<p> So, to counter the extremely negative review I just did, as well as the one I&#39;m about to do, from the department of things that I would like to recommend: <em>The Middleman</em></p> <p> I wrote about <em>The Middleman</em> <a href="http://tendentious.org/2008/08/28/im-sad-to-hear-middleman-isnt-doing-well/">a few years ago</a>, shortly–very shortly–before it got cancelled. The ABC Family network it was broadcast on never even re-broadcast the original episodes–I saw two and three quarters episodes, and that was it.</p> <p> At some point, I noticed that Netflix had the DVDs of that lone season, so I put them in the queue. They finally came up.</p>

<p> So, on the recommendation of a <a href="http://comicsworthreading.com/2008/07/12/the-middleman/">total stranger</a>, and, honestly, because it is so easy and free of downsides to try stuff this way, I started TiVOing <a href="http://abcfamily.go.com/middleman">The Middleman</a>.</p> <p> I have a vague memory of actually seeing ads for it, but seriously, &#34;ABC Family&#34; isn&#39;t generally targetting me as their demographic.</p> <p> Except, apparently, when they are.</p> <p> The show is funny and smart–some of the jokes <strong>really</strong> make me reach to catch them. That puts it in a league with Thomas Pynchon. How the hell did something like that end up on television?</p>