ABC renews ‘The Middle,’ cancels ‘Trophy Wife’

After a late-in-the-workday pickup and renewal spree, ABC kept the game going into the late evening on the comedy front -- renewing the veteran “The Middle” and divorcing the freshman laffer “Trophy Wife.”

Family comedy “The Middle,” starring “Everybody Loves Raymond” alum Patricia Heaton, will return for a sixth season. The under-the-radar Wednesday comedy has never quite been a flashy performer in the way “Modern Family” has, but it’s nevertheless a steady performer in its 8 p.m. slot.

It joins previously announced returning series “Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” “Resurrection,” “Castle,” “Revenge,” as well as the comedies “Modern Family” and “The Goldbergs.”

Not quite so lucky is Tuesday newbie “Trophy Wife.” The half-hour show, which features Bradley Whitford and Malin Akerman in a May-December marriage that’s at the heart of the quirky blended family, won the hearts of critics, but the little-promoted laffer whimpered in the ratings with “The Goldbergs” as its lead-in.

ABC would not officially confirm its cancelation, but star Marcia Gay Harden, who plays one of Whitford’s ex-wives, let the news slip on Twitter.