later she was featured in shows Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy and The Middle, which stars Heaton.

Roberts' feature film roles include Barefoot in the Park, The Heartbreak Kid (1972) andThe Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Madea's Witness Protection.

Roberts' passion for cooking was reflected in her 2005 book, Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs and Lasagna, which she co-wrote with Danielle Morton...

THE MIDDLE: A MODERN CLASSIC

The television comedy Modern Family is pretty much considered one of the great comedies on television today and rightfully so. However, there is another comedy which I think has pretty much reached greatness but does not get the recognition that Modern Family gets and that is another ABC show The Middle.

The Middle is an American sitcom about a working-class family living in Indiana and facing the day-to-day struggles of home life, work, and raising children. The show premiered September 30, 2009. on the ABC network. The Middle was created by former Roseanne and Murphy Brown writers Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline of Blackie and Blondie Productions. The show is distributed by Warner Bros. Television Distribution and Blackie and Blondie Productions.

The series features Frances "Frankie" Heck (Patricia Heaton), a working class, middle-aged, Midwestern woman and her husband Mike (Neil Flynn), who reside in the small fictional town of Orson in Southwest Indiana. They are the parents of three children, Axl (Charlie McDermott), Sue (Eden Sher), and Brick (Atticus Shaffer).

The series is narrated by Frankie, initially an under-performing salesperson at a used-car dealership and later a dental assistant. Her stoic husband Mike manages a local quarry and serves as a stabilizing influence in the family. The children are quite different from one another: oldest son Axl, a popular but under-motivated and cynical teenager, does well in sports but not in academics; daughter Sue is an enthusiastic young teen but chronically unsuccessful and socially awkward; and youngest son Brick, an intelligent but introverted compulsive reader with quirky behavioral traits. What is so appealing about this show is it is about real people with real story lines that common people can relate to.

The series was originally developed in the 2006–07 development cycle and was to star Ricki Lake as Frankie. Atticus Shaffer was the only actor to retain his role when the show was re-developed. The series was created by Eileen Heisler and DeAnn Heline and the pilot was directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The series is going to be entering its seventh season this fall. That is an amazing lifespan for a television show, let alone a comedy series...