Our ongoing look back at sci fi / fantasy TV shows that were cancelled way too soon or pilots that never made it to series.
This odd little series arrived on ABC Family (now Freeform) in the Summer of 2008 based on the comic book of the same name created by Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Les McClaine. Grillo-Marxuach remained closely involved with the television production which revolved around a superhero character known as the Middleman who’s motto is “fighting evil, so you don’t have to”. Basically, he is one of a long line of heroes (Phantom style) who positions himself between us normal people and the terrible, evil villains out there, thus making him the middleman. In the series, Matt Keeslar plays the titular character and he is training the young Wendy Watson (played by Natalie Morales) as his eventual replacement. The show delivered an edgy, fun, wit-a-minute superhero romp with tongue firmly planted in cheek evidenced by episode titles such as “The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation”, “The Boyband Superfan Interrogation”, and “The Flying Fish Zombification”.
Unfortunately, it was a little bit ahead of the superhero boom on television (sort of like The Tick in 2001, more on that at this link), and its self-winking, meta zietgiest attitude did not quite fit in too well on its family friendly network. Its ratings were not high enough for ABC Family to give it a second season and its original episode order was even cut short by one. But Grillo-Marxuach had nothing bad to say about the network because he claimed that they allowed him plenty of creative freedom with the show. He said that he would have much rather done just twelve episodes the way he did rather than have the show go on for multiple seasons with the network looking over his shoulder.
A “series finale” was eventually produced when the planned thirteenth episode was adapted into comic book format with The Middleman – The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse in 2009 (and in 2014 a crowdfunding campaign brought us The Middleman – Volume 5 – The Pan-universal Parental Reconciliation). And the series did make its way to DVD (though not Blu-ray yet), which is worth picking up in case you never saw it or just want to revisit this fun, quirky little series.
Aired: ABC Family, 2008, 1 Season Totaling 12 Episodes
Starring: Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Mary Pat Gleason, Brit Morgan
Created By: Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Available from Amazon.com:
More from CancelledSciFi.com:
Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And join the #CancelledSciFiArmy on Twitter to bolster our ranks and help us fight for the struggling and cancelled sci fi and fantasy shows.
Follow our Sci Fi TV Top 5 column for the top sci fi TV stories each week.
Check out our Sci Fi TV Schedule for debut and season finale dates and follow our Weekly Listings for a rundown of the shows airing in the current week.
Check back each Saturday for Sci Fi TV Retrospectives: A look back at cancelled, classic, forgotten, and more genre shows from the past.
Thanks for bringing this treasure to my attention. I had never heard of this. I now only watched the first episode yet, but I already love it. It’s one of those shows, you see after the first minutes they got the right attitude and you gonna love it. And the two main characters are perfectly cast.
Hands down one of the best shows ever in the entire universe. Can’t believe there were only 12 episodes, which everyone from my 14 year old niece to my 65 year old father have watched a thousand times. It is a little off beat though. I had to watch two straight up,to get my head around it. Once I did I was completely hooked. If there are more of these little gems out there I hope you direct me to them.