Reviewed by: Samuel K. Sloan (FarPoint Media Executive News Director)
The new dramedy series “The Middleman” from the ABC Family Network premiered this week on Monday and turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable 1-hr romp into a fast-paced, satiric-laced dialogue reminiscent of the old Mel Brooks days with “Get Smart,” only with sharper wit.
The pairing of Matt Keeslar as The Middleman and Natalie Morales as his sidekick Wendy Watson is perfect casting. Their chemistry is infectious. Add to the mix veteran actress Mary Pat Gleason with her professional comedic timing and you have all the ingredients for what could turn out to be another major hit series for the fairly new ABC cable network.
In the pilot episode Wendy, a struggling artist (painter) is working for a temp agency as a DNA research lab’s receptionist when all hell breaks loose after a big monster created out of a mish-mash of genetic material wipes out the scientists and sets out to attack Wendy. Keeping her cool, she attacks the monster with a sharp letter opener until “The Middleman” comes on the scene and blows it away with a specialized weapon.
To make an hour-show short, he hires Wendy as his sidekick (compared to Robin – which she hates) and the two, along with The Middleman’s clever and sharp-tongued robot named Ida (Gleason), set out to fight crime, aliens, monsters and everything in the real world that one would normally only find in a comic book scenario.
The show is full of geeky slang, phrases and references that probably only those who are card-carrying SF aficionados will understand, however, there is plenty there to entertain the average viewer as well.
I can only hope this show grabs its audience quickly as two other ABC Family shows (“Kyle XY,” and “Greek”) have done because it is well worth one hour out of your busy Monday evening.
On my scale of 0 to 5 I give “The Middleman” 
Got to agree with you on this one. The writers for this show have a keen ear for dialogue that ranks up there with Joss Whedon. It also has an enjoyable level of camp somewhere between Men In Black (an obvious choice for comparison) and the Adam West Batman. For me, Keesler was not that appealing at first, but grew on me. Morales, however, was spot on from the first scene to the last. I think we are seeing a superstar in the making with this one.
Quite the good show. The first lines out her mouth are a stealth joke, love it. I knew I seen the mad lady scientist before, it was driving me bananas until I remembered 24.
“That some darn good cow squirt.”
I have to say that I quite enjoyed this so far. I hope that the series will have a long run if they can keep the level of the writing as good as the pilot has been.
I like that when the characters go potty mouth that they place a square censor block over their mouths.
I caught this on netfilx, instant viewing. I was impressed, very well done. I hope the rest of the shows are this clever. Good one.
When my wife and I first saw the commercials for this one, we thought it was going to be painful to watch. We were pleasantly surprised. It was quite good. I just hope they don’t fall prey to same thing that killed a show this one reminds me of: “Special Unit 2”. The dialouge took over at the expense of the script. If they manage to keep everything in balance, this show could have a long and prosperous run.