Malcolm in the Middle
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Malcolm in the Middle was an American situation comedy created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. The series first aired on January 9, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006. There have been recent rumors that a reunion is in effect, but they have not received full confirmation yet.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
Overview
The show stars Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, the third-oldest of five children (now six, counting Lois' pregnancy in the series finale), originally the third-oldest of four, in the family (hence the title of the show). The situation centered on Malcolm and his dysfunctional family's life.The series was different from many others, in that Malcolm broke the fourth wall, and talked directly to the viewer, much like Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell. Unlike most sitcoms, it was shot using a single camera and used neither a laugh track nor a live studio audience. Like most dramas, it was shot on film.
The show's theme song, "Boss of Me", was written and recorded by the alternative rock group They Might Be Giants, who also performed nearly all of the incidental music for the show in its first two seasons. Mood setting music is sprinkled throughout the series, in replacement of the laugh track, in a way that resembles feature film more than other TV sitcoms. Some examples of this highly varied music include Abba, Sum 41, Keny Rogers, Phil Collins, Quiet Riot and Queen.
It is aired in Canada on the Global Television Network and also will start airing in the fall of 2006 on YTV, but can also be viewed on the FOX network. It is also shown in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland on Sky One and then, a few months later, on BBC2 (UK) and TV3 (ROI). In France it is aired by M6 and Paris Première, in Australia it is aired by Nine network and in New Zealand it is aired by TV3. In Mexico it is aired in Spanish on Channel Five (XHGC) of Televisa. In Israel it is aired on Bip Channel. In Germany it is aired on Pro 7, in Austria on ORF 1. In Italy on Italia 1. In Denmark on TV2 Zulu and TV3+, in Norway on TV2 and in Sweden on TV4. The series is also aired on one of Malaysia's free TV stations, NTV7. In the Middle East, the series is aired on [MBC 2] and [Showtime Arabia's] Paramount Comedy Channel. In Spain it is aired on [Antena 3], in Portugal on SIC-Radical, a cable network owned by SIC and on M-Net in South Africa. In the Netherlands it is aired on Veronica. In Belgium it is aired on Kanaal 2. In Hong Kong it is aired on TVB Pearl and it can be watched on Star World around Asia.
FX Networks plans to carry the show on cable in 2007.
After successfully selling the show into syndication, FOX essentially gave the show a free pass during its seventh and final season. After moving to Fridays at 8:30 p.m. next to The Bernie Mac Show, Malcolm in the Middle averaged fewer than 3.5 million viewers a week, making it FOX's lowest-rated show. On Friday, January 13, 2006, FOX announced that the show would be moving to 7:00 on Sundays effective January 29, 2006. On Tuesday, January 17, 2006, FOX announced the end of the series, with the 151st and final episode airing at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT (the show's original timeslot) on May 14, 2006. The final episode aired in the United Kingdom on the July 2nd, 7.00pm GMT, 2006.
The family
Originally there were only four children (although Malcolm's oldest brother attended a military school away from home, so he was still the middle child left at home). The fifth child, a new baby, was introduced in the show's fourth season to coincide with Jane Kaczmarek's pregnancy. The boys are, from eldest to youngest: Francis, Reese, Malcolm, Dewey, and Jamie. On the last episode Lois discovered she was, once again, pregnant with a sixth child.
Francis
The oldest of the brothers and the biggest trouble-maker, Francis is a regular character on the show, though he has lived outside of the house since before season 1 began. Lois was in labour with Francis in the middle of her and Hal's wedding, Lois apparently resented Francis for being born breech. After the second season, at only 16 years old, he legally (for those who ignore the fact that he had forged his parents's signatures) emancipates himself with the help of an unscrupulous Alabama lawyer, leaves the academy and heads to Alaska to find work as a logger. While in Alaska, he marries a local woman, Piama, whom he had dated for three weeks. By season 4 he and Piama have left Alaska and Francis has begun working as a farmhand at a Texas ranch/hotel owned by a German couple. (They are Danish in the German-dubbed version of the series.) Francis has become a responsible adult; he has even begun to discipline his younger brothers, who used to regard him as a rule-breaking role model. Unfortunately, a little over two years after he begins working at the ranch, he is fired because the ATM he used to deposit funds isn't actually an ATM. For the remainder of seasons six and seven, Francis makes only occasional appearances, yet he is still credited in each episode. Later, we find that for some time he has been living in a cheap apartment and has failed at getting a job. He briefly took a job as the agent for his friend's band and recently started his own business. In the final episode, it is revealed that he has actually had a job with a large corporation titled Amerisys for two months, which he is enjoying immensely (although he equally enjoys telling his mother that he's unemployed.) Piama also seems to be pregnant in their final scene, illustrating Francis and his father as having extremely similar personalities and fates. (Both married young to ethnic women whom their mothers hate and both seem to be intensely in love with their wives despite constant fighting.)Reese
Reese, the second oldest, is also the least intelligent and most destructive. While in labor with Reese, he was kicking her so hard, that Lois forcefully gave 'pre-mature' birth to Reese. In the episode "Water Park" he and Malcolm were fighting and he had his swimming-shorts pulled down in front of a Water-Park full of teenagers, children and everyone else. He is unintelligent because at an early age he learned how to get rid of his troubles by turning his brain off, or singing the "Minty Mint Song" in his head (Season 4, Episode "Stupid Girl," Original air date 11/24/2002). He is an excellent chef and loves to cook, and banning him from the kitchen has become Hal and Lois's only effective punishment against him. As a baby he called Hal "Phone". He finds success in meat packing, but is fired after setting all the cows free to impress a girl. He once got married to a girl that Ida had introduced him to. She dominated the marriage and constantly shouted at him. Later in the same episode, Reese and Lois enter the garage and find her cheating on Reese, though earlier she tells Reese that the person she is cheating on Reese with is her brother (Reese still believes that he is her brother when he and Lois find her). After graduating high school, Reese moves in with Craig and finally finds success as a janitor in his former high school.Malcolm
At the beginning of the series, Malcolm's teacher recognizes him as a gifted student, and places him in an accelerated learning class. Much to his dismay, the move brands him as a "Krelboyne", a member of the gifted class. The name "Krelboyne" comes from the surname of one of the characters in the movie The Little Shop of Horrors, Seymour Krelboyne (the name is changed to Krelborn in the 1986 film version). Many episodes revolve around Malcolm's attempts to reconcile his genius-level IQ with his desire to lead a "normal" social life. In the final episode it is revealed that his parents did not plan for him to be happy in life. They found that every time they set a goal for Malcolm, he would exceed their expectations due to his personality and abilities. Instead of letting him take an easy six figure job out of high school, they force him to go to Harvard. They explained that since he grew up poor, he would have to work for everything. With his resentment for not being liked, and his skills, he would be a natural politician. He would start off as a DA, but graduate to mayor, then governor of a midsize state before becoming President of the United States. Lois and Hal envision that he would then become one of the greatest Presidents ever.Dewey
Dewey is portrayed as quieter and more inclined to the arts than his brothers. He hides his intellect from Malcolm and Reese, in many cases cleverly taking advantage of them. In one episode he fools Reese into believing he is forwarding instructions from their mother when in fact he is making them up while talking to a telemarketer, Francis, a time and temperature lady, or even no one on the phone ("Hal's Friend"). In another episode ("Water Park") he is uninvited from a family trip to a waterpark due to an ear infection. At first he and the babysitter (played by Bea Arthur) have a rocky relationship. Before she is driven off in an ambulance, however, he has so thoroughly charmed her that they are dancing a tango to the ABBA tune "Fernando" with roses in their teeth. In the fourth season, Dewey begins to exhibit a high degree of intelligence, seen mainly in his talent of playing the piano (which he taught himself after secretly ordering a baby grand piano and hiding it in the garage in "Humilithon.") Dewey is about to follow his brother into the gifted class, only to have Malcolm help him stay in normal classes. Malcolm has Reese complete Dewey's test, which accidentally gets Dewey thrown into the "Special" class, full of kids considered lost causes (the class is known as the "Buseys", an apparent reference to actor Gary Busey). Dewey has since organized the class to want to be all they can be, and is teaching them standard lessons as their teacher/leader. He has been trying to show that they are just as capable as others, and has organized them to do things such as performing an opera he wrote based on his family. Unlike Malcolm, his parents intend for Dewey to be rich and happy later in life. He spends much effort making sure his brother Jamie doesn't feel neglected like he did.Lois
Lois is the tempestuous hard-ass mother. Lois works as a clerk at Lucky Aide, a local drugstore (Lucky Aide's slogan: "The "L" Stands for Value"). She has unconventional ways of disciplining her children, such as having them stand on their heads next to a wall or making them spin in circles with their foreheads on baseball bats. She also has an unhealthy obsession of winning every conceiveable argument that may or may not arise. Her mother is still alive, much to the family's dismay. Lois also has a sister called Susan (played in an episode by Laurie Metcalf) with whom she is on uneven ground (Hal was her sister's boyfriend, but he and Lois had sex on top of a car, on her prom night). The sister is now a middle-aged single lady with counseling, who had a kidney failure and was going to give away her car to Malcom and Reese for her will, though Lois donated one of hers and had it transplanted in her sisters. Her co-worker, the domineering but socially inept Craig Feldspar, has romantic feelings for her, which he makes known in several episodes. Lois is of undetermined Eastern European descent, an aspect explored in a single episode in the fifth season. Lois and Hal continue to be sexually attracted to one another; according to Hal in the season three episode Poker II he and Lois have sex twice a day.Hal
Hal is a bit squeamish and more relaxed in his parenting than Lois, mainly because he is afraid to make the wrong choice. Several episodes refer to him as a former rebel and troublemaker, much like his sons. His indecisiveness supposedly stems from a childhood incident in which he caused a clown to get attacked by a snake (both of which he is now afraid of). He knows better than to cross Lois. When Lois is away, he quickly loses self-control and indulges in his baser enjoyments, such as smoking, loud music, and building "killer robots" (as explored in one episode). He has frequent fits of rage over petty annoyances, frequently engaging in usually self-destructive vendettas against those who cross him, such as a co-worker he believes stole an idea from him, or a mini-golf manager who wouldn't give Dewey a free game, or a bothersome bee, or even his own sons. He keeps encyclopedias with certain letters filled in with pencil, a sort of secret self-therapy, which has occupied many years and many books. This is possibly a harbinger of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He is arguably the biggest dreamer of the family, usually fantasizing about enjoyable situations. He is quite passionate about a range of activities, such as roller-skating, pirate radio and race-walking. He comes from a large and rich family, all members of which have some (repressed) problem or another. They rarely visit because of the friction between Hal's relatives and Lois. Their family believes that Hal deserved a high class woman, instead of Lois, who has a lower-class background. Hal works as a low level cubicle bound white collar worker in large but scandal ridden corporation. He stated in one episode that he works in systems-managment.Victor and Ida
The most dysfunctional members of the family are Lois's parents, Victor (Robert Loggia) and Ida (Cloris Leachman). They were first introduced in the episode "The Grandparents". Victor got off to a bad start by giving Reese a hand grenade, which he accidentally set off. Malcolm prevented the house from blowing up by shoving the grenade in the new steel-reinforced refrigerator. Victor and Ida's exact origins are unknown, but it has been referred to as "The Old Country," which has been hinted to be either in Eastern Europe or inside Russia. Both characters speak with noticeably Slavic accents. Their country of origin may be Ukraine, as some episodes mentioned the grandparents had lived in Manitoba, which has a large Ukrainian-Canadian community. Ida said she had been through a "camp", and would have been old enough to have lived through the displaced person experience after World War II, in which many Ukrainian people sought refuge in Canada. One episode centers on a fictitious "St. Grotus Day" celebration, which featured embroidered costumes similar to traditional Ukrainian dress. St. Grotus was said to burn down "enemy churches", and Ukraine has a history of several competing Catholic and Orthodox churches. However, in the same episode Lois says "Narog" (Romanian for "cheers") to her mother, before they both down their drinks. Victor later runs off and marries a Canadian woman.Not much is known about Victor, except that he left his home at a young age and that he was in the war. Victor had another family, but kept it a secret from Ida. This family was introduced during season five. It was then revealed that Victor was not really Lois's father. Her real father could walk up the stairs on his hands, and was one of many soldiers under Victor's command who visited Victor's house. In the episode "Christmas", we learn that Victor is now dead.
Lois' mother, Ida, lives in Whitehorse, Canada. She smokes, is a bigot, an alcoholic and always senselessly cruel. The portrayal of Ida is often times brilliant. The character is reminiscent of Ms. Leachman's Frau Blucher from Mel Brook's film "Young Frankenstein." It would be fair to imagine that Ida is what an older Frau Blucher would be like. After Ida discovers Victor's "second" family, Lois goes to visit her half-siblings and while Lois is in Canada, Ida tells Lois that Ida's common-law husband (Victor) wasn't really Lois' father (see, preceeding paragraph). Ida has a history of evil behavior, such as (in "Ida's Boyfriend," 2004) drugging a Chinese man so that he will marry her. (The groom regained his senses before the marriage ceremony ended and avoids Ida's trap.) Ida buys Christmas gifts but keeps the gifts locked up, thinking that the recipients don't deserve them when they have no idea that they annoyed her. When it comes to Malcolm, she occasionally implies that he is gay, as he never has any girls at the house. She tells Lois that the only reason Lois keeps having children is to get welfare checks. She sued Lois and Hal in one episode. Ida's single good deed was saving Dewey from getting run over by a truck.
The episode "Christmas" implied that Ida is Catholic, as she disliked a relative who'd married a Protestant. Since this particular distaste doesn't extend to Lois, the implication is that Hal is also Catholic. On the other hand, the family is not religious, and only joined a protestant church for two weeks to take advantage of the free daycare. In one scene Dewey asks his Father why they have the letter "t" on all the walls. Neither Hal nor Lois attends church services. Malcolm, on the other hand, seeks religious guidance from a priest, a rabbi, and a New Age guru in the episode "Shame".
The family's last name
The last name of the family has been revealed only once in the show, in the pilot episode, where Francis wears the name tag "Wilkerson" on his school uniform (it can be seen best in the scene where he is talking with his family on the phone). Also, though unaired, it appears in a joke from the original pilot script. In that script, Malcolm was walking to school when a neighborhood kid came running up shouting, "Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm. I was talking to my parents last night - I was listening to them talk, and what's your last name?" "Wilkerson, why?" Malcolm replied. "Oh. Who are the Pariahs?" said the other kid. The joke was eventually cut. One theory of why their last name has been played down is that the producers did not want them to be typecast as any particular ethnicity, and they likely hoped rerun viewers would miss Francis' name tag. However, a trailer on the UK channel Sky One in Early 2006 advised you to spend time with "The Simpsons" and "The Wilkersons", advertising Sunday night new episodes of both series. And on Bryan Cranston's official website, Mr. Cranston says the crew regularly joked amongst themselves that their last name is actually Nolastname. During the series finale, when Malcolm is being introduced for his graduation speech, his last name is not heard due to a squeak of the microphone. Just before Malcolm gives his graduation speech, Francis drops his employee ID on the ground — and it clearly shows his name as "Francis Nolastname."Other mysteries
Along with the last name, the creators also leave several other things hanging for the viewers to figure out:
- In season 1 episode "Funeral", Francis keeps asking how his Aunt Helen died. Dewey says twice that, "Cats ate her face." Francis then asks Hal who responds that it was cats eating her face as her cause of death, going on to say that Dewey knew more about it — while Dewey rambled nonstop with the bizarre story. The true cause is never revealed. Also in the episode was a character named "Egg" that was Dewey's friend. Egg was only shown once. What happened to this character remains a mystery, but may be a case of Chuck Cunningham syndrome.
- In season 5 episode "Reese's Apartment", Lois keeps repeating an outlandish thing that Reese did, but at the moment the outlandish occurrence is to be revealed, the scene changes to the reaction of what he did, leaving the revelation unfulfilled. The only mentions the audience gets regarding what Reese did were Malcolm's response of "Did they have to evacuate?", a therapist's response of "What were the cats for?" and Reese's defense, "I can name third world countries where stuff like that happens all the time."
- In season 6 episode "Living Will", the episode when Hal's fears of making decisions was shown, he had to choose between euthanasia or prolonged life support on someone in a coma who put the entire neighborhood in his will. After a brief bout with paralysis from the waist up, Hal made a "third choice." The audience will never know since at the end of the episode he said he would never mention it again, though there were some clues as to what he did. These were mentioned as Hal and Lois were talking in bed. He said that the moment he learned the person was a bird lover, it all "became clear." In response, Lois asked if everything was at Radio Shack. Hal responded "Everything except the hat." This leads many people to believe that he gave the man up for a scarecrow, which he let's electronically move or pump life support in to.
Near Mystery
- In season 4 episode "Baby part 2", after Jamie was born, Hal's friends asked Abe what gender it was. Abe's response was "It's a beautiful-," his speech getting cut off by the sound of ambulance sirens. In the following episode, the season finale, "Day Care," whenever Jamie's gender was mentioned, it was either interrupted, the subject changed, or the question, which viewers thought would lead to inquiry about gender, ended in a different and often humorous way. This led to some speculation that Jamie's gender would be kept a secret. During the cold open for the next episode (season five's opener, "Vegas"), this idea is toyed with when Hal and Lois change Jamie's diaper. (They called Jamie a "he" lots of times, though.) After numerous opportunities at revealing Jamie's gender were left unfulfilled, the sequence finally ends with Jamie urinating straight up at Hal who responds, "Nice try, mister." Also in the episode "Ida's Boyfriend" Lois says to her mother Ida, "Mom, Jamie's got your cigarettes," to which Ida replies, "Who the hell is Jamie?" which finally garners Lois's response of, "It's your grandson."
The setting
The setting of the show has never been revealed, though their street address - 12334 Maple Blvd. - was identified in episode 418 ("Reese's Party"). The locale doesn't appear to have noticeable seasons, and also appears not to be in a desert environment, so one could conjecture the setting is somewhere in suburban California (the show is filmed in this state and the outdoor setting closely resembles the physical landscape of the state). Also, the schools the teens attend have the look and layout of a common California public school, with classes in many single story buildings, separated by open-air common areas, instead of a single multi-story building. The actual house is privately owned, and is situated in Studio City, at 12334 Cantura Street. The CBS Studio Center in (Studio City) is where the set is.There is also a good chance that the family lives in Arizona, as in the episode "Future Malcolm" when Dewey is being reprimanded for painting on the wall, a water bottle with the symbol for the NFL team the Arizona Cardinals is clearly visible.
Oklahoma is a possibility. In later seasons, license plates display "Cherokee State" which is another name for Oklahoma. Despite that, the look of the plates intentionally made like California's, such as the font of the words "Cherokee State", and digits are in the format of "1 XXX 111", where 1 is a digit, and X is a letter. In episode 415, Otto was singing the title song from "Oklahoma!." In episode 313, Oklahoma Highway Police can be seen on the police car doors. However, in one episode, Hal comes to visit Francis at military school and upon seeing his father, Francis exclaims, "you drove eight hours just to see me!" The school is known to be located in Alabama, so Malcolm's family must live within an eight-hour drive of the state, perhaps in Florida. On the other hand there is also in episode 418 where Reese is sent to Whitehorse on a bus for at least 52 hours. Malcolm: "Reese, think about it. It takes 26 hours to get to Canada, and 26 hours to get back. Your bag is filled with food and nobody called Grandma!" Only Alaska is within a 26 hour drive of Whitehorse, Canada. However, in episode 43, Alaska is stated to be "5000 miles away and in the episode "Krelborne Picnic", Francis says "So I'm still a member of the family even after you sent me away to military school 1,000 miles away". In the series finale, Malcolm reveals that Harvard is 2,000 miles away.
In episode 112, on a desk in the brothers' room, is what appears to be an In-N-Out Burger coffee mug. If this is true, its likely the show is in states such as California, Nevada, or Arizona as the In-N-Out food chain is only present in these three states. Although, because the show is filmed in California, it is likely just added there from a cast member or crew member, since In-N-Out is popular among celebrities. Another explanation to this is that they simply traveled through one of those states and acquired a mug.
Also, in episode 110, "Stock Car Races", when Hal and the boys are entering the track the billboard behind the entrance displays the place as Irwindale Speedway (a real race track in Southern California).
It is likely that there is no real-world location that is consistent with all the facts about Malcolm's location given in the show. It is known, however, though that the area in which the family live is called Tri-County. This has been references several times; for example, in the "Carnival" episode, the sign to the fairgrounds reads "Tri-County"; and in the "Miss Tri-County" episode, Lois enters a local beauty pagent called Miss Tri-County. In an episode, Malcolm also visits Stevie, who was in the Tri-County hospital.
In the episode in which Hal reveals to Dewey the origins of his fear of kites, we see a flashback to Hal's childhood. In the park, he crashes into a sign that shows a municipal code with the abbreviation RAPD. The PD almost certainly refer to "Park District," but the RA is not explained.
Yet, in the episode, "Vegas", Reese wears a shirt that says El Paso Longhorns.
In the episode, "Water Park", the waterpark they go to is actually at Wild Rivers, located in Irvine, California, but within the show it was given a different name.
An avid viewer of the show has claimed all indications reflect that the family actually live in the suburbs of Washington DC which, even believing there to be a clear verbal confirmation of this by Hal in one episode (TBC).
Cast
The family
- Frankie Muniz as Malcolm
- Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- Bryan Cranston as Hal
- Christopher Masterson as Francis
- Justin Berfield as Reese
- Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey
- Emy Coligado as Piama Tananahaakna
- Cloris Leachman as Grandma Ida
- James and Lukas Rodriguez as Jamie
Other major characters
- Craig Lamar Traylor as Steven "Stevie" Kenarban
- Gary Anthony Williams as Abraham "Abe" Kenarban
- Merrin Dungey as "Kitty" Kenarban
- David Anthony Higgins as Craig Feldspar
- Kenneth Mars as Otto Mannkusser (2002-2004)
- Meagen Fay as Gretchen Mannkusser (2002-2004)
- Jonathan Craig Williams as Steve
- Edward James Gage as Brian
- Alex Morris as Trey
- Dan Martin as Malik
- Eric Nenninger as Eric Hansen (2000-2002)
- Daniel von Bargen as Commandant Edwin Spangler (2000-2002)
- Catherine Lloyd Burns as Caroline Miller (2000)
- Chris Eigeman as Lionel Herkabe
Krelboynes
- Kyle Sullivan as Dabney Hooper
- Tania Raymonde as Cynthia
- Evan Matthew Cohen as Lloyd
- Will Jennings as Eraserhead
- Victor Isaac as Kevin
Guest Stars
Andy Richter, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Warburton, Stephen Root, Jason Alexander, Laurie Metcalf, Amy Bruckner, Hallee Hirsh, Lauren Storm, Busy Phillips, Ashlee Simpson, Tom Green, Christina Ricci, Danielle Panabaker, Susan Sarandon, Bradley Whitford, (Jane Kaczmarek's real life husband)and among many others have guest starred on the show.Episode guide
Character age information
| Episode | Air date | Dialog/Event | Actor's age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101 | January 9, 2000 | Malcolm: "No, you're (Dewey) in the first grade. You're too big for that." Reese: "He's [Francis] 16." | Erik Per Sullivan: 8.5 y Christopher Masterson: 20 y |
| 102 | January 16, 2000 | 16th anniversary of Lois and Hal, which make Francis 16 years old (Lois went into labor during the wedding). | Christopher Masterson: 20 y |
| 301 | November 11, 2001 | Francis emancipated himself. (Therefore, must be a minor) | Christopher Masterson: 21.8 y |
| 302 | November 14, 2001 | Reese started high school. Malcolm did not. | Justin Berfield: 15.7 y Frankie Muniz: 15.9 y |
| 313 | February 10, 2002 | Reese got his learner's permit. (Generally, must be at least 15, although laws vary by state.) | Justin Berfield: 16 y |
| 316 | March 10, 2002 | Ed (to Reese): "...it'll be hard to explain to my wife why I'm catering to a 15-year-old." | Justin Berfield: 16.1 y |
| 402 | November 10, 2002 | Malcolm: "I'm officially done with junior high. ... I'm going into high school." Malcolm: "I've spent 3 years being a Krelboyne. I can spend 4 years being a joke." | Frankie Muniz: 16.9 y |
| 405 | December 1, 2002 | Malcolm celebrates his birthday (Which would make him 15, as he had started High School at the start of the season) | Frankie Muniz: 16.9 y |
| 414 | March 16, 2003 | Malcolm: "She's (Jessica) in my class, Dad!" Reese: "She's a year younger than me." | Justin Berfield: 17.1 y Frankie Muniz: 17.3 y |
| 421 | May 18, 2003 | Jamie was born. | |
| 505 | November 30, 2003 | Grove Elementary School sent a letter concerning Dewey. | Erik Per Sullivan: 12.4 y |
| 510 | January 25, 2004 | Malcolm got his learner's permit. | Frankie Muniz: 18.1 y |
| 515 | March 21, 2004 | Hal: "In 17 years with us, you (Reese) have spent more days in juvenile court than you have in school." | Justin Berfield: 18.1 y |
| 521 | May 16, 2004 | Reese, when still a minor, joined the army with false identification. | Justin Berfield: 18.2 y |
| 601 | November 7, 2004 | Lois: "He's (Reese) not even 18 years old yet." | Justin Berfield: 18.7 y |
| 607 | January 16, 2005 | 20th anniversary of Lois and Hal, which make Francis' real age roughly less than 20. | Christopher Masterson: 25 y |
| 608 | January 23, 2005 | Reese: "Maybe it's because I'm almost 18 now." | Justin Berfield: 18.9 y |
| 613 | March 13, 2005 | Dewey: "Give him (Jamie) a break. He's not even 2." | |
| 616 | April 3, 2005 | Francis turned 21 | Christopher Masterson: 25.2 y |
| 702 | October 7, 2005 | Reese: "I'm 17." | Justin Berfield: 19.6 y |
| 707 | November 11, 2005 | Lois: "He's (Reese) 18, for God's sake!" | Justin Berfield: 19.7 y |
| 712 | January 29, 2006 | Dewey: "I'm 12." | Erik Per Sullivan: 14.5 y |
| 715 | March 5, 2006 | Reese: "The arcade? What are you, 12?" Dewey: "Yeah." | Erik Per Sullivan: 14.6 y |
| 721 | April 23, 2006 | Hal: "Don't you have a prom to go to?" Dewey: "I'm not in high school." | Erik Per Sullivan: 14.7 y |
| 722 | May 14, 2006 | Malcolm and Reese (after repeating a grade) graduate from high school. | Justin Berfield: 20.2 y Frankie Muniz: 20.4 y |
Note: Francis' age and birthday are unclear. According to several episodes he was born during Lois and Hal's wedding ceremony but his birthday is different from their anniversary and he is described as 16 before either their 16th anniversary or his birthday occur on the show. Some fans have theorized that his birth interrupted the wedding ceremony and that Hal and Lois were not actually married on that day, making them move their legal wedding (and thus anniversary) to Jan 16th. In the episode "Lois's sister", it is revealed that Hal had dated Lois's sister first, and that this had somehow created secrecy and deception about Francis' real age among the characters themselves.
In a flashback, we see that Francis was about one or two in the mid-'80s (Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", which came out in 1985, plays in the background at the beginning of the scene).
Opening Titles
The opening titles feature a collection of short clips from cult icons or movies, edited together with clips from the early seasons of the TV series. These include, in order of appearance:
- Three women fighting a giant turtle: From One Million Years BC (1966)
- Grinning anime boy in rain: Shiogami from anime [Nazca]
- The monster rising out of the ocean is the Kraken: From Clash of the Titans (1981)
- Woman being held above a nest of hungry pterodactyl: From One Million Years BC (1966)
- Anime guy skateboarding: From the anime Nazca [link]
- Mud-monster grabbing a woman as she kisses a man: From The Creature From The Haunted Sea (1961)
- Man ski-jumping while ignited in flames: unknown origin
- Wrestling match: Bret Hart wrestling Chris Benoit (locking him in his finishing move, The Sharpshooter), during the WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match at WCW Mayhem PPV in Toronto, Ontario.
- Prosthetic face being assembled: unknown origin
- Man attacking giant brain with an axe: From The Brain From Planet Arous (1957)
- Boxer knocking out referee: Pedro Cardenas fighting Willie deWit but accidentally KOd referee Bert Lowes instead, during the 1982 North American Championships in Las Vegas.
Timeslots
Since the show's inception FOX has shuffled Malcolm in the Middle around to make room for other shows.
- January 9, 2000 - July 2002 - Sundays, 8:30 p.m.
- August, 2002 - October 2004 - Sundays, 9:00 p.m.
- November, 2004 - September 11, 2005 - Sundays, 7:30 p.m.
- September 30, 2005 - January 13, 2006 - Fridays, 8:30 p.m.
- January 29, 2006 - April 23, 2006 - Sundays, 7:00 p.m.
- May 14, 2006 - Sunday, 8:30 p.m. (series finale).
Trivia
- Bryan Cranston (Hal), Justin Berfield (Reese) and Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey) are the only actors to appear in every episode.
- Even though Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) plays Justin Berfield (Reese)'s younger brother, Muniz is about three months older than Berfield.
- Jane Kaczmarek has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in every year Malcolm in the Middle has been broadcast. She has lost to actresses of higher-rated shows such as Jennifer Aniston, Felicity Huffman, Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Heaton.
- Frankie Muniz and Bryan Cranston also have been honored with Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, respectively.
- Malcolm in the Middle was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2001.
- One episode featured a remarkable domino sequence set up by Hal, who missed the dominos falling since he closed the door a little bit too hard. The sequence was set up by multiple cameras with no digital editing.
- The Mannkussers are Danes in the German version.
- Mannkusser is derived from the German word Mannküsser, which means man-kisser.
- Malcolm In The Middle won "Best International Comedy" at the 2003 British Comedy Awards, beating out favourites such as Friends, The Simpsons and South Park.
- The show was filmed at Stages 11 and 21 in CBS Studio Center, two spaces totaling 31,850 sq. ft.
DVD Releases
Season Releases| DVD Name | Release Date | Ep # | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | October 29 2002 | 16 | Bonus features include extended pilot episode, A Stroke of Genius Featurette, Running commentary on select episodes, gag reel, Deleted scenes, Erik per Sullivan's day job featurette. |
Only the first season of Malcolm in the Middle has been released on DVD. The reason for the delay on the other season DVD sets is rumored to be due to music rights; however, there is no official explanation at this time.
See also
References
External links
- [Official FOX Malcolm in the Middle website]
- [] at TV.com
- [''Malcolm in the Middle on TKTV]
- [Malcolm in the Middle Voting Community]
- [Malcolm in the MIddle Voting Community Forums]
- [A site with a list of music used in the series]
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