MovieChat Forums > The Middleman (2008) Discussion > This Friday ep 8: “The Ectoplasmic Panhe...

This Friday ep 8: “The Ectoplasmic Panhellenic Investigation”


AIRED: 8/4/08

Wendy goes undercover as a sorority sister to investigate ghost sightings at a university. Meanwhile, a case of mistaken identity affects Lacey's personal, and possibly romantic, life (just as long as it affects Wendy too because Lacey's private life only exists as long as it messes with Wendy's, of course).

(Sorority ghots... Wow, could there be anything more exciting than that? Well, actually, yes...)

STARRING

Matt Keeslar
The Middleman

Natalie Morales
Wendy Watson

Brit Morgan
Lacey Thornfield

Mary Pat Gleason
Ida

Jake Smollett
Noser

Brendan Hines
Tyler Ford

Tyler Kain
Ally

Ashley Johnson
Eleanor June Draper

Jeremy Lelliott
Louis

Kevin Sizemore
Campus Police Officer

Cindy Chiu
Kristen Lonner/Sorority Ghost

Andrew Di Palma
Fraternity Brother

Darren Revitz
Fraternity Brother

Rome Shadanloo
Janine Melnitz/Sorority Ghost

Cassandra Jean
Dana Barrett/Sorority Ghost

Chrissie Fit
Shannon Faris/Sorority Ghost

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Man, these synopsis's sure have a negative bias attached to them. Shouldn't the synopsis just be the synopsis?

Wasn't really into this one much today, there was some pretty good stuff towards the end when boss man got possessed and I was curious to see how Caligula the sorority would actually get. The funniest part for me was when Wendy threw the bummer bomb into the party and shut it all down. I get the same result when wlcebtg walks into a place.

I can picture DT, Madp watching the bummer bomb and having some clever quip about how it applies to the whole episode. Can't wait to here it.

The entire start to the show was chalked full of Ghost Buster homage and has become the case a continuing re run of sight gags such Ida running off the boyfriend while wendy and mm talk. This seems to continue to be a running gag though this one was nothing special. Wendy has the bad (and seemingly un changeable) habit of blowing off rules, this has to bother the MM organization at this point, but goes mainly ignored. This is where I can see a get smart similarity, no matter how incompetent Maxwell was there was never any consequences from management because in the end he (99) achieved the goal. In this particular show we are not even sure who upper management is, all we get to see is Middle Management, but as in the other show the goal is achieved and Wendy is forgiven.

All in all not one their better efforts, I give this one 5 Bummer Bombs on the MM scale

http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/

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by charmedwon666 » 24 minutes ago (Fri Jan 10 2014 14:35:40)
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Man, these synopsis's sure have a negative bias attached to them. Shouldn't the synopsis just be the synopsis?

Sorry, I'll try to refrain myself next time. But just for the record, a synopsis will most probably not be just a synopsis to me, otherwise, what's the fun of copying and pasting it? That would be a real BUMMER! Normally I try to use my psychic powers to anticipate what the episode is going to feel like.

I can picture DT, Madp watching the bummer bomb and having some clever quip about how it applies to the whole episode. Can't wait to here it.

Well, I did give the episode 5 party bummers, but then so did you! It looks like my synopsis was dead on!

This is where I can see a get smart similarity, no matter how incompetent Maxwell was there was never any consequences from management because in the end he (99) achieved the goal.

This reminds me of the time I compared the Middleman to Maxwell Smart, when MM and WW had didn't have a clue what they were doing in the case of Ida's "death," but in the end got the results.

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I can picture DT, Madp watching the bummer bomb and having some clever quip about how it applies to the whole episode. Can't wait to here it. ... All in all not one their better efforts, I give this one 5 Bummer Bombs on the MM scale
When are you going to learn! We never agree on anything! No "bummer" quips here, because I thought this was the best episode yet.

Now, I still don't think this was all that funny, for a comedy, although I did get an actual laugh out of something near the beginning. Can't recall what right now. And I didn't have a problem staying awake, despite sleep deprivation. (Friday morning up at 4:45, fly to New York, work until 2:30 a.m., check into hotel, get to sleep about 4:00 a.m., up at 7:00 to get back to work at 7:30, then fly back to Detroit for Saturday dinner with out-of-town family.)

The plot was interesting, as were most of the characters, except Lacey, who is getting seriously smarmy. Treating it more as a straight adventure comic book seems to make the most sense, but I don't really see this as a comedy. It just doesn't have the laughs. I'm not sure what I'd call this genre.

Well the last one looked at least watchable (as much as I saw of it) and so did this one. I may just survive this. (Only to have my work schedule kill me.)

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by dtmuller » 21 hours ago (Sun Jan 12 2014 19:46:40)
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...although I did get an actual laugh out of something near the beginning. Can't recall what right now.

Wow, that's what I call causing an impression. And that's for the best episode, imagine the worst ones...

Well the last one looked at least watchable (as much as I saw of it) and so did this one. I may just survive this. (Only to have my work schedule kill me.)

Those are the perks of being a middleman yourself, I imagine.

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When are you going to learn! We never agree on anything! No "bummer" quips here, because I thought this was the best episode yet.


I give up, there is no figuring you out DT, I swear you do it to me just to do it Rock on Brother, Rock on.

http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/

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The episode didn't have much meat on its bones today (no wonder, since we're talking about ghosts, or something like that). A few laughs...


MILD LAUGHS

- Dating a hot girl who only eats at vegan places must be a real challenge.

- Ally: "I don't know who Caligula is, but..."

- I liked Ally, from bitchy to nice and always pretty, and especially the ghost interpreter who would go at great lengths to give a faithful version of the message being interpreted, included all the ghost's mannerisms.

- MM's ghost - "Great Caesar's ghost!" - These random pop culture references do catch me by surprise, but then I realize they have nothing to do with anything.

- the bummer

- The Middleman and Wendy fighting like girls.

- Never include the option "top secret headquarters" in your automatic pilot settings.

- Alley - "Get your filthy frat-boy paws off my unconscious sister." - It's the second time the show made reference to the Heston quote, but I'd say this time, unlike in the pilot, the show did it right, paraphrasing it instead of using it literally.


GROANS OF DISPLEASURE

- Poor MM's secondary characters. They don't have much reason to exist. In Lacey's case, her private life, except for her relationship with her mother, only exists as far as it affects Wendy. So, this time Lacey found a possible romantic interest, but of course, Wendy had to come front and center. That was made clear in MM's quote:

MM - "I only care about her (Lacey's) happiness. But more than that, I care about yours."

- The fate of a sorority house is at stake! Wow, the show really ventured at the low-stakes territory this time.

- And by the way, the "wild party" looked pretty much like a regular party. with people dancing fully dressed and holding glasses and bottles. OK, OK, ABC family, family-friendly show, I get it. But that sucked and looked fake A LOT.

GRADE

I was neither wildly entertained nor annoyed this time. I guess this one stays in the middle of the scale and gets 5 party bummers.


COUNTDOWN

The ending is nigh... One more under my belt! Yay!


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
+-----------------------------------------------+
| X X X X X X X X . . . . |
+-----------------------------------------------+
12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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GROANS OF DISPLEASURE

- Poor MM's secondary characters. They don't have much reason to exist. In Lacey's case, her private life, except for her relationship with her mother, only exists as far as it affects Wendy. So, this time Lacey found a possible romantic interest, but of course, Wendy had to come front and center. That was made clear in MM's quote:

MM - "I only care about her (Lacey's) happiness. But more than that, I care about yours."

- The fate of a sorority house is at stake! Wow, the show really ventured at the low-stakes territory this time.

- And by the way, the "wild party" looked pretty much like a regular party. with people dancing fully dressed and holding glasses and bottles. OK, OK, ABC family, family-friendly show, I get it. But that sucked and looked fake A LOT.


well as someone who likes the show I would like to argue any of these points but alas I can not. They are the epitome of accuracy in this case.

- Never include the option "top secret headquarters" in your automatic pilot settings.


Now that's a good one, for some reason that slipped by me but again you are correct....lol good one madp

http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/

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by charmedwon666 » well as someone who likes the show I would like to argue any of these points but alas I can not. They are the epitome of accuracy in this case.

I guess we were very much in sync this time. Anyway, the show is getting better. I mean, as long as there aren't things that irritate me like in the beginning, it's just OK. I can deal with that. The problem is that we had, from my point of view,2 a bumpy start, and that affects the whole experience. In fact, many people abandon shows because of problems in the beginning.

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Definitely the prettiest mad scientist I've ever seen. She's gonna make some lucky nerd in Greenland the happiest man on Earth. Looking like that and still smarter than him. Oh, Baby!

For a family show, they sure do count heavily on some things going over the little kids' heads: MM about never being able to "penetrate" the sorority and WW's immediate wisecrack to the contrary. "Booya!" indeed.

The "Muscle-memory, Bitch!" line cracked me up, but for the thing to immediately degrade to cat-fighting cliche's of slap, bite and pull hair was a major letdown. I would think that Dubby wouldn't be able to resist putting the 3 Terrors on her boss when he told her to. The reaction to the kick in the nads was good, but not enough. That would hurt much worse than that, enough to momentarily incapacitate "him" (her) for a finishing-off move with which Dubby failed to follow up.

One good one-liner for a major letdown of a fight scene.

Ida landing on top of MM once he was back in his own body was the best laugh I've had all week. I loved how she refused to be "fooled again" and doped him out anyhow. Also, the way she made her obligatory "doobage" crack at WW but then tested MM and confirmed that it was true. The droid is definitely one of my favorite characters and the most reliable of the good guys here.

Worst case scenario: Tyler remembers too much and has to be sent to Greenland where he hooks up with Eleanor. Nasty! I know. Don't even think of such things.

The bummer was funny. Even though it does look exactly like the truth bomb, and the stun bomb, and a tiny HADAR.

Yeah, hot vegan females are a connundrum for self-respecting carnivorous males. Lacey would drive me nuts.

Not as good a storyline as previous eps. 6 frat pledges in sorority drag.

___________

I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.

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The "Muscle-memory, Bitch!" line cracked me up, but for the thing to immediately degrade to cat-fighting cliche's of slap, bite and pull hair was a major letdown.


Yeah it looked like it was really going to be funny but it didn't quite work out and muscle memory thing after the sorority sisters couldn't remember the dance was a little contradictory.

For a family show, they sure do count heavily on some things going over the little kids' heads: MM about never being able to "penetrate" the sorority and WW's immediate wisecrack to the contrary. "Booya!" indeed.


Exactly what I thought. As has been pointed out before it's hard to figure out the actual target audience they seem to try and please all and this seems to make them miss the mark from time to time in both categories.

http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/

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by bob-402-252005 » 14 hours ago (Fri Jan 10 2014 17:14:26)
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The "Muscle-memory, Bitch!" line cracked me up, but for the thing to immediately degrade to cat-fighting cliche's of slap, bite and pull hair was a major letdown.

Are you kidding? that was the BEST FIGHT EVER! I think all girl fights should be like that on TV. I just think it needed a little more hair pulling. At least that's much more realistic than when they often show a petite woman with little upper body strength knock down three or four burly men with her fighting skills like they do in so many action shows. Come on!
http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cat-fight.jpg

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Are you kidding? that was the BEST FIGHT EVER! I think all girl fights should be like that on TV. I just think it needed a little more hair pulling.


I stand by my disappointment. I really wanted to see Dubby fall back on her training from Sensei Ping and kick some major butt.

At least that's much more realistic than when they often show a petite woman with little upper body strength knock down three or four burly men with her fighting skills like they do in so many action shows. Come on!


Or any other 1 person beat up 3 or 4 tough guys. The exaggerate every hero's fighting skills in TV and movies.

But if you've been around any martial arts training and testing, then you've most likely seen a petite woman or two who were physically capable of taking out 1 big, burley man by using her skills.

http://www.businesspundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/cat-fight.jpg


Yeah, that posture does sort of resemble at least one moment in that fight.

___________

I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.

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I stand by my disappointment. I really wanted to see Dubby fall back on her training from Sensei Ping and kick some major butt.

I guess we'll hardly ever be in agreement as far as this show is concerned. To me the cat fight goes to the top of the top 10 Middleman moments!

Or any other 1 person beat up 3 or 4 tough guys. The exaggerate every hero's fighting skills in TV and movies.

Except for Batman, of course. He can take a crowd and make it seem totally natural.

But if you've been around any martial arts training and testing, then you've most likely seen a petite woman or two who were physically capable of taking out 1 big, burly man by using her skills.

Of course an extremely fit and prepared woman can take more than one semi-prepared burly man, but that's not how it happens most of the time. Anyway I prefer when the physically weaker character wins because he or she is smart, not necessarily because of brute force.

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On a side note: Anyone know the song that was playing on the soundtrack when Wendy came calling on Tyler at the end? I kind of think the singer sounded like Jacob Dylan (Son of Bob Dylan. Fronted '90s rock band The Wallflowers.) but I can't be sure of that.

___________

I'd've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.

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From tv.com

Featatured Music
"Someone Like You" by David Vandervelde
"Daybreak" by Camphor
"Sumthin About Her" by Time Traveller

That's all I found.

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This show dumps so many pop culture references and allusions that at a certain point I guess we stop trying to pay attention to all of them because there's one practically every line they speak. Just as curiosity, here's some info dump:

ALLUSIONS

Animal House:
Louis' sweater, which is blazoned with "COLLEGE" across the front, references Animal House (1978). The toga-wearing heavy-set party guy references John Belushi's similar-looking character John "Bluto" Blutarsky. The movie, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Tom Hulce, and Stephen Furst, chronicles the adventures of the slobs of the Delta House Fraternity. The movie was written in part by Harold Ramis, who also played Dr. Egon Spengler in Ghostbusters (see below).

Casper the Friendly Ghost
Wendy: "But Casper's such a friendly guy."
Referencing "Casper the Friendly Ghost", a child ghost created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo in 1939. He was first featured in a children's story book and then featured in cartoons. The rights were later purchased by Harvey Studios which created several cartoon series from the 1960s on. Casper has been featured in several live-action movies.

Ghostbusters
There are several references to the movie Ghost Busters (1984):
* Reitman University is named after Ivan Reitman, director of Ghostbusters.
* 55 Ray Parker Jr. Ave refers to the singer who performed the Ghostbusters theme.
* The Middleman introduces himself and Wendy as Dr. Stantz and Dr. Zeddemore, referencing Dr. Raymond Stantz (Dan Ackroyd) and Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson).
* Louis refers to Louis Tully (Rick Moranis).
* The radio code names Gatekeeper and Keymaster refer to the two possessing spirits that take over Louis and Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver).
* The sorority photo identifies two of the ghosts as Dana Barrett and Janine Melnitz: Janine Melnitz is the Ghostbusters' secretary (Annie Potts).
* The Egon Spengler Memorial Award refers to Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), another of the Ghostbusters.
* "Positron Collider" is a term used by Peter Venkman to describe the Proton Pack, the main device used by the Ghostbusters.
* "Total photonic reversal" is a term the Ghostbusters toss around.
* "I don't know if she had legs but she definitely had arms" is a line spoken by Louis in the movie.
* PKE meters, neutrona wands and Gozarian lenses are pieces of equipment the Ghostbusters use.

Zombies of Mora Tau
Tyler: "I can't even be friends with someone who likes the Zombies of Mora Tau."
Referencing Zombies of Mora Tau (1957), which stars Jeff Clark, George Harrison and Jan Peters. Directed by Edward L. Cahn from a screenplay by Bernard Gordon, the film chronicles the exploits of a team of explorers seeking to recover a sunken ship off the cost of Africa. The undead sailors guard the ship's cargo of priceless diamonds and intend to make sure no one gets them.

Wachowski brothers
Wendy: "Holy Wachowski brothers!"
Referencing Larry and Andy Wachowski, who originally worked at Marvel Comics on projects associated with horror writer Clive Barker. They went into movies in 1995 and are best known as the creators of The Matrix trilogy. The scenes from the movie of unconscious persons strapped to tables (while they're in the Matrix virtual reality) are alluded to here.

Superman
Louis: "Great Caesar's Ghost."
Referencing the phrase popularized in the 1950s radio and television Superman series by editor Perry White. White is the editor of the Daily Planet and typically Clark Kent's editor-in-chief. Although actor John Hamilton originated the phrase, it was later adopted into the comic books and subsequent movies featuring White.

Star Wars
Wendy: "Omega Theta Nu. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."
Referencing Obi-Wan's line from Star Wars (1977). The Jedi Knight refers to the Mos Eisley spaceport as he, Luke and the droids enter the town.

The Great Gatsby
The Middleman: "How in the eyeglasses of T. J. Eckleburg did you manage to break yours when we so desperately need confirmation?"
Referencing "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald. T. J. Eckleburg is an oculist who left behind a faded billboard that pictures a large pair of blue eyes with half spectacles. The eyes look out over the "valley of ashes" and are thought to symbolize the eyes of God.

Star Trek
Louis: "My pledge challenge was to boldly go where no man had gone before."
Referencing the introductory sequence from Star Trek (1966). The series follows the crew of the USS Enterprise on their five-year mission "To explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before." The sequence was later revised for Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987); replacing "man" with the gender-neutral "no one".

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This show dumps so many pop culture references and allusions that at a certain point I guess we stop trying to pay attention to all of them because there's one practically every line they speak. Just as curiosity, here's some info dump:


Just too many to keep up with but nice job breaking them all down. I did catch most of them but not all.

http://codenamestone.blogspot.com/

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Sorry for the late post. I’ve been playing catch-up all week and didn’t even get to watch this one until this morning.

I must be getting used to this show, because I really enjoyed this week’s episode. Even the long-winded references are getting to be fun – so long as they don’t overuse them, which in this case they didn’t.

We have a home front story with the Ethan/Lacey/Wendy love triangle, and of course Wendy trying to be “noble” and let him date Lacey even though she likes him. Fortunately, we also have an Ally who takes DubDub’s phone in hand and tells Lacey how Wendy really feels about Ethan. We need more characters like this in love triangle plots so that the noble girl doesn’t have to wait until her guy’s about to walk down the aisle with someone else. Also, when Wendy decides not to pursue Ethan, Lacey tells her go get your man now, and she does. Nice. The two do have chemistry.

We also have the mad scientist plot, this time a college-age female. I’ve liked Ashley Johnson ever since she played the daughter of MAHONEY in that one-season show. (And who remembers one-season shows, right?) But the real star of the show was Jeremy Lelliott, playing the reluctant medium Louis, who has to be the voice of the sorority sisters and later that of the Middleman himself. He was hilarious and brilliant in his delivery. The concept of people’s spirits being forced out of their bodies while others inhabit them was original. (I liked when MM shouts, “Ghost of the Living” and Wendy asks is that his analysis or one of his clever expletives.) Spotted a couple of nods to GHOSTBUSTERS in Ray Parker Jr. Avenue (hit song) and Reitman University (director); I think they identified themselves as characters from the movie as well. Ally, the sorority sister was also fun, between her phone work and her suspicion of Wendy at first, until she finds out WW really is who she claims to be (although of course she isn’t). I think my favorite line is when she sees Louis channeling the Middleman with his authoritarian lingo and looks up and asks, “God?”

I’m starting to enjoy the crazy logic, like the concept of having a gore-free zombie movie to cleanse the pallet for enjoying NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as if it was new. Considering I don’t even like zombie movies, the fun I had listening to that exchange was surprising.

This was a fun episode deserving a little better than my off the cuff review this week. I’ll award it 9 pairs of orange glasses or another A.

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