Last Saturday marks the passing of a longtime friend of mine, who, for the last seven or eight years, kept me entertained every week. Yes, Tom, the robot host of Toonami, has passed away of a very common disease, Exodus viewerii. Longtime girlfriend SARA says, "After Dragonball Z ran its course, Tom seemed to become sicker every day. The doctors tried everything, including emergency treatments of a serum of double Naruto, but even that didn't work. After One Piece ran out, the decision was made to remove life support." Executives from Cartoon Network were unable to give any statements in person, but issued this statement through lawyer Jack Samurai, "It is very sad when a longtime employee and cash cow passes, but at least he's in a better place, with his friends Toonami Midnight Run, Power Zone, and Miguzi."

Tom leaves behind his co-workers, Flash, that other robot guy, and longtime friend Steven Blum.

This is the end, beautiful friend, the end. You know, I've been watching Toonami ever since it made the switch to anime, and there were a hell of a lot of good shows that aired on it (Ronin Warriors and Gundam Wing FTW). It's sad to see the end of an era like that, and it begs the question "How the hell can they still call it Cartoon Network if they air live action stuff for like 12 hours of the day?"

My deepest apologies to all the Naruto fans out there that will never get to see how the Ramen Noodle episode is resolved. I can only hope that the cancellation of Toonami and all the recent "scheduling changes" aren't an omen that CN isn't going to stop hooking me up with that lovely intoxicant called anime.

Cough Cough HAAACK A-CHOO. Sneeze. Cough.

Cough.

Give me a sec to finish dusting off the ol' blog here.

Much better.

So, I was clued into a show called The Middleman by an article in my local paper. I figured I'd give it a try since it was executive produced by Lost's very own Javier Grillo-Marxuach.

So, what's so good about the show? It's about a comically uptight secret agent belonging to a secret group that secretly fights against supernatural villains and the like. His partner is the nerdy (but hot) Wendy Watson and they team up to take on monsters like vampire puppets, cursed tubas, lucha libre wrestlers, zombie fish, and a supervillain with a penchant for melting things. Middleman is like the lost offspring of Get Smart and the X-Files, only much, much funnier.

Not convinced? The show is written and produced by Javier Grillo-Marxuach, one of the creative minds behind the ever popular TV show, LOST. That should be enough for any LOSTphiles right there. Of course, the shows are completely different. LOST tells its stories through confusing plot twists, while Middleman prefers pop culture references and absurdity. But there's more. Yes, a whole lot more.

Unfortunately, The Middleman may not be on the air for much longer. Despite its burgeoning popularity, and even with a key 10PM timeslot on the much watched ABC Family channel, the Middleman is not doing well in ratings. In fact, ABC Family cut the number of episodes from 13 to 12. It's sad that such an excellent show could wind up on the chopping block, but it could happen. But that's where you come in. I urge all of you out there to watch The Middleman (10PM EST on ABC Family, check your local listings). You'll be glad you did.

If this sounds a lot like a commercial, well, it is, kind of. I'm just one man, doing my part.

• Locke
• Desmond
• Sayid
• Mikhail ()
  
• Claire
• Sun
• Jin
• Benjamin Linus
• Danielle Rousseau
• Sawyer
• Hurley
• Rose
  

• Jack
• Charlie
• Ana Lucia
• Shannon
• Nikki
• Paolo

• Kate
• Bernard