The Middleman missed its target – but only in one way: its audience. Why The Middleman ended up on ABC Family I’ll never understand. Finally a show comes along that caters to the superhero-quipping, sci-fi-obsessed, movie-worshipping crowd and it goes almost completely unnoticed and unadvertised on a family oriented channel. The Middleman will become a cult classic – that much is almost guaranteed by having an episode inciting a “Nakatomi Plaza Protocol” – if word of its greatness ever manages to get out.
A disillusioned Generation Y temp worker has the opportunity of a lifetime dumped on her lap when an experiment at her current job goes out of control and a horrible monster is unleashed. Diving to safety, Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales) keeps the monster at bay until an unnamed man in a plain gray jacket shows up to dispatch the creature from whence it came. He disappears as quickly as he came leaving her with nothing but a name: the Middleman. Wendy soon finds all the temp agencies in town have blacklisted her after the “disaster” at her last workplace is blamed on her father’s lucky lighter – except for one. With only one option left, what’s a starving artist to do? Wendy shows up only to discover she’s the new recruit for a super secret organization: The Middleman – who are essentially the Men in Black but with film-irreverent and much stranger case files.
Matt Keeslar stars as the mentor Middleman to Natalie’s Wendy, and exudes a charm with a well-maintained Boy Scout innocence. The Middleman doles out words of wisdom and lessons as he and Wendy explore cases with super-intelligent gorillas, zombifying fish, boy bands with doomsday ambitions and puppets instilled with the souls of ancient vampires. There’s a “oh brother” feel to each of the scenarios presented to the team, but it’s all pulled off with such an expert tongue in cheek hokey flavor that you don’t mind when something is a little too cheesy because the payoff is always worthwhile. For that matter, the episodes improve by volumes with each installment and by the time you reach “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol” you’ll recognize the show’s inherent genius.
The show comes from the graphic novels by writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach and artist Les McClaine and to its credit the series does full justice to the source material. The censored potty-mouth language of Wendy contrasts perfectly with the Middleman’s tame and hilarious exclamations of “phooey!” in good old 1950s fashion. Besides the outdated self-censorship of the Middleman (which he occasionally breaks to great comedic effect), there are many throwbacks in the Middleman-verse fans of comic books, science fiction and action films will easily recognize. The idea of super-intelligent gorillas isn’t anything new, but at times you can’t help but recall Superman’s Ultra-Humanite or the Flash’s Gorilla Grodd. There’s even an entire episode dedicated to a Kung-Fu parody, whose significance actually then resonates into a few other episodes later on.
The cast is superb and Keeslar and Morales carry on the series with a mixture of quick quips and punch lines coming so fast the series warrants multiple viewings. Keeslar plays the straight-laced hero perfectly and Morales (who you can’t help but liken to Rosario Dawson) has all the right amounts of spunk. Brit Morgan and Jamke Smollett play Wendy’s roommate Lacey and fellow-apartment-squatter Noser, respectively. May Pat Gleason supports Keeslar and Morales as the agency’s android secretary with a perpetually bad mood, Ida. Plenty of familiar faces make cameos including Kevin Sorbo as a cryogenically frozen Middleman intent on foiling the future agenda of his old nemesis the Candle.
DVD Bonus Features
There are plenty of notable extras on the disc, but to get to them you’ll have to bypass the web featurettes, a few alternate scenes, some painfully unfunny TV spots starring the show’s creators and a nice although ultimately unnecessary gallery. Once you’ve passed them by, you’ll find a decent gag reel and casting sessions which make it very clear why Keeslar and Morales got the parts. Also there’s a piece on the industry-famous Wilhelm Scream and its inclusion in every episode of The Middleman. A step by step analysis of the opening title sequence shows various versions and how it became what it is on this set. But the crown jewel of the set may be the mock up PSAs starring the two leads of the series bringing lessons about the supernatural to the viewer at home.
Chances are you never knew this series existed or you just let it pass you by – which is why it’s already canceled. Now I know there’s little inclination to pick up a one-season series already ended, but you’ll be doing yourself a favor if you give The Middleman the chance it deserves. The Middleman could be one of the most underappreciated series to grace television. Try it, you’ll like it.
"The Middleman: The Complete Series" is on sale July 28, 2009 and is rated NR. Action, Adventure, Comedy, Comic Book, Television. Directed by John Kretchmer, Jeremiah Chechik, Michael Zinberg, Allan Kroeker, Michael Grossman. Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Sarah Watson, Andy Reaser, Hans Beimler, Margaret Dunlap, Jordan Rosenberg. Starring Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Mary Pat Gleason, Brit Morgan, Jake Smollett.
