The Middleman

[Cmill216]

Saw some commercials for this new ABC Family series. Apparently it's based on a comic book. Yay.

Looks really Men In Black-ish. Looks checkoutable.

 

[kaylee]

I've seen the commercials and immediately thought Men In Black too!! Its absolutely checkoutable.. i dont know who the main girl is but she's hilarious...Also, one of the producers is Javier Grillo-Marxuach who was one of the creators of Lost and Medium...This is definitely gonna be awesome

 

[Fenryr]

Just saw the commercial for this, and I'm kinda shocked that there's been no publicity for this. Learning about new shows and movies from the stations that air them and not the internet? What year is it, 1996?

The girl playing Wendy doesn't look anything like her illustrated counterpart, but if they keep everything as close to the original stories as possible, I'm definitely in for this show. Hopefully it won't get dropped like The Tick.

 

[Wolfwood]

Wow, yeah, definitely has a Men In Black feel to it. Could be interesting, I'll have to remember to check it out.

 

[fu manchu]

just saw the trailer for this. since there isn't much on Mondays now, i'll probably check it out.

i hope the girl wears that the leather suit (shown in the poster) more than the suit she wears in the trailer.

 

[Magneto29]

No publicity ? If you watch one show on ABC Family you'll get at least one commercial for the show every break...
The thing about ABC Fam though, they tend to make things end up really stupid... I almost don't think i'll watch it just because i'm sick of the commercials for it.

 

[Wolfwood]

If you have an XBOX 360 and Live you'll be able to download the pilot episode of the middleman for free.

http://www.xbox360fanboy.com/2008/06/12/free-xbvm-download-of-abcs-the-middleman/

 

[Prison Mike]

they have the pilot on iTunes for free

 

[SapphirePrima]

ABC Family has really been stepping up their game lately. I've been watching alot of their shows lately. I'm going to check this out.

 

[Cmill216]

I set the DVR. Looking forward to it.

*prays it isn't disappointing*

 

[kaylee]

I just watched the pilot on iTunes and was really impressed...ABC Family definitely didn't make this "end up really stupid", its actually incredibly smart and face paced. Theres a ton of pop culture references and you really have to be on your toes to catch all of them but they are hilarious.. Plus, theres definitely a ton of action...I'm already looking forward to episode 2

 

[Cmill216]

Is the tone overly comedic, or is it a good balance of comedy and drama?

 

[kaylee]

No i would definitely not say thats the tone is "overly comedic" but i also wouldn't say there is a lot of "drama".. Its the perfect balance of comedy and action, but not necessarily drama.. Its premiering on ABC Family tonight at 8 if you wanna check it out, i'm definitely going to cause its the kind of show that will be much better on a big screen tv than on a computer screen...

 

[steelio2006]

i just finished watchin the pilot episode. thought it was cool. ur right it's perfect balance of comedy and action. the dialogue for the Middleman seemed a lil bit corny at first. but then after a while it grows on ya. since he's basically talkin in comic book anyway. can't wait for next week.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

they have the pilot on iTunes for free

Whew, thanks for the heads-up. I wanted to check this out, but I forgot it was on tonight. But now I can just download it and watch it at work tomorrow.

 

[SapphirePrima]

I didn't find it that funny. But since it was the pilot, I'll check it out next week and give it a shot.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, a lot of the humor and dialogue felt really forced. I realize some of it was meant to be noirish, but it felt awkward a lot of the time. Still, there's definite potential, and once they got past the recruitment phase it got better. I'll stick with it for a while, at least.

 

[Metal Spidey]

Yeah, a lot of the humor and dialogue felt really forced. I realize some of it was meant to be noirish, but it felt awkward a lot of the time. Still, there's definite potential, and once they got past the recruitment phase it got better. I'll stick with it for a while, at least.

I never understand what people mean by "forced". I always here how on certain series a character's romance was forced or how the humor was forced. Could you elaborate exactly what you mean by "forced"?

I enjoyed the episode and it had a few flaws but that's just the first episode. The series will hopefully get better with each passing episode. I feel that the humor was light and that they didn't add enough of it. It's like the first few episodes of Danny Phantom, the episodes seemed to struggle between comedy and action. I wasn't sure if they were going for the same humor in Fairly Odd Parents or kick-butt action.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, some of the comedy just felt cheesy. Like Wendy's whole mental "spy show intro" where she and the other dude are striking poses and showing off spy gadgets while kind of winking at the camera the whole time. Funny concept, but the execution was a bit over the top. Also, the dialogue suffers from a sometimes unrealistic tone. It's great that Grillo-Marxuach and the writing staff want to inject a lot of snappy banter into the series, but it becomes awkward if the characters always speak in full-on banter mode, which is what they did in the pilot. There have to be times where the characters can just sound like normal people for a while to balance it out.

 

[DBM]

I read the comic series that this is based on (which in turn was based on an original TV pitch) and loved them so I was really excited to see this. And I wasn't let down at all.

Part of the fun of the comics was that it was just nonstop ridiculous fun, and my biggest worry was that they wouldn't carry it over to the show, but they did.

I can see how some people could have a problem with the dialogue and the banter-iness of it but to me that's what makes it fun. They're not bothering to make it realistic at all. To me, it is basically just a live action cartoon which I think is awesome. Sometimes I just get tired of shows that feel the need to be realistic and just want something that is silly and fun. I think this show is it.

Sadly, the fact that I loved the first episode pretty much guarantees that it will get canceled shortly. (Let's count the times this has happened; Keen Eddie, Firefly, New Amsterdam, Greg the Bunny, Freaks and Geeks, Wonderfalls, Undeclared, The Tick, Black Donnellys, Daybreak, Dresden Files, Night Stalker, etc, etc.)

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I watched the pilot again last night and, now that I have more of a feel for the kind of show it's trying to be, the dialogue didn't bother me as much. It still feels awkward in places, but I think it'll get better with time.

And there have to have been shows you liked that weren't canceled outright, DBM. I know you liked Dead Like Me, and that stuck around for two seasons and has a movie on the way.

 

[DBM]

And there have to have been shows you liked that weren't canceled outright, DBM. I know you liked Dead Like Me, and that stuck around for two seasons and has a movie on the way.

Ooooo. I didn't know it had a movie coming. I am excited. t:

Yes there are a handful of shows that last, but it seems like there are far more that only last a season, or two. I actually only watch a few hours of TV a week. BSG, 30 Rock, and Bones are the only ones I watched with any regularity this last season. Chuck was good, but I didn't go out of my way to watch it. Then there's Dexter and Californication in the fall. That's about it. Right now I have Venture Bros. and The Middleman starting. So for someone who doesn't particularly like most TV, a new show such as the Middleman that I enjoy is awesome.

 

[BLACKVULCAN]

Man i am really digging this show. It's kinda got that 60's "Avengers" and "The Monkees" feel with the Mexican Wrestlers, and Succubus in it. It's a pretty smart show with all the comic book jargon thrown around .Plus that babe is hot!!!Can never go wrong with that

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, the second episode was fun. I'm liking it a lot now.

 

[Matt]

I actually watched last night. Its pretty good. The actor who plays the Middleman is hillariously dry and a great straight man.