Summer TV Fix: “The Middleman”
Posted on July 8, 2008 @ 10:34 am
What’s not to love about a TV show that references both Barry Allen and Wally West in the pilot episode?
Okay, so The Middleman — a self-referential superhero/sci-fi spoof airing Monday nights on ABC Family — is more or less made for nerds just like me. The series follows the straight-laced, milk-drinking Middleman (Matt Keeslar) and his snarky sidekick, Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales, right), as they battle mad scientists, monsters, robots, and other evildoers bent on conquering/destroying the world. Imagine Men in Black and add a dash of The Tick; that should give you a fairly accurate idea of the overall vibe The Middleman is going for. The show eschews the melodrama of, say, Heroes in favor of witty, rapid-fire dialogue (and, in the case of the pilot episode, a hyper-intelligent gorilla with a penchant for mob movies and cheap tracksuits).
The end result is a very watchable — and, at times, downright clever — show. The stars have definite chemistry, and Morales is positively charming as the sarcastic Wendy. That being said, there are two factors working against The Middleman. First, it’s on ABC Family. That means the budget gets stretched a little thin, and some of the special effects end up looking like something you’d see on a particularly bad episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. Oh, if only The Middleman aired on ABC and had the budget of, say, Pushing Daisies! Second, a series with this kind of niche appeal is almost certain to get cancelled — sooner rather than later. As a result, there’s a decent chance that ongoing mysteries like the fate of Wendy’s father and the origins of the Middleman’s operation will likely go unanswered. It’s one of those “commit at your own risk” situations so common in television today.
If you can put those issues aside, however, The Middleman serves up plenty of goofy superhero fun. And, hey — if nothing else, it’s an entertaining sci-fi fix until the Fall television season rolls around.
Posted by Jess | Filed Under Pop Culture |
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