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The Middleman

 (Series -- ABC Family, Mon. June 16, 8 p.m.)

By BRIAN LOWRY

Natalie Morales and Matt Keeslar take on an exotic mix of comicbook bad guys in ABC Family's sci-fi comedy 'The Middleman.'

Filmed in Vancouver by Grillo-Marxuach Design Bureau and Prod Co. cq in association with ABC Family. Executive producers, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, John Ziffren; co-executive producer, Hans Beimler; supervising producers, Jeremiah Chechik, Tracey Stern; producer, Ron McLeod; director, Chechik; writer, Grillo-Marxuach, based on his graphic novel, illustrated by Les McClaine.
 
The Middleman - Matt Keeslar
Wendy Watson - Natalie Morales
Ida - Mary Pat Gleason
Lacey - Brit Morgan
Noser - Jake Smollett
 

There's an explanation why most "Men in Black" knockoffs have failed -- namely, because achieving that balance of comedy and sci-fi action is pretty damn hard. Yet ABC Family has accomplished just that with "The Middleman," a delightful adaptation of "Lost" scribe Javier Grillo-Marxuach's graphic novel that brims with clever pop-culture references and disarming wit. Actually, this series could potentially work on any number of networks, and it's almost too smart for the room at ABC Family; nevertheless, this sprightly summer arrival should fit nicely into the evolving niche the channel established with "Kyle XY."

At first blush, the concept looks like just another "slacker gets a chance to save the universe" exercise, with twentysomething Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales) introduced in a dead-end temp job -- right before a multitentacled monster smashes through the glass and attacks her. Enter the Middleman (Matt Keeslar), who subsequently reveals that he's an "independent contractor" who works solving "exotic problems" -- wielding oversized weaponry and gadgets from an unidentified benefactor (hence his name) to dispatch threats culled straight out of comic books.

Lacking much else to do, Wendy -- by day an aspiring artist with a doofus boyfriend -- is recruited as his new sidekick. So far, you're probably thinking, "So what?"

Still, as constructed by Grillo-Marxuach and director Jeremiah Chechik, just about everything here crackles. In the premiere, a shadowy figure is murdering mob bosses, yielding "Scarface"/"The Godfather" jokes. When Wendy grudgingly agrees to join up -- having honed hitherto-unknown skills playing Xbox -- a montage quickly ensues modeled after the kitschy black-and-white opening titles of the '60s TV show "The Avengers."

Wendy's apartment, meanwhile, is drolly identified onscreen as "the illegal sublet Wendy shares with another young, photogenic artist," while she refers to the Middleman's organization as "the paramilitary version of Amway."

The opener (shot in Vancouver, though series production shifts to Los Angeles) also features "24's" Mary Lynn Rajskub in a guest stint as the requisite mad scientist, who Middleman disparages as "Blofeld."

Kids and young adults probably won't get the more obscure references (which, in addition to the above James Bond drop-in, include "Shaft" and "Planet of the Apes"), but they should nevertheless find much to savor in the quirky tone, rat-a-tat dialogue and Beeslar's way-cool, clean-cut 1950s-style hero. Even Wendy's "woe is me" whining gradually grows on you.

Bright and breezy, "The Middleman" manages the increasingly rare feat of being knowing but not snide. It's a show, frankly, for people who love (and have probably watched too much) TV. By that standard, it's far from the middle, but rather rises straight to the top.

Camera, Douglas Koch; production designer, Chris August; editor, Norman Buckley; music, Tree Adams; casting, Anya Colloff, Amy McIntyre-Britt, Michael Nicolo. RUNNING TIME: 60 MIN.