Malcolm in the Middle 

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

Creators:

Linwood Boomer, Michael Glouberman, Gary Murphy

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

None of Malcolm's family have a last name. While in military school, Francis was referred to only as "Francis" and never by his last name. Reese joins the Army, and we learn the last name of his fake ID is "Jetson". There are no indications that the family has a last name, except in the pilot when Francis is talking on the phone to his family, you can see his name tag on his Marlin Academy uniform is "Wilkerson", but people often joked and called the family "Nolastname".

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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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Alternate Versions

An extended version of the pilot episode was released with the 'Complete First Season' DVD boxset.

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Connections

Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Aaron Paul/Gilbert Gottfried/Thomas Kail/Mark Guiliana (2016)

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Soundtracks

Boss of Me
by They Might Be Giants

User Reviews

Delightful, Brilliant and Surprisingly Sophisticated

I have only recently discovered this show, after years of having ignored it when flipping through channels, having written it off as "a silly kids' show." Now I consider it up there with "Seinfeld" and "Scrubs" in terms of its superb writing, creativity and savvy.

Things I like about this show: it is consistently funny; no laugh-track; it doesn't hit you over the head with an annoying "message" at the end of the episode, but instead there is usually is an implied message; the family is loud and brash but still loving; although wacky and cartoonish in style, the show feels highly realistic; for a show with kids, these kids are very funny; the show has "edge"—it deals with topics like sex that other family sitcoms either wouldn't touch or would treat with stupidity; excellent cast, with witty verbal and physical humor. 10/10