Malcolm in the Middle 

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

Creators:

Linwood Boomer, Michael Glouberman, Andy Bobrow

Stars:

Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Justin Berfield

Nominated for 7 Golden Globes. Another 46 wins & 107 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 / ... 151 episodes, 2000-2006
Christopher Masterson	...	Francis / ... 151 episodes, 2000-2006
Frankie Muniz	...	Malcolm / ... 151 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 | military school | woman | husband wife relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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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:

12334 Cantura Street, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

22 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

On the show, Reese is the second oldest brother of Malcolm, but in real-life, Justin Berfield (Reese) is less than three months younger than Frankie Muniz (Malcolm).

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Goofs

In the episode when Francis runs away from military school, he and his father are talking in the van. There is a pair of headlights behind them following very close, but when seen from outside, the car is driving down the rain soaked road with no car behind them.

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Quotes

opening theme song: Yes, no, maybe, I don't know, can you repeat the question? You're not the boss of me now, You're not the boss of me now, You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big. You're not the boss of me now, You're not the boss of me now, You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big. Life is unfair...

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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 The Mysteries of Laura: The Mystery of the Crooked Clubber (2015)

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Soundtracks

Spiralling Shape
They Might Be Giants

User Reviews

One of the funniest shows on television

"Malcolm in the Middle" may have lost a bit of steam recently, but some of the earlier episodes are absolutely, side-splittingly hilarious. Although Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) may be the titular character, it is really Bryan Cranston's characterization of the father figure, Hal, that makes the show so fun to watch. Cranston turns Hal into a boy at heart (as all fathers are) - only, like everything else with the show, extends it into a complete satire and goes completely wacky. This show, for lack of a better word, is crazy.

It's absurd. And it couldn't be any better. The wild antics and over-the-top gags are similar to a cartoon, and even the fast-cut editing between scenes (with the "whoosing" sound) is reminiscent of an animated program.

Like "The Simpsons," "Malcolm" manages to successfully interweave everyday family/social topics into silly plots involving all types of nonsensical stuff. Some of the physical gags are absolutely hilarious - the episode with Hal running out of the supermarket, a parody of "Raiders of the Lost Ark," is gut-busting - but at its heart this really is a tender and witty comedy that manages to be effective on more than one level.

The rest of the cast are great too. It really "feels" like a genuine family. They bicker, they complain, they whine and moan and fight - this is America today. If we were to go back fifty years in a time capsule and present this to the "I Love Lucy" crowds, they'd be shocked.