<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>