“The Middle” (7 p.m., ABC) tends to get overlooked. And that’s the theme of tonight’s episode. It’s hard to get noticed when a show shares a night with “Modern Family,” the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning series that has been singled out for critical love since before it debuted. If the show got any more praise, it would be “Mad Men.”

“The Middle” breaks no new ground. At times, the scenes between Frankie Heck (Patricia Heaton) and her husband, Mike (Neil Flynn), are perfectly believable and natural, but also a little like warmed-over “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Still, you have to admire a show that goes out of its way to be unstylish and unhip, showcasing young characters who are far from “hot.”

I’m particularly fond of young Sue Heck, played with gusto and sensitivity by Eden Sher. Awkward, beset with braces and energetically obtuse, Sue is the quintessential post-adolescent, a brazenly believable and humane character. That’s daring and rare, especially on a network where high school girls often look like the fully formed Tessa (Jane Levy) on “Suburgatory”: eye-rolling one-liner machines who are 16 going on 29.

In tonight’s “Middle,” Sue is feeling particularly overlooked because her sad little club of wrestling cheerleaders did not get its picture in the yearbook. She consults the guidance counselor (guest star Whoopi Goldberg), who knows what it’s like to be at the bottom of any pecking order. They remind us that in high school and in life, the hardest thing to endure is not being insulted or picked on, but being overlooked entirely. As Goldberg’s character describes her high school years: “Nobody noticed me. And I was the only black kid!”

Tonight’s other highlights

• Contestants sing on two hours of “American Idol” (7 p.m., Fox).

• Alicia Silverstone guest-stars on “Suburgatory” (7:30 p.m., ABC).

• Phil’s car purchase irks Claire on “Modern Family” (8 p.m., ABC).

• Blood on the dunes on “CSI” (9 p.m., CBS).

• A hate crime close to home on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (9 p.m., NBC).

• Press scrutiny grows on “Revenge” (9 p.m., ABC).