So, turns out this show, The Middleman, ran for one season in 2008. Given that this is now fifteen years ago, odds are pretty good you have already heard about and watched the show. Yes? No? Can there be other people out there who missed it and never happened to hear about it since?
Here’s what Wikipedia says:
Wendy Watson, a struggling artist, is recruited by a secret agency to fight against evil forces.[3] Wendy lives in an illegal sublet apartment with her young, photogenic, animal activist friend Lacey. The Middleman is a freelance fixer of “exotic problems”, which include mad scientists bent on taking over the world, hostile aliens, and various supernatural threats, aided by Ida, a robot in the form of a grumpy schoolmarm. Because of Wendy Watson’s coolness under pressure and photographic memory, the Middleman recruits her to become the next Middleman-in-training. Wendy struggles to balance her world-saving adventures with her friendships with Lacey and her neighbor Noser.
This is all true. Although “Agency” is a strong term, as we don’t know anything whatsoever about the organization behind The Middleman.
My brother brought the DVDs with him when he visited we watched them all over Christmas Break. Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen The Middleman, you should pick up the one season and enjoy the episodes. I don’t think there are any bad ones.
Nothing in that description can possibly give you any idea of how funny and clever this show is. I don’t think I can describe it. Funny, clever, wacky, touching at times, one more example of a show that inexplicably did not take off even though it totally should have. I’ll blame a failure of marketing. That’s probably the culprit. It generally is.
If you’ve seen it, how would you describe it?
If you haven’t, seriously, pick it up, I’m betting you’ll love it!
Please Feel Free to Share:
I remember enjoying it. It deserved more than one season.
Love the middleman – it’s a great sendup of classic superhero stuff, with the running gag of villains proudly bragging about their bizarrely convoluted plots that they always describe as “elegant in its simplicity”, and lots of punny names for incidental characters, according to whatever the episode’s theme is. Very goofy and earnest but fun. In their zombie episode everyone wants fish instead of brains so it’s all “troooout…”.
I think maybe there was a comic book to wrap up some of the lingering plot threads, but I might be thinking of one of my other one season wonders.
It was published as a comic first (though it was originally conceived as a TV pilot), and there were two followup comics (which I haven’t read), one a series finale and one a crossover between the TV and comics continuities.
I’m in the middle of a slow rewatch, currently just past episode 9 with Kevin Sorbo.