ABC is hoping to bring Patricia Heaton back to primetime.

According to The Hollywood Reporte, ABC had signed Heaton for the lead in the comedy pilot The Middle and given the show a greenlight.

The Middle won’t actually shoot until February and would feature Heaton as the matriarch of a middle-class Midwestern family. Julie Anne Robinson will direct.

If the show sounds vaguely familiar, it was originally developed as a Ricki Lake vehicle back in the 2006-07 development cycle, only to get resurrected this summer with an eye toward casting Heaton in the lead role.

A two-time Emmy winner for Everybody Loves Raymond, Heaton had a short-lived return to the small screen last season in FOX’s Back to You.

Source: Zap2It