2009/7/18 Tommy Persson <tpe@ida.liu.se>

Påminner om The Middleman-tittningen imorgon söndag. Notera att det är
kul att se serien från början men varje avsnitt är avslutat så det går
att droppa in när som helst (just nu har 5 personer förrutom mig sagt
de ska komma). Är ingen hemma så är det förmodligen matpaus på
pizzerian.

19/7: The Middleman-tittning hos Tommy Persson klockan 13. Vi ser
från första avnsittet och så länge vi orkar. Mat på pizzeria
eller liknande runt 17. Plats: Rydsv. 180A; 070-2821585

Vi såg första avsnittet på ett medlemsmöte. Det är avsnittet med
tentakelmonstret bakom en glasruta i början.

Jag tror jag gillar The Middleman av samma anledning som jag gillar
The Avengers men The Middleman innehåller betydligt
pop-kultur-referenser (i alla fall som man känner igen). Här är en recension
av The Middleman:

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117937411.html?categoryid=32&cs=1

There's an explanation why most "Men in Black" knockoffs have failed
-- namely, because achieving that balance of comedy and sci-fi
action is pretty damn hard. Yet ABC Family has accomplished just
that with "The Middleman," a delightful adaptation of "Lost" scribe
Javier Grillo-Marxuach's graphic novel that brims with clever
pop-culture references and disarming wit. Actually, this series
could potentially work on any number of networks, and it's almost
too smart for the room at ABC Family; nevertheless, this sprightly
summer arrival should fit nicely into the evolving niche the channel
established with "Kyle XY."

At first blush, the concept looks like just another "slacker gets a
chance to save the universe" exercise, with twentysomething Wendy
Watson (Natalie Morales) introduced in a dead-end temp job -- right
before a multitentacled monster smashes through the glass and
attacks her. Enter the Middleman (Matt Keeslar), who subsequently
reveals that he's an "independent contractor" who works solving
"exotic problems" -- wielding oversized weaponry and gadgets from an
unidentified benefactor (hence his name) to dispatch threats culled
straight out of comic books.

Lacking much else to do, Wendy -- by day an aspiring artist with a
doofus boyfriend -- is recruited as his new sidekick. So far, you're
probably thinking, "So what?"

Still, as constructed by Grillo-Marxuach and director Jeremiah
Chechik, just about everything here crackles. In the premiere, a
shadowy figure is murdering mob bosses, yielding "Scarface"/"The
Godfather" jokes. When Wendy grudgingly agrees to join up -- having
honed hitherto-unknown skills playing Xbox -- a montage quickly
ensues modeled after the kitschy black-and-white opening titles of
the '60s TV show "The Avengers."

Wendy's apartment, meanwhile, is drolly identified onscreen as "the
illegal sublet Wendy shares with another young, photogenic artist,"
while she refers to the Middleman's organization as "the
paramilitary version of Amway."

The opener (shot in Vancouver, though series production shifts to
Los Angeles) also features "24's" Mary Lynn Rajskub in a guest stint
as the requisite mad scientist, who Middleman disparages as
"Blofeld."

Kids and young adults probably won't get the more obscure references
(which, in addition to the above James Bond drop-in, include "Shaft"
and "Planet of the Apes"), but they should nevertheless find much to
savor in the quirky tone, rat-a-tat dialogue and Beeslar's way-cool,
clean-cut 1950s-style hero. Even Wendy's "woe is me" whining
gradually grows on you.

Bright and breezy, "The Middleman" manages the increasingly rare
feat of being knowing but not snide. It's a show, frankly, for
people who love (and have probably watched too much) TV. By that
standard, it's far from the middle, but rather rises straight to the
top.

--
/Tommy Persson

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