ABC Family better not cancel Middleman!

ABC Family

If ABC Family cancels The Middleman, I swear right here and now that I will never watch that channel again!  Will I keep this oath?  Hopefully we won’t have to find out, but I would be willing to bet I would hold true to it.  Granted, The Middleman is the only show that I watch on that channel, but it’s still a good treat.  Sure, I would miss the occasional Harry Potter movie that seems to be playing perpetually on ABC Family, but I can get the DVDs.  I’ll be okay.  Will ABC Family?  My ego likes to tell me that I have the kind of power to take down a mediocre cable network, but considering The Secret Life of the American Teenager gets better ratings than painfully hip Gossip Girl, they will probably survive without me.

Sadly, it is the only recourse I have if they cancel my surprise favorite show of the summer.  Last year I had Damages and Mad Men, this year it was The Middleman. Seeing previews, I was quick to dismiss the show as some goofy piece of family-friendly swill — well suited for a network that I usually ignore.  However, as it came closer to the premiere, I started hearing a lot of buzz about it.  Seeing as I would give just about anything a try if it featured an actor from Waiting For Guffman, I figured I would give The Middleman a shot.  After all, I am a sucker for superheroes.

Much to my delight, The Middleman turned out to be an excellent show … and I’m not speaking in hyperbole.  Seriously, if this show were up against Heroes right now, I would choose The Middleman.  Dare I say that it is nearly Buffy-like?  I do dare, my friends, I do!  Indeed, it features lightning-fast, super-smart dialogue chock full of pop culture references, just like my dearly departed Buffy. It features a sassy, wise-cracking female lead and plenty of monsters.  I would even suggest that The Middleman filled the void that every Buffy fan was hoping Reaper would. Clearly, The Middleman is far more tongue-in-cheek and playful than Buffy, but it is a fun ride that I recommend to anyone. How can you not enjoy a show that presents enemies like a giant fish that creates zombies who crave trout instead of brains, a vampire puppet with the soul of Vlad the Impaler trapped within it, a group of alien politicians disguised on Earth as a boy band, or a succubus-from-hell moonlighting as a fashionista?

Unfortunately, the ratings weren’t fabulous.  ABC Family didn’t really know what to do with it, sticking it at 10 PM on Mondays, presumably because it was a little more edgy than most of their “family” fare.  Indeed, they were often bleeping out swears (in a very funny manner), and referencing drugs and sex liberally. While watching, I was shocked several times that the show was actually on ABC Family.  Hopefully this won’t be a show where the fans are talking about how it was ahead of its time a couple years from now. Do I need to resort to begging, because I’m not above that:

Pleeeeeeeeeeease, ABC Family, don’t cancel The Middleman!

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Sep 28, 2008 @ 10:34 EST5EDT