"The Middleman"
ABC Family is an interesting network. They dabble in 'family' Sci-Fi - shows like "Kyle XY" and "The Fallen" miniseries. Overall, I typically think these shows are 'OK', but my wife tends to like them a lot. Which, upon reflection, is probably by design, since she is much more a target ABC Family audience than I am.
However, "The Middleman" seems to be different. Sure, it will be light fare, but it seems to contain several elements that made me set a TiVo Season Pass for the show. It's based on a comic, which always gets me to check out a show.
It's also a superhero tale. The basic story revolves around a nerdy girl who is recruited by the Middleman as a sidekick after he sees her attack a tentacle monster with a letter opener. Good and campy, right? Just that one-sentence summary would be enough for me to record an episode.
But, the real draw is the writer, Javier Grillo-Marxuach - or more to the point, Javi's work. He works on "Medium" and "Lost" as a producer and writer. In addition, he has connections to "Jake 2.0," "The Dead Zone," "Charmed," "The Pretender" and "SeaQuest DSV". As the LA Times article status, Javi "...offers the nicely self-fulfulling premise that the world as represented in comic books is the world as it really it is".
The final selling point also came from the LA Times review:
There is something too light about it, too self-mocking, too narrowly aimed. But it is the sort of show that basic cable was invented for; in that venue, light, self-mocking, silly and narrowly aimed may be seen for the good qualities they are. This is good summer entertainment, like a Saturday afternoon B-movie matinee transposed to Monday-night TV.
I am giving "The Middleman" a few episodes to see if it will officially join my summer viewing list. I will, of course, report back if it is a 'must-see'!
