Malcolm in the Middle (2000–2006)

A gifted young teen tries to survive with his dimwitted, dysfunctional family.

Creator:

Linwood Boomer

Stars:

Bryan Cranston, Justin Berfield, Erik Per Sullivan

Nominated for 7 Golden Globes. Another 39 wins & 82 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Bryan Cranston	...	Hal (151 episodes, 2000-2006)
Justin Berfield	...	Reese (151 episodes, 2000-2006)
Erik Per Sullivan	...	Dewey (151 episodes, 2000-2006)
Jane Kaczmarek	...	Lois (150 episodes, 2000-2006)
Christopher Masterson	...	Francis (150 episodes, 2000-2006)
Frankie Muniz	...	Malcolm (150 episodes, 2000-2006)

Storyline

An offbeat, laugh track-lacking sitcom about a bizarrely dysfunctional family, the center of which is Malcolm, the middle of the two brothers who still live at home. His eldest (and favorite) sibling, Francis, boards at military school because his parents believe it will reform him and keep him out of trouble. Malcolm often has a hard time coping with his family life, but he has more troubles to contend with when he starts receiving special treatment at school after being diagnosed as an intellectually advanced genius.

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Plot Keywords:

dysfunctional family | school | ranch | sitcom | military school | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fighting in Underpants

Filming Locations:

20th Century Fox Studios - 10201 Pico Blvd., Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Satin City Productions, Regency Television, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

FOX announced that this program will air its final (151st) episode on 14 May 2006.

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Goofs

At the end of Lois vs. Evil, Malcolm speaks to camera with several children moving in the background. One boy doesn't know where or when to move and he tries to speak to someone off camera. In the end he gives up, shrugs his shoulders and walks off.

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Quotes

Lois: [about Hal] He's battling his arch enemy.
Francis: Is the squirrel back again?

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Crazy Credits

For the first 3 minutes of the Episode "Living Will" (3/6/2005), the bottom of the screen pages through a long list of fourteen alleged "producers". This was the first episode to air after the Academy Awards controversy over limiting to three, the number of "producers" who could win a best film Oscar.

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Connections

Referenced in Family Guy: Breaking Out Is Hard to Do (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Boss of Me"
by They Might Be Giants

User Reviews

Fox has created another hit series

Like Ally McBeal, The X files and The Simpsons, Fox took a chance with an original show that was creative, enjoyable and a breath of fresh air. Fox Network has created another hit series with "Malcolm In The Middle".

Malcolm in the Middle has a stellar cast, intelligent writing & great direction. I'm sure some might find it hard to swallow the cutting edge writing. It's one of the first shows that has the characters actually saying what they feel and not thinking about it and some scenes like the father having his back shaved or the mothers breast could turn off some people. But, this is what makes "Malcolm in the Middle" fresh and funny.

Due to those high-rated stupid game shows that have to give away a million dollars to get you to watch, this show may take time to catch on but all great shows usually do.

"Malcolm in the Middle" deserves to be around long enough to get into syndication.