'' is a seven-time Emmy -winning,1 one-time Grammy -winning and seven-time Golden Globe -nominated American Sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network . The series Was First Broadcast on January 9 , 2000 , and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14 , 2006 , after seven seasons.
The show starred ( Justin Berfield ), Malcolm, and Dewey ( Erik Per Sullivan ) living at home, Malcolm being the second oldest of the three (hence the title of the show). The show's early seasons centered on Malcolm and the rigors of being an adolescent genius and his eccentric, although eerily normal, life; later seasons additionally began to explore the other members of the family and their friends in more depth.
The series was different from many others in that Malcolm broke the Fourth Wall and talked directly to the viewer; it was shot using a Single Camera ; and it used neither a Laugh Track nor a live studio Audience . Emulating the style of hour-long dramas, this half-hour show was shot on film instead of video. Another unique aspect is that the Cold Open of every episode is unrelated to the main story, except, episodes which were the second part of a two-part series have a cold opener which is a summary of part one, as is the case with most series.
Originally there were only four children (although Malcolm's oldest brother attended a (Hal), Justin Berfield (Reese) and Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey) are the only actors to appear in every episode.
In real life, Frankie Muniz ( Malcolm ) is 2 months and 20 days older than Justin Berfield ( Reese )
- , played by Craig Lamar Traylor . Malcolm's best (and eventually only) friend. Stevie first met Malcolm in the pilot and were in the same accelerated class through middle school and most of high school. Stevie is a wheelchair user, has severe asthma, and only one lung, causing him to have difficulty speaking. Stevie has a sarcastic side and has also outsmarted Malcolm and Reese on numerous occasions.
- , played by Gary Anthony Williams . Abe is the devoted father and husband to Stevie and Kitty. Abe enjoys spending time with Hal by playing poker with him and his other friends, Trey, Brian, Malik and Steve.
- , played by Merrin Dungey . Stevie's mother and Abe's wife. Kitty is generally soft spoken and doesn't normally punish her son due to his disability. Kitty disappeared from the series after the third season premier and it is revealed that she became a pornstar and deserted her family. She returned in season six, however, hoping to reform herself.
- , played by Catherine Lloyd Burns , Malcolm's teacher who is in most of the first seasons episodes and in the second season appears in two episodes. She was very passionate about her job, and had Malcolm's best interests at heart. She is pregnant for only two episodes, and disappears from the series after giving birth in the school parking lot.
- , played by Daniel Von Bargen . The strict and hard nosed military veteran in charge of the cadets at Marlin Academy. He suffers from dozens of injuries such as missing an eye and several fingers; ironically none of these are combat-related, as he has never served in wartime. For the first two seasons and beginning of season three, Francis was Spangler's most rebellious student and often clashed with him on many occasions. Halfway through the third season, Francis's desertion from the academy caused Spangler's life to go downhill as Francis stood out as his only failure. Spangler gets dismissed from the academy and tracks Francis to Alaska and attempts to kill him at first. Francis eventually finds Spangler a new job at a retirement home and Spangler is able to boss around the senior citizens.
- , played by Eric Nenninger. Francis's fellow cadet at the academy and best friend for the first three seasons. Eric was Francis's reluctant sidekick and normally suffered the consequences of the antics caused by Francis. He has also mentioned having two fathers on several occasions. At the start of season three, Eric turns eighteen and drops of out the academy and goes to work in an Alaskan lodge. Francis emancipates himself and follows soon after but both of them learn that their job isn't as great as they hoped. Eventually, the lodge closes down and they must leave. Francis and Piama leave happily but Eric is left behind to hitchhike on the highway. His fate is unknown.
- , played by David Anthony Higgins , is the neurotic, though well-intentioned, co-worker of Lois at the Lucky Aide. He appears quite frequently in the show, especially during later seasons, as his character became more entwined with Lois and her family. After entrusting his house and cat to Dewey's care while he was away, and the resulting fire that destroyed it, he lived with Malcolm's family for a short time until the boys schemed to get him out (and cover their own tracks). The series ended with Reese moving out of the house and becoming Craig's roommate.
- , played by Tania Raymonde , is a new Krelboyne girl who joins Malcolm's class in the episode " Krelboyne Girl ".
- , played by Brenda Wehle. Francis's cruel and heartless boss at the Alaskan lodge. Lavernia rules over her workers with an iron fist and usually charges her employees instead of paying them. Eventually she closes down the lodge and fires her workers when a mining company buys out the land.
- , played by Chris Eigeman , Malcolm's teacher, is divorced and in debt. Is a genuis like Malcolm and manipulates Malcolm for his own purposes.
- and '''Ida''', played by Robert Loggia and Cloris Leachman respectively, are Lois's dysfunctional parents, introduced in the episode "The Grandparents". Ida is depicted as greedy, manipulative, racist, and quick to take offense, the only good deed she has ever done is saving Dewey from being ran over by a truck thus losing one of her legs. Not much is said about Victor, except that he left his home at a young age and that he was in "the war". Ida often refers to a hard life growing up in "The Old Country" and going through "a camp". While they speak with Slavic accents and appear to be from somewhere in Eastern Europe, their exact nationality is never specified, and may be intended to be fictional. However, one episode, which centers on a fictitious "St. Grotus Day" feast, appears to take place in a Croatian Community Center , with a Croatian flag and a poster of Zagreb Cathedral on the wall. Victor apparently had another, second, family, which he kept secret from Lois and Susan,http://www.tv.com/malcolm-in-the-middle/victors-other-family/episode/311670/summary.html?tag=ep_list;title;104 while later he ran off and married a Canadian woman.
- , played by Emy Coligado , is Francis's wife who appears for the first time in " Hal's Birthday ." Although it has never been directly stated (Francis says she's "fiery" in " Hal's Birthday "), she is very much like Lois.
- , played by Kenneth Mars . Francis's German boss and sidekick for the fourth and fifth seasons. Otto is incharge of The Grotto, a dude ranch (named after the two in the episode Zoo, Otto Says "She is Gretchen I am Otto - Grotto") . Otto is married to Gretchen and has an estranged son. Otto is gullible and a bit of a pushover as he normally hires too many employees and gives them extra vacation days. However, after Francis works on the ranch for a little over two years, Otto fires him when the ATM that Francis was depositing his funds into wasn't really an ATM. In German, his last name means literally "man kisser,"(The Mannkussers are Danes in the German version).
- , played by Meagen Fay . Gretchen is the wife of Otto and the co-runner of the Grotto. She is a kind and caring woman. It was explained by Otto to Francis that his marriage to her was by deceit. Gretchen was actually the girlfriend of his best friend, although Otto loved her as well. When they were going to Elope , Otto's friend asked him to have her meet him a rendezvous point, but he lied about the actual location and said he would meet her at the train station in Berlin. When his friend didn't show up, Otto came and comforted her and they married. They had a son named Rutger.
- , played by Hayden Panettiere is a teenaged girl who temporarily lived with the family in later seasons, sleeping on their couch, after her dad threw her out. She once convinced Malcolm that Reese was gay, and vise versa. She also tried to teach Malcolm how to manipulate Lois.
There have been many guest stars over the past few years on Malcolm in the Middle.
Guest stars on the show have included:
See Also: List of Malcolm in the Middle episodes
During the first season, the writers decided to keep the family's last name a mystery. However, it had already been revealed on the show. In the '') Francis' employee badge falls out of his pocket and the camera close-up reveals his last name as 'Nolastname'. In the same episode when Malcolm was introduced to give the graduation speech the speaker says Malcolm's name but a static noise makes his last name inaudible.Malcolm In The Middle, Fox, "Graduation", May 14, 2006, Production #722, Episode #151
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The opening titles feature short clips from cult films or television shows, edited together with clips from the early seasons of the TV series. These include, in order of appearance:
Much like in '' The Simpsons '', 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 house which is used for external shots is privately owned, and is situated in Studio City , California, at 12334 Cantura Street. In one episode, Malcolm mentions "Comstock" street, a street near UCLA in West Los Angeles. The locale does not 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. In episode 201, " Traffic Jam ", their van displays a California license plate. As well, throughout the run of the show, there were numerous sightings of vehicles clearly bearing California license plates, and San Diego sport team references. The schools that the children 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 ; this layout is also common in Southern states such as Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. 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. In episode 301, " Houseboat ", Malcolm's family goes on vacation, it appears as though the lake they are staying at is Banks Lake , Washington , which could possibly mean that they live more north.
Oklahoma is another possibility; in later seasons, license plates display "Cherokee State", which could refer to Oklahoma. In episode 313, Oklahoma Highway Police can be seen on the police car doors. In Seasons 6 and 7, the license plates on the cars are from Oklahoma. This is seen more than once, as in the episode 606, " Hal's Christmas Gift ", the license plate on the Mustang Lois is in the Parking Lot Demolition Derby with is from Oklahoma, as well as her Tempo . And later, in the episode " Malcolm Defends Reese ", Hal's Dodge Spirit has Oklahoma plates.
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!" In another episode while he is at a party near home, Francis says to his friend, Eric, "Its and eight-hour drive back school ." In " is 2,000 miles away. Triangulation using these distances puts the family's location somewhere in West Texas , somewere like San Angelo (by calculating the distance from San Angelo to Harvard using Google Earth ). However it is most likely these distances were arbitrary numbers used to confuse the location of the setting.
The show's Theme Song , " Boss Of Me ", was written and recorded by the alternative rock group They Might Be Giants . The song won the "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" award at the 2002 Grammy Awards . The band 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 , Basement Jaxx , Sum 41 , Kenny Rogers , Lords Of Acid , En Vogue , Phil Collins , Quiet Riot , Queen , Sublime and Citizen King whose song "Better Days" is played at the end of both the pilot episode and the series finale.
A soundtrack, '' Music From Malcolm In The Middle '', was released on November 21 , 2000 .
Only the first season of ''Malcolm in the Middle'' has been released on DVD. Season 2 was going to be released in Fall 2003 but was cancelled due to high costs of music clearances.2
As a Midseason Replacement for '' Futurama '', the show quickly gained a large viewer base, starting off with ratings of 23 million for the debut episode3 and 26 million for the second episode.
Fox shuffled the show's air time repeatedly to make room for other shows, eventually giving it a free pass in its seventh and last season. After moving to Fridays at 8:30 p.m. next to '', 2006 .
Jane Kaczmarek and Cloris Leachman gained the highest honors in the cast for being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award every year they appeared on ''Malcolm in the Middle''. Cloris Leachman succeeded in winning 2002 and 2006.
- 2001
- ---Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
- ---Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek
- ---Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Frankie Muniz
- 2002
- ---Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek
- ---Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Frankie Muniz
- 2003
- ---Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek
- ---Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Bryan Cranston
''' Peabody Award
- 2000
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Bea Arthur as Mrs. White
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- 2001
- ---Outstanding Comedy Series
- ---Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series - Robert Loggia as Grandpa Victor
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series - Frankie Muniz as Malcolm
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- 2002
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Susan Sarandon as Meg
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- ---Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal
- 2003
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- ---Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal
- 2004
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- 2005
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- 2006
- ---Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida
- ---Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois
- ---Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal
- 2000
- ---Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek
- 2002
- ---Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek
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