Molcolm in the middle

Malcolm in the Middle is a seven-time Emmy-winning,[1] one-time Grammy-winning[1] and seven-time Golden Globe-nominated[1] American sitcom 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, after seven seasons.

The show starred Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, the third-oldest of four, later five, children in the family, parented by Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston). The oldest child, Francis (Christopher Masterson), was shipped off to military school, leaving the three boys: Reese (Justin Berfield), Malcolm, and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) living at home, Malcolm being the third oldest of the five (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 a part 2 have a cold opener which is a summary of part 1, as is the case with most series.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Characters
o 1.1 Main characters
o 1.2 Recurring characters
* 2 Guest stars
* 3 Episode list
* 4 Mysterious Surname
* 5 Production
o 5.1 Broadcasters
o 5.2 Opening titles
o 5.3 Setting
o 5.4 Music
o 5.5 DVD release
* 6 Reception
o 6.1 Ratings
o 6.2 Notable Awards
* 7 References
* 8 External links

[edit] Characters

[edit] Main characters
Malcolm in the Middle's family. From left to right: Francis, Lois, Jamie (infant in Lois's arms), Malcolm, Dewey, Hal, and Reese.
Malcolm in the Middle's family. From left to right: Francis, Lois, Jamie (infant in Lois's arms), Malcolm, Dewey, Hal, and Reese.
From the sixth season episode "Stilts", with Malcolm taking on the role of Uncle Sam at the Lucky Aide.
From the sixth season episode "Stilts", with Malcolm taking on the role of Uncle Sam at the Lucky Aide.

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 but his sex was not mentioned until Season 5. 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. Bryan Cranston (Hal), Justin Berfield (Reese) and Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey) are the only actors to appear in every episode.

* Malcolm, played by Frankie Muniz.
* Lois, played by Jane Kaczmarek.
* Hal, played by Bryan Cranston.
* Reese, played by Justin Berfield.
* Dewey, played by Erik Per Sullivan.
* Francis, played by Christopher Masterson.
* Jamie, played by Various Actors

In real life, Frankie Muniz (Malcolm) is 2 months and 20 days older than Justin Berfield (Reese)

[edit] Recurring characters

* Stevie Kenarban, played by Craig Lamar Traylor. Malcolm's best 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.
* Abraham "Abe" Kenarban, 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.
* Kitty Kenarban, 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.
* Caroline Miller, played Catherine Lloyd Burns, Malcom's teacher who is in most of the first seasons episodes and in the second season appears in two episodes. She disappears from the series after giving birth in the school parking lot. She was very passionate about her job, and had Malcolm's best interests at heart. However, she would often misunderstand Malcolm's intentions or situations, getting her into trouble.
* Commandant Edwin Spangler, played by Daniel von Bargen. The strict and hard nosed military veteran in charge of the cadets at Marlin Academy. 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' 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.
* Cadet Eric Hanson, played by Eric Nenninger. Francis' fellow cadet at the academy and best friend for the first three seasons. Eric was Francis' reluctant sidekick and normally suffered the consequences of the antics caused by Francis. At the start of season three, Eric emancipates himself and goes work in an Alaskan lodge. Francis 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.
* Craig Feldspar, 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).
* Cynthia, played by Tania Raymonde, is a new Krelboyne girl who joins Malcolm's class in the episode "Krelboyne Girl".
* Lavernia, played by Brenda Wehle. Francis' 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.
* Lionel Herkabe, played by Chris Eigeman, Malcolm's teacher, is divorced and in debt. Is a genuis like Malcolm and manipulates Malcolm for his own purposes.
* Victor and Ida, played by Robert Loggia and Cloris Leachman respectively, are Lois' 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,[2] while later he ran off and married a Canadian woman.
* Piama Tananahaakna, played by Emy Coligado, is Francis' wife.
* Otto Mannkusser, played by Kenneth Mars. Francis' German boss and sidekick for the fourth and fifth seasons. Otto is incharge of The Grotto, a dude ranch. 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).
* Gretchen Mannkusser, 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 disevence. Gretchen was actually the girfriend 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 rendevous 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 Rutca.
* Jessica, played by Hayden Panettiere.

[edit] Guest stars

Guest stars on the show have included Andy Richter, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Warburton, Stephen Root, Jason Alexander, Laurie Metcalf, Kathryn Joosten, Amy Bruckner, Beatrice Arthur, Betty White, Hallee Hirsh, Lauren Storm, Dakota Fanning, Ashlee Simpson, Tom Green, Christina Ricci, Danielle Panabaker, Susan Sarandon, Heidi Klum, Julie Hagerty, Mandy Musgrave, Kurtwood Smith and Bradley Whitford (Jane Kaczmarek's real life husband).

[edit] Episode list

Main article: List of Malcolm in the Middle episodes

[edit] Mysterious Surname

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 pilot episode, Francis speaks to his mother on the phone and his name tag says "Wilkerson". There was also a joke in the original pilot script that was cut -- Malcolm, walking to school, is confronted by a kid who says "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 kid. Also in the company picnic episode, Hal also refers to them as 'the Wilkersons'.[3] In the series finale ("Graduation") Francis' employee badge falls out of his pocket and the camera close-up reveals his last name as 'Nolastname'.