My friend Javier Grillo Marxuach gives Star-Ledger reporter Alan Sepinwall the skinny on the past, present, and endangered future of his ABC Family madcap sci-fi/retro-spy series THE MIDDLEMAN, which has been having a hard time ratings-wise. Javi and the network mutually agreed to cut the show's 13-episode order down to twelve and to pump a few more dollars into the budget of the unintended season finale. The future of the show, at least on ABC Family, is in doubt but Javi remains enthusiastic, optimistic, and realistic.
I waited 11 years to put the show on the air my way, I can wait to get
it to another place, and if I don't, honestly, I have no regrets. It
has been 12 episodes made lovingly, hand-crafted, by people who truly
believe in the product. If at the end of the day, I have to walk away
from it, I won't walk away from it crying in my beer about how I didn't
get to tell my story.
it to another place, and if I don't, honestly, I have no regrets. It
has been 12 episodes made lovingly, hand-crafted, by people who truly
believe in the product. If at the end of the day, I have to walk away
from it, I won't walk away from it crying in my beer about how I didn't
get to tell my story.
I’ve followed THE MIDDLEMAN since you first blogged about it, Lee. I enjoy the show’s character dynamics and overall optimism. Here’s hoping the adventures continue.
I’d been hearing rumors about poor ratings. That’s a real shame because it has been my favorite new show of the summer. I laugh so hard during it and can’t wait for each new episode.
Mark
I hope it won’t be canceled. I just found the show recently and it IS fun. But it’s kind of lost on ABC Family, which I don’t tune to. And he says himself that it doesn’t fit in with their programming.
Too bad they can’t switch it to ABC and pair it up with Pushing Daisies. They’re not quirky in the same way, but I think it would complement Middleman better than reruns of Full House or the 700 Club.
As a Destroyer fan, I got a kick out of last night’s episode. One of the characters (a baddie) was called Jeremiah Purcell.
Guest star Kevin Sorbo’s spy was named Guy Goddard, a hat-tip to a character with the same name in my book BEYOND THE BEYOND.