- Network: ABC Family
- Series Premiere Date: Jun 16, 2008
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Critic Reviews
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The special effects have wacky charm--not surprising for a series based on graphic novels. Yet the dialogue is even more special. Javier Grillo-Marxuach, creator of the novels and the series, gives his characters witty, distinctive things to say.
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Middleman skillfully incorporates real-life details into its fantastic scenarios. Its characters aren’t just Manichaean warriors; they also live the kinds of lives that people read comic books to escape from.
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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.
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The Middleman is so light as to feel almost weightless, and compared to much TV, that comes as a relief. If comic books are meant to be escape, there are far worse worlds to camp in for the summer.
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This is good summer entertainment, like a Saturday afternoon B-movie matinee transposed to Monday-night TV.
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The Middleman is at once retro and post-modern, the sort of result you'd get if you threw "The Tick" and the '50s black-and-white "Superman" TV show into a blender. And it's quite a lot of fun.
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The plot of tonight's premiere is silly and campy, but because The Middleman is based on a comic book, that's not altogether out of place. Whether this tone wears well over time remains to be seen, but in its first outing The Middleman rises above the middle-of-the-pack of scripted cable shows.
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The creatures are essentially designed as bowling pins for our protagonists to knock over with a well-placed shot and a quip, and Keeslar and Morales’ interaction is nothing if not playful and lively. But you’re left not really knowing if you want to come return and spend a whole lot more time with this quarrelsome twosome.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 24 out of 28
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Mixed: 0 out of 28
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Negative: 4 out of 28
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GuidoG.Jan 11, 2009This show is great, specially if you are on the geek side of things.
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KenA.Nov 2, 2008Awesome show, which gets progressively better over the first season. Don't dismiss it based on the slightly clunky pilot.
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WillM.Sep 9, 2008It's the weekly highlight of television for my entire family. Finally a show I'm more than content to watch with my children.