This story contains MODERATE SPOILERS for the ABC Family show "The MIddleman."

With "Battlestar Galactica" already airing its last episode of 2008 and USA Network's "The 4400" cancelled, June was looking like a pretty desolate month as far as genre programming goes for me. I'm anxious for "Stargate: Atlantis" to start up again on Friday, but what to do until then?

Fortunately, "The Middleman" on the ABC Family network has taken up the slack.

Based on a series of comic books written by Javier Grillo-Marxauch and drawn by Les MCaine from Viper Comics in 2005, "The Middleman" is a character who "fights evil so you don't have to." He uses all kinds of techo-stuff to fight the bad guys. His real name is unknown although the current Middleman is the latest in a line of four heroes to bear that title.

Wendy Watson, an artist and temporary office worker, was picked to work with the Middleman because she doesn't get rattled by the strange and unusual.

In the pilot episode, Wendy is working as a temp for AND Laboratories while talking with her mother on the phone and sitting in front of a transparent glass wall while a monster breaks free. When said monster busts through the glass, Wendy actually stands up to the thing, impressing the Middleman who has come to take it out.

Wendy's job is now toast after all that devastation, of course, so she starts job hunting until she gets a message from the Jolly Fats Wehawkin Temp Agency. It turns out the organization is just a front for the Middleman and Ida, a "soulless android from outer space masquerading as a cranky librarian."

Enter into the mix Lacey Thornfield, Wendy's blonde and "active in politically correct causes" roommate who the Middleman has taken a shine to. Lacey's always trying to find out more about Wendy's job while she's saving the whales.

Another interesting character is Noser, who is always sitting in the doorway to Wendy's and Lacey's apartment so he can trade song lyrics with them when they come in or go out.

Where do the missions come from? They are sent from an organization so under the radar that the Middleman and Ida have nicknamed them the "Organization Too Secret To Know," or "O2STK."

What makes this show work for me? Several things, including:

1. The Witty Dialogue. Be sure to listen carefully to what is being said because there rarely is a throw-away line. My favorite so far is one the Middleman said in the second episode: "I'm as serious as a Hefty bag full of rottweilers."

2. The actors. It would be easy for this program to come off as silly, but I have to give credit to Matt Keeslar, who looks quite a lot like the character in the comics and makes the title character an interesting mix between Adam West's Batman and Don Adams' Maxwell Smart; Natalie Morales, who adds some diversity to the cast; Brit Morgan, who plays the socially conscious roommate all too well; and Mary Pat Gleason, who snarls and snaps at Wendy as Ida.

The actors make the lines work by taking what they are saying seriously enough for us to buy what's going on, but still having a little bit of whimsy and wryness. It's a great mix.

3. The titles. I have to love the names for the weekly episodes. There is "The Accidental Occidental Conception" followed by "The Sino-Mexican Revelation" and "The Flying Fish Zombification." As a sci-fi fan and a lover of the English language, I just adore these.

4. Poking fun at other shows/trends. What other show would have masked Mexican wrestlers mixing it up with an oriental ninja? Or the Underworld as a hotel lobby? (I would have preferred a motor vehicle administration office, but I can go with that as well.)

5. Comic book references In the pilot episode, the Middleman asks Wendy if she reads comics. She answers fillppantly, "I like Jughead." After that, however, she follows that up with a long list of excellent comics, including "Mouse Guard," one of my personal favorites.

Then, when faced by a talking ape, Wendy refers to him as Gorilla Grodd, one of the Flash's rogues gallery in the comics. I often find myself listening just to pick out the comics references.

6. It's fun. I know I just lost a lot of "serious sci-fi fans" by saying that, but it's wry, it's fast-paced and it's full of enough twists, turns and one-liners to keep me interested on a summer night. And that's good.

Batman reference: Paul Dini (remember him from "Batman: The Animated Series"?) is one of the people who coached Javier Grillo-Marxauch along as a writer.

Star Trek reference: One of the creative forces behind the show is Hans Beimler, who wrote "Shattered Mirror" and was involved in other "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episodes.

So, if you are looking for some light fun to brighten the summer nights in front of the television, don't cut out "The MIddleman."

"The Middleman" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on the ABC Family cable network. It stars Matt Keeslar, Natalie Morales, Brit Morgan and Mary Pat Gleason.

One last note: I'll be at the Shore Leave fan-run convention at the Hunt Valley Inn just north of Baltimore this weekend, so stop by any of the discussion panels I'll be on and say hi!

Wayne Hall, news editor for Airlock Alpha, is a fan of Adam West and Batman, but not Adam West as Batman. He reads comics, watches television and occasionally fits some work into his busy schedule in the Washington, D.C. area. He's also chief of security/publications editor/webmaster for the U.S.S. Chesapeake, a local Star Trek and science-fiction club.