“Hilarious, witty, campy and outright enjoyable. ‘The Middleman’ is a truly unique series that takes everything you enjoyed about ‘Men in Black’, 1960’s superhero/sci-fi shows, geek pop culture including plenty of zany pop culture references. Definitely a series worth catching on DVD which is also packed with plenty of special features. Satisfy your inner geek with this delightfully fun series!”
© 2007 Shout Factory LLC and ABC Family Pictures Television Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: The Middleman – The Complete Series
DURATION: 12 Episodes (9 hours)
COMPANY: Shout Factory/abc family
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE:Â July 28, 2009
Created by Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechik and Michael Zinberg
Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Les McClaine, Andy Reaser, Jordan Rosenberg, Tracey Stern, Sarah Watson
Music by Tree Adams
Director of Photography: John Newby and Douglas Koch
Edited by Raul Davalos, James Renfroe and Mallory Gottlieb
Casting by Michael V. Nicolo, Anya Collof, Amy McIntyre Britt
Production Design by Naomi Slodki
Art Direction by Sachiko Tanaka, Greg Venturi
Set Decoration by Judi Giovanni, Louise Roper
Costume Design by Danielle Launzel, Carla Hetland
Starring:
Matt Keeslar as The Middleman
Natalie Morales as Wendy Watson
Brit Morgan as Lacey Thornfield
Mary Pat Gleason as Ida
Jake Smollett as Noser
Brendan Hines as Tyler Ford
Drew Tyler Bell as Pip
Sean Davis as Joe90
Elaine Hendrix as Roxy Wasserman
Mark Sheppard as Manservant Neville
Based on the series of graphic novels by acclaimed writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost) and artist Les McClaine, The Middleman focuses on the titular superhero and his new protege, an aspiring artist named Wendy Watson. Together they defend the Earth against “exotic problems” such as animated terra cotta warriors, menacing lucha libre wrestlers, extraterrestrials, trout-eating zombies and much, much more!
Both smart and exciting fans of all ages, The Middleman scored big with sci-fi fans and critics alike when it debuted as a live-action television series on ABC Family in June 2008. Now the complete series is available in one collectible 4-disc box set that is chockful of action, suspense, wit and bonus features brought straight to you by the cast and creators of The Middleman themselves.
“The Middleman” is a 12-episode television series which aired on abc family and is based on the Viper Comics series created by Javier Grillo-Marxuach (“Medium”,
“Lost” and “Jake 2.0”) and Les McClaine (“Highway 13” and “Jonny Crosbones”).
The series received positive reviews from critics for its geek culture and parody of classic superhero and sci-fi shows but also a little “Men in Black” and “Get Smart” and fans of Javier’s work with “LOST” and the comic book series help give the series some hype with their fans. To also give the series its zany and outrageous nature as seen on the comic books, Grillo-Marxuach has said that abc family were open to all ideas and let the crew become creative for each episode.
Unfortunately, part of the problem is that abc family has not been strong among its viewers for its sci-fi shows (despite the show being very supportive of sci-fi) and both “Kyle XY” and “The Middleman” despite positive critic reviews, were unable to gather strong enough ratings and both were unfortunately canceled. All twelve episodes of “The Middleman” aired on abc family from June through September 2008.
But “The Middleman” continues to live on through its comic book series from Viper Comics and for the fans of the series, Shout Factory/abc family have released “The Middleman – The Complete Series” which is jam packed with special features.
The TV series revolved around a struggling artist named Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales) who lives with her friend Lacey Thornfield (Brit Morgan), another struggling artist in an illegal sublet. One day, while looking for a job, Wendy Watson finds herself in a local laboratory where a science experiment has gone wrong. She is then introduced to The Middleman (Matt Keeslar).
Wendy is then offered to become a Middleman herself and through training, joins the Middleman and his crotchety android assistant Ida (Mary Pat Gleason) combing the city and stopping/capturing supernatural beings.
Here is a brief synopsis (no spoilers) for each episode:
Disc 1:
- EPISODE 1 – The Pilot Episode Sanction – Introduction to the characters and how Wendy meets the mysterious Middleman.
- EPISODE 2 – The Accidental Occidental Conception – The Terra Cotta warriors from the Qin Dynasty are coming to life and Wendy must prepare for her mission but her argument with her friend/roommate Lacey is getting in the way.
- EPISODE 3 – The Sino-Mexican Revelation – To become a full-fledged Middleman, Wendy must go through training from Sensei Ping. Meanwhile, Lucha Libre wrestlers are causing problems.
- EPISODE 4 – The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum – The Middleman and Wendy must help a group of exiled aliens.
DISC 2:
- EPISODE 5 – The Flying Fish Zombification – There has been a zombie outrbreak and the Middleman and Wendy must find a killer fish that can create an antidote.
- EPISODE 6 – The Boy-Band Superfan Interrogation – The Middleman and Wendy must stop a foulmouthed boy-band obsessed 14-year-old girl (alien) who is trying to prevent the world famous boy band Varsity Fanclub (who are exiled aliens) from returning to their home planet.
- EPISODE 7 – The Cursed Tuba Contingency – A cursed tuba and its musician (who died in the sinking of the Titanic) are running loose in the city and those who hear the music will want to go to the icy waters of the North Atlantic and drown. The Middleman and Wendy must stop the musician immediately.
- EPISODE 8 – The Ectoplasmic Pan-Hellenic Investigation – A ghost has been haunting a sorority house, the Middleman and Wendy must find out why.
DISC 3:
- EPISODE 9 – The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown – The 2008 Middleman must work with the 1969 Middleman in order to catch the nemesis known as The Candle.
- EPISODE 10 – The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation – There has been a vampire resurgence in the city and the Middleman and Wendy must stop vampire domination.
- EPISODE 11 – The Clotharian Contamination Protocol – Ida becomes contaminated by Nanobots and make her evil. Now the Middleman and Wendy must stop the wicked, crotchety android.
- EPISODE 12 – The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome – Wendy gets caught up in a time singularity and end ups in a Bizzaro World where the world is different. Now Wendy must find a way to get home.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“The Middleman” was shot on HD (1080i) and for the most part, the series looks good for a television series on DVD.  For the most part, the series looks very good on DVD, especially the outdoor shots which the series does have quite a lot. The final episode looks great but again, another HD series that I wish would receive a Blu-ray HD transfer.
As for the audio, the audio is presented in Dolby Digital Surround. Audio also plays an integral part as the sound effects play into the enjoyability of the show. For instance, fans of “The Wilhelm Scream” will find it almost as a game to spot the scream on each episode.
Overall, picture and audio quality were well-done for “The Middleman” for its DVD release.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Middleman – The Complete Series” contains hours special features spread out on each disc. Included are:
DISC 1:
- Episode 1: The Pilot Episode Sanction – Commentary with Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Director Jeremiah Chechik
DISC 2:
- Episode 7: The Cursed Tuba Contingency – Commentary with Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Executive Producer Hans Beimlerand stars Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Brit Morgan and Jake Smollett
DISC 3:
- Episode 11: The Clotharian Contamination Protocol – Commentary with Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach and writers Margaret Dunlap, Sarah Watson, Andy Reaser and Jordan Rosenberg
- Episode 12: The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome – Commentary with Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Stars Matt Keeslar and Natalie Morales
DISC 4:
- Web Featurettes: Online promotionals for each episode are included on this disc. Here is a breakdown of the web featurettes:
– Who Are the Middlemen? – (4:47) Interviews with Creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach and the talents about who are the middlemen.
– The Middleman Set Tour – (5:49) Creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach gives us a tour of the operation center of the Middlemen.
– The Tech of the Middleman – (1:44) Creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach and the talents talk about the various gadgets used on the show.
– From Script to Comic… – (3:02) The talents of the show talk about reading the comics and creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach talks about bringing the comic to a television series.
– Varsity Fan Club Meets the Middleman – (2:55) Boy band Varsity Fan Club promote their appearance in the episode “The Boy-Band Superfan Interrogation”.
- Javi- Casts – (1:18:56) Videocasts in which Creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach answers fan mail and promotes the upcoming episode. A total of 12 Javi-Casts which you can “play all” or watch them separately.
- Gag Reel – (7:42) Bloopers from “The Middleman”.
- Alternate Scenes: Two alternate scenes are included:Â “The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum Opening” (1:38) and “The Flying Fish Zombification Pike Attack” (Storyboards, 1:47).
- Audition Footage – The audition footage for Natalie Morales (7:03), Brit Morgan (2:06), Jake Smollett (1:19) and Mary Pat Gleason (1:36).
- The Opening Title Sequences -Â This includes the original animatic pitch, Title Sequence A and Title Sequence B.
- The Wilhelm Scream – (4:48) Creator and Executive Producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach talks about the history of “The Wilhelm Scream” and how its used on every series and how they wanted the editors to sneak the Wilhelm Scream in each episode. For this DVD release, they include a compilation of where the scream is used from each episode.
- The Complete “The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” Table Read – (56:02) Featuring the complete table read and introduction of all the stars. Overall, a jovial table read with a few tears considering this is crew and cast’s final episode together.
- The Middleman-ager – (19:53) This features a total of five sneak peaks used on television starring the Middleman-ager promoting the series and talking about abc family’s love for sci-fi.
- PSAs – (2:00) A total of five PSAs on Probes, DNA, Cheating, Vampire Cows and Mother Nature.
- “Scream Ur Luv 4 Me” Music Video – A music video by Varsity Fan Club.
- Ralph King Photo Gallery – (14:36) Photo gallery by Ralph King of the talent during filming and of the crew while filming an episode.
- Getting to Know Your Truth Bomb User Manual – An accompanying booklet that features an introduction by Series Creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach, episodes synopsis and production credits.
I absolutely enjoyed “The Middleman” series. Its humor, its absurdity, its campiness which was all intentional in order to make a fun series about superheroes who must go after the supernatural. Where you can find a series where its two heroes have to take on a killer fish, terra cotta warriors, stop vampire domination?
With so many sci-fi series so serious, it was great to have a series that had a delightful and yet not so serious, but fun and campy storyline and have a network supportive of its style and also the creator in his ability to produce something that is rare for television.
What I enjoyed the most is the various pop culture reference. May it be Wendy talking about comic books (who can not love a comment about enjoying the classic X-Men and not the Ultimate X-Men series and whether or not a person enjoys Barry Allen or Wally West version of “The Flash”), to “Star Trek” and playing Castlevania on her old school Gameboy, there are so many of these references that will put a big smile on the faces of any old school sci-fi, tech and video game fan. The back and forth banter between Wendy and The Middle Man is just hilarious and overall, you have to credit the writers for the witty and humorous dialogue.
It’s a shame that this series has been canceled. With the popularity of the comedy sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”, shows like G4’s “Attack of the Show”, “The Middle Man” also lended itself to uber-geekiness but because of that, the show was unique in its own way and for those who appreciate such things, it was very cool and fun to watch.
Fans will definitely not be disappointed by this DVD release. Featuring twelve enjoyable episodes and hours of special features, if you are looking for something different, crazy, campy but all out fun, then definitely check out “The Middleman – The Complete Series”!