I have been surrounded by comics all of my life. My grandfather was a cartoonist during World War II. My family went to Comic-Con number zero. This has been a part of our lives. We read the western comics, the sci-fi comics, but most of all the superhero comics. So when I found out that The Middleman would be a series on ABC Famiily, I jumped at the chance to watch it. It turned out to be the best new series when it premiered, and I watched every show. It was everything that I wanted a modern superhero show to be, funny, Smart, heroic. All with a sense of self, and that which came before it. This was the new hero show.

The Middleman is a series based on a comic book, based on a script. During the series run, it aired on ABC Family for all of one season. The Middleman follows the exploits of a recently graduated art student Wendy Watson and her boss, the superhero known as the Middleman. The series also dealt with her friends Noser and Lacey Thornfield. Each episode dealt with a different problem that threatened the world, and contained a themed set of references based around one or two shows or movies.

Episode Highlights:
The Pilot Episode Sanction: Wendy Watson, a struggling artist with no job, and a desire to live somewhere answers a call from a temp agency and finds that her new job is sidekick to The Middleman
The Sino–Mexican Revolution: Sensei ping arrives to train Wendy when his enemies, a gang of Luchadores, arrive and kidnap him to pay for a decades old debt.
The Cursed Tuba Contingency: Middleman and Wendy must stop the tuba that survived the sinking of the Titanic from playing e flat and causing an entire party from drowning in the icy waters of the Atlantic.
The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome: Wendy is thrown into a mirror universe and must convince the mirror Middleman to help get her home

With the sheer amount of special features on this boxed set, the features on disc 4 will have to be run down in a list.

Special Features:
Weekly Javicasts: Weekly video podcasts by the creator of the show answering questions for each episode.
The ABC Family Middleman-ager: 2 minute Previews for episodes introduced by a character called the Middleman-ager.
The Wilhelm Scream: A short history lesson on the Wilhelm Scream, and the location of every Wilhelm scream in the episode.
The Evolution of the Opening Title Sequence: The three different versions of the title sequence for the show.
“The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” Table Read: A Table read of the entire final aired show.
“Scream Ur Luv 4 Me” Music Video: A music video for the song featured in the episode “The Boy-Band Superfan Interrogation” by Varsity Fanclub.
PSA’s: The PSA’s made to be used as commercials leading up to the premiere of The Middleman on ABC Family
A Gallery of Photography by Ralph King: A photo gallery slideshow of the show by Ralph King.
More: Alternate scenes, web featurettes, a gag reel, and casting sessions.

The Middleman has more references per capita than any show on television, so I can only give the bold strokes and you what some of the major themes of the references were for some of the episodes the episodes, to get a more detailed idea, watch the show. In the episode “The Accidental Occidental Conception” many names used throughout were taken from Dune. For “The Manicoid Teleportation Conundrum” names and places through out were references of Back to the Future like KBTTF the local TV station. In “The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome” The episode bases the whole alternate dimension on Escape from New York and “Mirror, Mirror” from Star Trek. These are just a few of the references weaved through the tapestry of the series.

I watched this series in it’s first run on ABC Family, and loved every second of it. The show is witty, fun, exciting, and if you like comic books it is a clever homage, parody, and serious take on superheroes all in one take. This is a series that is great for everyone. It’s even good for kids to watch. They may use some tongue in cheek humor, but they never swear. I’d bleeped and censored over in a joke that’ll be funny for the adults. This is one to check out, share, and heck, maybe even start a good old fashioned letter writing campaign to get it back.

Comics Online gives The Middleman: The Complete Series 5 HEYDARs out of 5.