Graduation
- Episode aired May 14, 2006
- TV-PG
- 23m
Having been denied a very lucrative job in a software company, Malcolm accepts the vision his parents have for him. The first US president that will actually keep in mind the best interests ... Read allHaving been denied a very lucrative job in a software company, Malcolm accepts the vision his parents have for him. The first US president that will actually keep in mind the best interests of poor people like his own family.Having been denied a very lucrative job in a software company, Malcolm accepts the vision his parents have for him. The first US president that will actually keep in mind the best interests of poor people like his own family.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Francis Wilkerson
- (as Christopher Kennedy Masterson)
- Loan Shark
- (as Enzo Stussi)
- Craig Feldspar
- (as Dave Higgins)
- Teacher
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBoth the series finale and pilot fade out to Citizen King's "Better Days".
- GoofsReese tries to make a mess that will take 30 days to clean up, but instead he could have just made a huge mess on the 29th day, so they would have to keep him the extra few days.
- Quotes
Malcolm: You know what? I'm glad, this is appropriate, now my life looks exactly how I feel. How could you screw me over like that?
Lois: Because you were gonna take that job and we are not gonna let you throw your life away.
Malcolm: How is being rich throwing my life away?
Lois: Because, it's not the life you're supposed to have, the life you're supposed to have is you go to harvard and you earn every fellowship and internship they have, you graduate first in your class and you start working in public service either district attorney or running some foundation and then you become governor of a mid-sized state and then you become president.
Malcolm: ...What?
Lois: Of the United States!
Malcolm: Dad!
Hal: I'm sorry son, It's true.
Francis: [Reese and Stewie nodding at Malcolm] Thought you knew.
Hal: Our expectations started much smaller but you just kept upping the ante.
Malcolm: What if I don't wanna be president?
Lois: It's too late for that, you're gonna do it.
Malcolm: Oh, really? have you decided my position on capital-gains tax cuts? What are my foreign policy objectives?
Lois: That doesn't matter, what does matter is that you'll be the only person in that position who will ever give a crap about people like us. We've been getting the short end of the stick for thousands of years and I for one am sick of it. Now you are going to be president mister and that's the end of it.
Malcolm: Did it ever occur to you that I could have taken this job, gotten really rich and then bought my way into being president?
Lois: Of course it did, we decided against it.
Malcolm: What?
Lois: Because then you wouldn't be a good president, you wouldn't have suffered enough.
Malcolm: I've been suffering all my life!
Lois: I'm sorry ,it's not enough. You know what it's like to be poor and you know what it's like to work hard, now you're gonna know what it's like to sweep floors and bust your ass and accomplish twice as much as all the kids around you, and it won't mean anything because they will still look down on you, and you will want so much for them to like you and they just won't and then it'll break your heart, and that'll make your heart bigger and open your eyes and finally you will realize that there's more to life than proving you're the smartest person in the world. I'm sorry Malcolm, but you don't get the easy path, you don't get to just have fun and be rich and live the life of luxury.
Hal: That's Dewey.
Dewey: [happily] Really?
Malcolm: This is unbelievable, You actually expect me to be president. No, no, I'm sorry, you expect me to be one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States?
Lois: You look me in the eye and you tell me you can't do it.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 20 Best TV Finales of the Century (So Far) (2022)
- SoundtracksBetter Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)
(uncredited)
Written by Dave Cooley and Matt Sims
Performed by Citizen King
This episode is pretty reflective of the later years - it has its moments but is never really really funny.
I'll remember it for S1-4 I think.
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