[Here's the text of my latest blog on Facebook...]

Did you see how I did that? I juxaposed some Latin with what some folks considered to be a low-brow subject: television. I wanted to take a second to let you know about two of the best new shows you're not watching.

Okay, I'm not positive that you're not watching them. I'm not the television police. I don't have your cable box tapped. I don't have a spy satellite trainined on your house. (Say, your grass needs mowing...)

The first best new show you're not watching is Wipeout. It's on ABC Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. MST.

Wipeout is a quintessential guy show. How can you tell if a show is a guy show? Does it have people making fools of themselves, biting sarcasm, buxom babes, plenty of innuendo, and, as another television show put it, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? Yes? Then it's a guy show.

Wipeout has those in spades. Basically, contestants compete in a humilating obstacle course over series of qualifiers to win $50,000. That's right - $50,000. You could almost buy a car and fill it with gas with that much money.


The obstalces are, of course, wacky. Take, for example, the Big Balls (remember how innuendo was important in guy shows). The Big Balls are a set of gigantic big red balls that previously confident contestants must jump across. Few make it past the second Big Ball. That's what makes the Big Balls such a delightful addition to lowest common denominator television. (And, no, it's not an accident that I'm saying "Big Balls" so frequently.)

To get a taste of Wipeout, check out these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuH02MNMlrk (especially around 3:23)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY1sIs8m6_A&feature=related

Although the next best new show you're not watching shares some of the same characteristics as Wipeout, but decidedly not LCD (that's lowest common denominator). It's The Middleman. It airs on ABC Family Mondays at 8:00 p.m.


What is The Middleman about? Well, er, it's about...it's got...you see, there are these two...It's hard to explain. Let me start with a brief blurb from the TV schedule about the next episode:

The Boy-Band Superfan Interrogation: The search for the origin of several warp holes leads Wendy and the Middleman to exiled alien dictators posing as a famous boy band.

Basically, a young lady artist is recruited by The Middleman to help fight crime. As The Middleman explains in the first episode, the world operates pretty much as it does in comic books - there are aliens, weird devices, foul plots, mustache-twirling villains, ray guns, teleports, witches, zombies, and a host of other four-color fun. The new recruit, Wendy, has to figure out how to juggle her new career as a Robin-esque comic book sidekick with her life, boyfriends, and other commitments. Oh, and there's a sarcastic android, too!

Although the action and special effects in The Middleman are lackluster, it does have two qualities that make it must-see TV: it's witty and it's fun. The dialog practically has a life of its own it's so...you know, life-like...and exciting. The plots, costumes, sets, and situations in the show usually leave me grinning from ear to ear.

I know what you're thinking - "But's it's on ABC Family - how good could it be?" I'm a little bewildered about why it's being broadcast on a family network. There are adult situations, innuendo, more violence than I'd be comfortable with young children watching, and, er, references...to stuff. So don't let the network stop you.

Here's the show's home on the web: http://abcfamily.com/middleman

Here are a few delightful clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNHIZt2jXj8&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHpc-zYHqMc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZcpbqaJ1Gw&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4VlASPTKvc&feature=related

Enjoy!

Seanchai

It's not new, but "Pushing Daisies" was kneecapped by the WGA strike in its first season and is returning on October 1st.  WATCH IT I SAY!

EDIT: I think I saw a bit of "Wipeout" and said, "Hey, it's MXC without the funny."

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!;226623I think I saw a bit of "Wipeout" and said, "Hey, it's MXC without the funny."

That's too bad. MXC is a great way to waste some time.

Right you are, Ken!

Quote from: Dr Rotwang!;226623EDIT: I think I saw a bit of "Wipeout" and said, "Hey, it's MXC without the funny."

MXC is funny?

Seanchai

To me it is.  It's not excatly, you know, agile, witty humor...it's blunt and stupid and --

You know what it is?  It's pantsless.

I like the concept of MCX, but something about it leaves me cold. I just don't find it humorous. Wipeout, on the other hand...

Seanchai