Good comedy on TV is hard. Good sci-fi on TV is hard. A good comic book adaptation is hard. So pulling off a good combination of all three is pretty damn hard. But in 2008, Javier Grillo-Marxuach pulled it off with The Middleman. Based on his own comic book series, the show was a true delight, with terrific dialogue, great acting and some of the wildest and funniest stories you can imagine, topped off with terrific tongue-in-cheek references to sci-fi and comic stuff. Sadly, as happens all too often with such quirky genius, the ratings couldn’t match the critical acclaim and hardcore fans and the show ended before they could film their season finale. Maybe being on ABC Family, which was shifting to teen drama stuff, was a bad choice as the Sci-Fi Channel would have been a much better fit for the material.
Thankfully, the DVD for the full series has come out, allowing viewers who might have missed it before to enjoy the full wild saga (minus the upcoming comic special that adapts the 13th episode) packed with some terrific extras. It allows you to enjoy a show that finally talks to the geek in all of us.
The Show
Based on the comic, the show opens with Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales), an aspiring artist stuck in the latest of a series of dead-end temp jobs at a lab. When an experiment causes a monster to suddenly break loose, she’s rescued by a mysterious man in a drab uniform (Matt Keeslar). Needing a job, Wendy agrees to go in for a series of interviews and learns that the man is called The Middleman, the latest in a series of agents for an organization so secret even he doesn’t know who runs it. Apparently, all those comic book threats of aliens, monsters, mutants and mad scientists really exist and it’s the Middleman’s job to stop them. Wendy agrees to go ahead and become a Middleman in training, working with her boss and Ida (Mary Pat Gleason), a snide robotic aide. Wendy tries to keep it secret from her best friend/roommate Lacey (Brit
Morgan) and their friend Noser (Jake Smollett) while handling the wild insanity she gets into.
Perhaps the best way to describe this show is to quote Morales herself: Men in Black meeting Get Smart with a dose of The Avengers and The Tick thrown in to boot. The show doesn’t just play with comic conventions, it embraces them whole-heartedly without shame and pure joy. The stories are pure fantasy: an intelligent gorilla turned mob boss; a terra cotta (Chinese mud soldier) brought to life to hunt the heir to the Chinese throne…who happens to be a Caucasian L.A. kid; a boy band who are aliens; flying zombie fish; vampire puppets who possess their human handlers; a man cursed with immortality after stealing a tuba from the Titanic that causes anyone who hears it play to be crushed in the icy waters of the North Atlantic; and soriety sisters whose spirits are pushed out while the minds of less attractive students take over their bodies. What other show boasts such ideas?
Adding to it are the tongue-in-cheek references to other sci-fi and comic properties. Episodes will have numerous running gags referencing movies or shows like “Reitman University” among many Ghostbusters references in the ghost soriety episode. Another has tons of Die Hard references woven in (Best being Wendy’s line of “it’s Die Hard in a building.”) and scores more. There’s also the way the show can play with some clichés of the genres. For example, when meeting the immortal tuba man, the Middleman figures the guy’s tortured by the guilt of living so long and leaving people behind but it turns out the guy’s pretty happy being immortal and willing to do anything to keep that up. There’s also how they openly acknowledge their devices being dues ex machina stuff such as the BTRS or Beyond the Realm of Science Scanner. The constant references roll along and appeal to any geek at heart.
That’s not the only wild touches for the show. There’s the dialogue, which plays like David Mamet, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Diablo Cody and Aaron Sorkin got together. A restaurant named “The Booty Chest” is identified as “the pirate-themed sports bar with scantily-clad waitresses” and is referred to that way every time the name is mentioned. People will talk in vast exposition with ease while also delivering some great lines and banter. That’s not to mention the subtitles, which shift about with various time zones and add to the wild subject matter. A great bit has Wendy interrogating a Mexican wrestler in Spanish with English subtitles but when Wendy switches to English, the subtitles change to Spanish. Added onto it is nice touches like stock footage shown alongside modern-day effects.
All these elements are good but the acting helps nail it all. Morales has a great career ahead of her in comedy as she has excellent timing, her smile and delivery aiding her performance. Her Wendy is no shrinking violet by any means and gets into the wild action big time. Besides art, she also adores lucha libre among other things and when she and the Middleman go after the zombie fish, she’s downright giddy at the idea of fighting actual zombies. While the arc of her father who “vanished under mysterious and as of yet unexplained circumstances” hangs over her, Morales doesn’t let it get her down and the infectious way she approaches the part gives the show so much of its energy. It’s also helped by her relationship with a friend named Tyler which flows quite naturally as the two geeks bond.
Kesslar matches her as the Middleman. On the surface, he’s the bland hero, always on business and no humor with a super confident demeanor. Indeed, that deadpan manner makes his lines so much funnier as he relates the insane goings-on with a perfectly straight face. A fun bit is that despite once being a Navy SEAL, he never swears, using stuff like “Oh, phooey” and his hysterical wild lines like “Sands of Zanzibar!” or “Mutual of Omaha!” But there’s a deeper side to him at times such as when it’s revealed how he goes to see the Western Ride Lonesome a dozen times but has never been able to see the ending as an emergency calls him away, hinting his life is literally his job. Still, Kesslar’s nice charm aids in making his role deeper than it could be, especially when it’s clear he has feelings for Lacey.
For the supporting cast, Gleason steals her every scene as the sardonic Ida, spitting out contempt for Wendy and the world in general but in a way that makes her appealing. Morgan is also funny as Lacey, her bright attitude and genuine friendship with Lacey making her a nice distraction. Smollett is fun as Noser, who always communicates with song lyrics to his friends (“Obligatory Dylan Reference,” the subtitles say at one point) but gets a nice showcase when he goes missing and the gang discovers a secret of his past. There’s also some good guest stars like Mark Dacascos as Master Ping, the masked martial artist who trains Wendy; Mary Lynn Rajskub as a scientist training monkeys; Elaine Hendrix as Roxy, a reformed subbucus who now runs a fashion business and gets great lines on them (“It looks like you’re wearing Hitler’s smoking jacket and it looks worse on a girl”); and Kevin Sorbo as a 1960’s Middleman who’s unfrozen to deal with an old foe, his ‘60’s mentality clashing with today (and the added bonus that Ida treats him with actual respect and admiration).
All together, the show is an absolute delight. It suffers only because the subplot of Tyler going to work for a sinister corporation never got the payoff as the final episode was axed. In a time where every sci-fi/fantasy series tries to reach for a high plateau of layered drama, this show is just pure fun as hell. It’s a shame it ended too soon but at least we get twelve episodes of geek nirvana that unfolds in a brilliant way. From acting to writing to content, the show (as many a villain on it says) is sheer elegance in its simplicity.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Video: Presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The show exists on wild visuals so this is a great transfer, nice and crisp even if it lacks the HD the show was broadcast in.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 which nicely captures both the expert dialogue and the whacky special effects sounds which come over well. There are no other language tracks and no subtitles either (maybe they couldn't keep up with the dialouge).
Bonus Features: The DVD comes in a nice slipcover with the four discs in two thin cases. Each case has a listing of episodes and extras and are adorned with “files” on the Middleman and Wendy with some of their various fake ID badges (such as Harland and Wolf, Department of the Interior). There’s also a booklet with an introduction by Grillo-Marxuach that’s a fun read.
For a show that only lasted twelve episodes, this thing comes packed with features. There are four Episode commentaries: “The Pilot Episode Sanction” with Grillo-Marxuach and director Jeremiah Chechik; “The Cursed Tuba Contingency” with Grillo-Marxuach, executive producer Hans Beimler, Kesslar, Morales, Morgan and Smollett; “The Clotharian Contamination Protocol” with Grillo-Marxuach and writers Margaret Dunlap, Andy Reaser, Jordan Rosenberg and Sarah Watson; and “The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” with Grillo-Marxuach, Kesslar and Morales. Have I mentioned how fun these titles are?
The commentaries are a fun selection, everyone having a great time talking about the episode, laughing quite a lot at the stuff they see. Kesslar notes how the Middleman was a bad-ass in the first ep but got a little lighter as the series went on. They talk of how Morales’ mother was upset over a scene of her undressing and Morales mock complaining about how she had no idea the image of her in a leather catsuit would be used in the promotion of the show. They also touch on how ABC Family was more involved than you might think and that affected the show, budget battles and more. The last commentary is wistful as Kesslar and Morales both thank Javier for giving them the best job they ever had, a nice send off to things.
There are five Web Featurettes that aired on the ABC Family website:
*Who Are the Middlemen?
*The Middleman Set Tour
*The Tech of the Middleman
*From Script to Comic…
*Varsity Fan Club Meets the Middleman
Each runs about three to five minutes and are fun to watch with cast interviews and showing the sets and tech that went into the show. The best is the fourth one, showing how Javier created the script years ago, turned it into a comic and then turned it back into a show. While a bit heavy on footage from the pilot, they’re still nice looks.
The 14 Javi-Casts take up a whopping 1:18 as the creator dishes on each episode and answers viewer mail. He moves around from his office to the lot with the Middlemobile and often talks to the behind the scenes folks like editors and special effects people. The guy is great and energetic and it’s clear how his influence affects the show. It does hurt when he constantly hints at the big season finale that never came about.
The gag reel runs 7:42 and shows goofs, mostly folks stumbling over the thick dialogue. The two alternate scenes don’t really add much although a flashback to Wendy and her dad would have been fun to see. The opening title bits just show different versions of the opening, such as Wendy in her usual uniform not the catsuit.
There are some nice Audtion footage of Morales, Morgan, Smollett and Gleason, adding up to about twelve minutes. It’s fun to see how Morales nails Wendy in her first try complete with look and mannerisms and same with Gleason. The Wilhem Scream is a five minute bit where Javier explains how the classic sound effect was used in every episode in a fun montage. The Middleman-ager are a series of online bits, about twenty minutes all together with Javier and a network guy promoting some episodes. 5 PSA’s are fun bits of the Middleman and Wendy delivering lectures on stuff like vampire DNA.
The best extra is the table read for the final episode where the entire cast gets together to practice the script. It’s fun seeing everyone reacting to stuff (especially the alternate reality Middleman’s Snake Plisskin impression) and bouncing off each other in lines to the point I wished they’d put more of these reads on there. It’s also interesting hearing the last lines which are different than the filmed version. Topping things off are a “Scream Ur Luv 4 Me” video by Varsity Band Club and a Ralph King photo gallery. Overall, an excellent selection although I do wish they’d put on a few more retrospectives of the show and the read for the 13th episode the cast did at the San Diego Comic Con.
Rating: 9.0 out of 10.0
The 411: One of the freshest sci-fi shows ever, this is perfect from material to funny as hell writing to top-notch acting. The extras help flesh it out, making you wish it had continued for a while to come. But at least we get these dozen episodes to show how sci-fi and super-hero antics can have a funny side as well.
