This is like one minor nitpick I have with the show but what I don't get is the Glossners, or, rather, the Glossner boys and what they do. Of all the stuff they do, like harrassing neighbors and stealing things, wouldn't it be common mind, especially if the mom (Rita) isn't doing anything about it, to contact the authorities or CPS? I guess what I'm trying to say is that of all the problems they have with the Glossners, why didn't they just contact the authorities?
Just Eat Gilligan, there wouldn't be much conflict in the neighborhood
Additionally, many of the conflicts with the Glossners involve the Hecks doing certain things that are illegal, or could be construed to be that way. Like when they were holding Brick "hostage" in their house, Sue did threaten to call the police, and the boys said that they could claim Brick was the one trespassing. Similarly in the conflict over the wind chimes, Rita assaulted Mike, but only after he trespassed and began taking down their wind chimes.
Fear of revenge. If her kids did happen to be taken, due to you involving social services - do you want to live next to an already psychotic woman who has nothing left to lose? But even if they weren't taken, the fear of reprisal would be enough to keep many sane victims from reporting.
Maybe a minor one but, if Sue is so religious and a strong believer in God, shouldn't she be more shocked about Brad's homosexuality? I'm not saying she should misstreat him for that, of course, but one would think she'll try to change him (in her friendly corny way) from that "sin" in a similar way how she reacts to Brick's atheism.
IIRC the Hecks are Episcopalians, that's one of the most liberal and gay friendly of the churches, one that accepts gay marriage and ordains openly gay bishops. It's not a stretch to suppose that Sue shares her church's more liberal vision over homosexuality.
Likewise, some Christians are not quite shocked at the prospect of homosexuality or atheism, whether they be a strong believer or not.
Most Christians aren't shocked that homosexuality or atheism exist, whether or not they believe it's wrong. They're also not shocked when somebody as flamboyant as Brad comes out. Although there's usually a hope in the back of their minds that they're misreading that person's actions and that they aren't really gay...
Most Christians don't, but is Sue Heck we are talking about. The same Sue Heck that freaks out when she finds out Brick is atheist. So why is she different about Brad and even hugs him when he comes out?
Could be an aversion of Aesop Amnesia. In the episode with Brick's doubts in God, the Aesop delivered by Reverend Tim Tom was that Sue can only share her beliefs, but not constantly browbeat Brick into accepting them. So even if Sue belongs to a Christian Church that has the historical Christian views on homosexuality, she might just be exercising the previous Aesop by not freaking out. After all, Brad and Sue have been best friends for years, so whatever she believes about the issue is almost definitely known to him already, so she doesn't need to beat a dead horse. As for hugging him, the hug doesn't necessarily mean she approves, but could simply be a reassurance that it doesn't change their friendship and she loves him all the same, since he seems nervous about how she'll respond.
Another thing is that in the episode with Brad's coming out, it's still very vague, so much that without Frankie's narration later the audience couldn't even be really sure that's what he meant. So technically there's no way of knowing whether Sue (or even Brad for that matter) takes this admission as just meaning he's attracted to guys and has no interest in girls, or whether he actually intends to date guys. Even the Christians who consider homosexuality a sin don't generally consider being homosexual itself a sin, and see only acting on the attraction as the sinful part. Brad's coming out doesn't really seem to imply any revelation of what he means to do with this realization, so even if Sue has beliefs that would otherwise make her worry about him, it's not all that unusual that given the context she'd just assume the best (from her religious point of view) about which way he meant it unless she was given definite reason to think otherwise.
Hell, for all we know, he just admitted he's smoking again.
How big is Orson? From almost every other bit of evidence, it would seem that since Orson is large enough to have a Red Lobster, it's at least about the size of, say Joplin, Missouri (40,000 to 50,000 people), but it's never been said to be much bigger. On the other hand, when Axl and his buddies try (and fail) to paint "Snorson" on the water tower, they talk about the football team winning a "city championship," implying that Orson has at least one more high school that's never been mentioned on the show.
Could be talking about private schools. There is at least one local Catholic School, for instance, given that one of Sue's dates (the Abercrombie greeter) is said to go to one. It's not uncommon even for small towns to have more than one school if the others schools are assorted private schools.
Just what NFL team was Mike heavily into before the Colts packed up the truck at midnight and moved to Indianapolis in 1984? Mike and Frankie are in their late-50's, so they're obviously old enough to remember this.
Actually, considering the age of their kids, they're in their mid-late 40s or early 50s.
What happened to Sue’s tennis lessons? She made the team one episode, was surprisingly good, and then it was never mentioned again, implying she never was in a sports team.
It's possible she attends offscreen or, maybe, she left the team. This was one of the earlier episodes where things didn't really stick.
