Born into the ghetto that is ABC Family, TV's "The Middleman" barely stood a chance. Brain-child of "Lost" scribe Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the series blends comic book capers with off the wall slapstick and a self-reflexive knack for making the best of everything. Villains include a vast assortment of oddities ranging from vampire puppets to an alien boy band. Matt Keeslar stars as the titular superhero, a nameless agent employed by a faceless higher power who performs his duties with the utmost diligence and celebrates his victories by tossing back a big glass of milk. His world gets shaken up when he recruits a new assistant, Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales), a rebellious, perpetually snarky slacker who is more capable than she thinks. The two opposites form a wonderfully comic tag team as they take on mysterious whatsits and save the world a lot. For all its cheese, the series proves surprisingly smart, dense with pop culture lore, and oddly touching at times. It's a sci-fi/fantasy genre bender along the lines of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Doctor Who." And at only 13 episodes, the complete series is an enjoyable and accessible treat just waiting to be discovered on DVD.
Friday, July 31, 2009
DVD Pick: The Middleman – The Complete Series
Born into the ghetto that is ABC Family, TV's "The Middleman" barely stood a chance. Brain-child of "Lost" scribe Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the series blends comic book capers with off the wall slapstick and a self-reflexive knack for making the best of everything. Villains include a vast assortment of oddities ranging from vampire puppets to an alien boy band. Matt Keeslar stars as the titular superhero, a nameless agent employed by a faceless higher power who performs his duties with the utmost diligence and celebrates his victories by tossing back a big glass of milk. His world gets shaken up when he recruits a new assistant, Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales), a rebellious, perpetually snarky slacker who is more capable than she thinks. The two opposites form a wonderfully comic tag team as they take on mysterious whatsits and save the world a lot. For all its cheese, the series proves surprisingly smart, dense with pop culture lore, and oddly touching at times. It's a sci-fi/fantasy genre bender along the lines of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or "Doctor Who." And at only 13 episodes, the complete series is an enjoyable and accessible treat just waiting to be discovered on DVD.
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