Wednesday is comedy night this fall on ABC. That's brave, considering the sitcom has been gasping for breath on its deathbed for years. But ABC has four of 'em in a row, 8 to 10 p.m. Hank and Cougar Town, the two at each end, have big stars like Kelsey Grammer and Courtney Cox, but aren't much to write home about.

But the two in the middle (one is even called The Middle), comprise a sweet hour of family comedy. Patricia Heaton stars in The Middle as an over-stressed mother and would-be car salesman, and Ed O'Neill is the veteran in Modern Family, about three different families with a lot in common.

Kids help make these shows sing. Rico Rodriguez, 10, plays a strange little ladies man who becomes step-son to O'Neill's character when he marries a hot, young, Colombian firecracker. Sarah Hyland, 18; Nolan Gould, 10, and Ariel Winter, 11, play the three kids in a family headed by Julie Bowen (Boston Legal) and Ty Burrell (Back to You).

"One of the reasons that we were nervous about doing this show," said exec producer Steven Levitan, "is that it's difficult to find really good kid actors who are real. That's why there are a lot of animated family shows, because adults can then play the kids."

It took about 1,000 interviews to find the trio, each of whom has his or her individual strengths. For instance, Nolan's character is a bit of dullard, but Nolan himself is in Mensa. "He's crazy smart for his age," said Levitan, "so he and his character are equally off center.

West Chester's own Charlie McDermott, 19; Eden Sher, 17; and Atticus Shaffer, 11, are the kids of Heaton and Neil Flynn (the janitor on Scrubs) in The Middle.

"They have a realness, an accessiblity," said exec producer DeAnn Heline. "They don't feel like TV kids."