Deen gets off one of my favorite lines of the year, wondering where the guy came from. As a bonus, another TV personality makes a random appearance to try some of the cake and Ann Curry acts all Ann Curry-ish.
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natalie morales-related stories
Paula Deen fights off Today Show intruder with knives and coffee cake
This is one of the more enjoyable clips you'll see this week. Paula Deen was on the Today Show a few days ago to make some coffee cake, but things got out of hand after some mysterious guy walked onto the set and laid on the ground behind the counter.
Deen gets off one of my favorite lines of the year, wondering where the guy came from. As a bonus, another TV personality makes a random appearance to try some of the cake and Ann Curry acts all Ann Curry-ish.
Deen gets off one of my favorite lines of the year, wondering where the guy came from. As a bonus, another TV personality makes a random appearance to try some of the cake and Ann Curry acts all Ann Curry-ish.
It's a White Collar job for The Middleman's Natalie Morales
Somehow I don't think this new gig will be as much fun as her old one. But out of love for The Middleman, I will be happy that Natalie Morales has been upgraded to series regular on White Collar. The job started as a two-episode guest spot, so I guess somebody was impressed with our Dub-Dub. If I can't have one of the best shows of the past several years, I should at least be satisfied when the people that brought it to life find new gigs.The premise of White Collar puts it in that procedural category that generally doesn't appeal to me. But the twist on the formula is fairly novel. Con artist captured by the Feds offers to work with them to nab other criminals in exchange for his freedom. Morales joins the mix as a junior FBI agent who has enough smarts and attitude to hold her own with both the men in uniform and the criminals they're tackling.
Continue reading It's a White Collar job for The Middleman's Natalie Morales
Could the Middleman follow Family Guy and Futurama back into production?
Wouldn't it be great if The Middleman DVD, available July 28, sold so well that ABC Family had no choice but to put the show back in production? Of course it would. There wasn't a smarter or more clever show of its type on television at the time (sorry Chuck). Laura Hudson had a chance to sit down with the series creator in San Diego. In her interview over at Comics Alliance, Javier Grillo-Marxauch says that if DVD sales are great, The Middleman would probably go back into production. I suspect his enthusiasm had more to do with the excitement that comes with being at San Diego than anything ABC Family has indicated.
The fans stopping at the booth are excited about the show and that fever can be infectious. They'll do what they can to spread the word, but I just don't think that fan-base is big enough to change the network's minds. Or that ABC Family is interested enough to care.
Continue reading Could the Middleman follow Family Guy and Futurama back into production?
Brian Williams puts in his hour at Today - VIDEOS
Seeing Brian Williams sitting next to Matt Lauer on Today was a bit disconcerting, wasn't it? I knew NBC was having some budget problems, but I didn't realize how thin of a bench they actually had. Williams subbed in for Meredith Vieira, but only stayed on the show for an hour, as I'd imagine he'd rather spend the 8:00 hour putting together tonight's Nightly News lineup than talk about ten ways to keep your car running or what Drew Peterson ate for breakfast.Anyway, Williams was at times a bit too stuffy for the morning gig, but his famous sense of humor showed through a number of times, including the clips after the jump. The first one is a clip reel of some strangely homoerotic interplay between Williams and Lauer, which Al Roker called "a Whitman's Sampler of man candy." The second one is of Lauer, Williams, and Natalie Morales making their Oscar picks.
Continue reading Brian Williams puts in his hour at Today - VIDEOS
The Middleman: The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome (season finale)
(S01E12) "Can't wait to hear this guy's monologue. 'I am the Palindrome. Feel my power. Power my feel. Palindrome the am I.'" --The Middleman
Paul's out and about traveling; I think he's been recruited to the exciting world of temporary employment by the Jolly Fats Wehawkin Temp Agency; so I'm stepping in to cover the first season finale of The Middleman. I'm not even going to consider this as a series finale because it's just too smart and too good to end. ABC Family has yet to make a decision one way or the other about the future of the show, but apparently ratings haven't been great so it's riding the bubble right now.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome (season finale)
The Middleman: The Clotharian Contamination Protocol
(S01E11) "We have vents large enough to crawl in through with accessible registers everywhere. Was this building designed by TV writers, or what?" --Wendy WatsonWell, well, Wendy Watson. Wow! Natalie Morales was possibly looking hotter than ever in the opening scene of tonight's episode. it's amazing the depth of cleavage they are able to create with what assets she has. The power of Hollywood brassieres, I guess. My wife would kill for that magical ability. I wouldn't be displeased either.
Then they upped the ante by giving us a full-on panties and bra scene. Or boxers and t-shirt for the Middleman if that's more your flavor. I guess for next week, she'll spend the entire episode in a string bikini. Maybe that'll help the ratings. It's sad to think that next week is the season, and possibly series, finale of what has become a charmingly delightful little show.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Clotharian Contamination Protocol
The Middleman: The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown
(S01E9) "He's looking at me all pervy, isn't he?" --Wendy Watson about Middleman 69Well, if anyone was going to bring the leather catsuit from the Avengers inspired intro sequence into the show proper, it would be a Middleman who'd been frozen since 1969. It was cool how the Middleman from 1969 was such a different, more hedonistic personality than the goofily straight-laced Middleman of our era. He carried himself more like James Bond ... well, more like Austin Powers, really. The casting of Kevin Sorbo in this role was just inspired as he really threw himself into the zaniness of the Middleman Universe.
It looks like the sexual innuendos are going to continue as there were again a few lines more explicit than you'd think ABC Family would be comfortable with ("I'm looking for some hooch!"). That said, the show is still relatively clean fun and there's a level of quality amidst the silliness and snappy dialogue that is sorely missed on most shows. The depth of the characters and the world they inhabit just continues to grow after each episode.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Obsolescent Cryogenic Meltdown
The Middleman: The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation
(S01E08) "Guy I Don't Know is starting to look like Guy I've Known My Whole Life." - Noser
Yo, Wendy Watson. Thanks for wearing the skimpy dress in the very first scene of the show.
For the most part, scenes with two attractive young people flirting with each other while spouting flippant duologue has been done to death. For some reason that I can't quite identify, the scenes in tonight's show worked for me. Maybe it's the huge crush I have on Natalie Morales, maybe it's the fact that The Middleman is chock full of that kind of dialogue, maybe it's because I still feel bad about what happened to Brendan Hines on The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation
The Middleman: The Cursed Tuba Contingency
(S01E07) "8660 Hawkins Lane, Apt 9. God am I underpaid." Ida and then the very next scene caption
Paul will be pleased to see that the continuing theme of opening each episode checking out hot Wendy and hot Wendy's hot roommate continued in this installment. And once again, it was hot Wendy's hot roommate who was wearing less and heating up the screen more. But then we got a bonus edition of the hotness on board the Titanic. Even the Middleman changed his suit for that one.
I think this episode returned the show to form, keeping the humor and lightness, but adding a real sense of emotional attachment to these characters and their various situations. Sure some things hit better than others, but The Middleman is really starting to hit its stride and stand as a pretty damned good series.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Cursed Tuba Contingency
That Middleman season just got a little shorter
Well, crap. I don't think there is really any way to spin this in a good way. ABC Family has cut the order for Middleman episodes from 13 to 12. That's rarely a good sign. Television history isn't exactly full of stories that go, "Then they cut the episode order, and everything was frickin' awesome." All is not lost though. Please join me in taking solace in the fact that the show hasn't actually been canceled.
A quick trip to Radio Free Javi, where you should go for all of your Grillo-Marxuachian news, tells a little more of the tale. As Javi puts it, the show is getting great reviews and the network loves it, but the ratings have not been stellar. He adds that the decision to drop the 13th episode was a joint one, between himself and the network. A possible silver lining is his mention of pooling their resources to make the finale the biggest and best that it can be. So, tell your friends to watch, and tell them to tell their friend with the Nielsen box to watch. The Middleman really is a good show and deserves to make it to a second season.
The Middleman - Comic-Con Report
Unfortunately with this panel, I didn't get any decent pictures worth sharing. The room this panel was held in was small, though crowded, and the lighting was horrible. To make matters worse, only Javier Grillo-Marxuach and Matt Kesslar were in attendance; Natalie Morales appeared in a recorded message that she couldn't attend. So what about the other cast members?
Not a whole lot was revealed about the upcoming episodes, though we were treated to some scenes from them. We were told that the season finale is completely filled with the Middleman screaming profanity, complete with blacked-out mouths and bleeps. Aaand ... that's about it.
Gallery: The Middleman - Comic-Con 2008
Continue reading The Middleman - Comic-Con Report
The Middleman: The Boyband Superfan Interrogation
(S01E06) "Bring it, Marvin." -- Wendy Watson
It seems that the writers of The Middleman have decided to stop opening the show with sexy scenes featuring Natalie Morales and start also including sexy scenes featuring Brit Morgan. Watching her do those dance moves more than made for the ham-handed way the writers attempted to get me to care about Varsity Fanclub. Clearly my taste in music is tragically unhip, since I thought the band was fictional until about three hours before the episode aired.
I know Pip is supposed to be the unlikable douchebag of the show, but his character isn't interesting enough for me to care about. His dialogue reminds me of a non-animated Cartman. Someone who thinks they're better than everyone he knows and yet he still seeks approval from those people. The difference is Drew Tyler Bell is no Eric Cartman.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Boyband Superfan Interrogation
The Middleman: The Flying Fish Zombification
(S01E05) The basics of the show are established by the fifth episode and now it's up to the characters and the premise to sustain it. With this episode, The Middleman proves that it knows how to dance that fine balance between the campy silliness of its plotlines and snappy dialog and the deeper relationships between the principal cast.
I wasn't sure early on if Wendy's supporting cast, namely Lacey and Noser, were going to work in the long run on the show, but I think the normalcy they represent in Wendy's life is as important as the work-driven lunacy that the Middleman and Ida represent. In fact, those two are almost caricatures in their personality, which juxtaposes them even moreso with Noser and Lacey, who are gaining depth and complexity without sacrificing the innate quirkiness that made them work in the first place.
Continue reading The Middleman: The Flying Fish Zombification
ABC Family doesn't want you to watch The Middleman
At least that's the somewhat sarcastic conclusion I'm jumping to. As I started watching the east coast feed, an email bounced into the TV Squad inbox from reader 'Jay.' He noted that when he tried to record The Middleman on his PC, he was greeted with an error message. I had to wait three hours for the regular airing on the left coast, but I dusted off an old Media Center PC and got that very same error, as you see in the picture. I like to think that Wendy is showing her shock and outrage at the snafu in that shot. But wait, there's more ... after the jump.
Continue reading ABC Family doesn't want you to watch The Middleman
The Middleman: The Sino-Mexican Revolution
(S01E03) "Slutty But Sweet," the business mantra of restaurant The Booty ChestEven the previews for The Middle Man capture that cheese-tastic tone that made the '60s Batman an instant classic. Like Paul, I also enjoy the frenetic pace of the dialogue and the bright colors that sprinkle the show. I've selected the picture over there to explore the costume difference Paul mentioned, wherein Natalie Morales' Wendy Watson dresses pretty hot when off-duty, and then when working wears a suit that truly doesn't work on a woman, as mentioned last episode.
Why can't she put on that Avengers' Emma Peel catsuit she's wearing in the opening credits. She looks really damned hot there. The show itself seems to speak to a mix of that and Get Smart! though The Middle Man is more Agent 99 to Wendy's Maxwell Smart. Even the little goofy things like giving us the time from different time zones each scene change, and not necessarily a time zone that we're in. But in each case it's relevant to the plotline. We get Shanghai time when we're in a Chinese restaurant for example. It's these little touches of quirky humor that make the show such a unique success.
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