Tonight's Middle of the Week feature is called "The Middleman."
"The Middleman" was a 2008 TV show that was based on characters from a graphic novel (Too sophisticated to call it a comic book) written
by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and illustrated by Les McClaine. It's funny that this show is 13 years old, but I still think of it as being modern, and while not bad, it still makes me long to go back and watch something from the 50's or 60's instead, mostly because of the overacting!
At least it wasn't called "The Middle Finger."
"The Middleman" was Cuban cutie Natalie Morales's fourth credit as a temporary worker named Wendy Watson who becomes a superhero's apprentice and sidekick. It wasn't really the kind of job she was looking for, but she was desperate!
Nice shot of the proverbial smoking gun!
This is Matt Keeslar as Wendy's new boss, "The Middleman."
This creature just reminds me of "Mr. Potato Head!"
Just a little too intelligent for Hollywood, Matt has 45 credits to his name, and two years after this show was made, he permanently moved to Oregon where he is currently working as a physician's assistant!
Wendy gets the blame for that laboratory burning down, even though she had nothing to do with it, so it becomes increasingly more difficult for her to find another job!
So she reluctantly agrees to work with "The Middleman," because she really doesn't have much choice!
Matt Keeslar was in some interesting films including "Waiting For Guffman, and "Psycho Beach Party," and he also played Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in a 2007 version of the classic tale.
The always enjoyable Mary Pat Gleason has the role of Ida, "The Middleman's" grumpy robot assistant! She has to put Wendy Watson through a series of tests to make sure she is going to be able to handle the job.
Wendy's real choice of occupation if she had one, would be to be a professional artist, and her new life experiences come out in her work.
Just goes to show you that you can't trust anybody, because he's not really an F.B.I. agent.
The opening segment is an homage to "The Avengers."
This show aired on the "Family" Network!
I give the writers big kudos, and a lot of credit for reviving the gorilla suit costume!
"The Middleman" is quirky, and fairly amusing if you're in the mood for something light, funny and odd, but then I'm a sucker for anything with a gorilla, a pretty girl, and a goober hero in it.
And how can you go wrong with episode titles like "The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum," or "The Flying Fish Zombification?" I just don't think you can!
6 comments:
Never saw this show, but you're right -- it looks quite interesting even though the stills look kind of schlocky. But I'm a sucker for "quirky" and "intelligent." But I gotta admit: the gorilla was a bridge too far from me. It reminds me of the DC Comics schtick in the Fifties & Sixties, DC Comics -- they felt that a gorilla on the cover would increase sales of the issue up to 25 percent! But that's what turned me off about DC Comics and made switching to Marvel an easy choice once I discovered the Fantastic Four #3.
And how the hell did I get talking about comic books!? Oh, yeah -- gorillas. I just don't dig 'em. Otherwise, I think this would be fab show to discover -- and, of course, the nod to "The Avengers" is a selling point for me. --Rich
Rich -- I can't believe you don't like gorillas. EVERYBODY likes gorillas. You would, too, if you hadn't had that terrible incident at Syracuse Zoo when you were five.
I don't like gorillas. However, I do like teleportation. If Tabonga and Eegah can teleport, they're extremely cool. I'm not cool at all, so I would teleport to Hawaii if I could, but I can't, so here I sit, teleport-less, in Phoenix.
I guess only Cavemen and Trees like Gorillas!
Loved this show though I have no idea how I came across it. I certainly was not watching it live as I only became aware of it 5-6 years ago.
I feel that way a lot!
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