In the 2000s, sitcoms experienced a renaissance. Not only was the genre the dominant force in television, but a lot of innovation was happening within the art form with shows like The office, scrubsand How I met your mother. A classic sitcom from that era Malcolm in the middlewhich ran for seven seasons from 2000 to 2006.
There are many sitcoms starring children’s characters, but Malcolm in the middle feels different from all of them. His brand of humor was heightened by a kind of intelligence and ingenuity rarely seen in other shows aimed at children or adults. Let’s take a closer look at what was created Malcolm in the middle stands out from the crowd due to its enduring popularity.
Malcolm in the challenging premise of the center
As the name of the series suggests, Malcolm in the middle tells the story of little Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), the middle child in a family of four brothers. Malcolm’s life is turned upside down when it is discovered that he has a genius IQ. He is forced to join the ‘gifted’ class at his school and feels like a social pariah as a result.
While other shows try to make their main characters as relatable and ordinary as possible, Malcolm in the middle goes in the opposite direction. The great tragedy of Malcolm’s life is his blinding intelligence which often prevents him from being happy and prevents him from interacting with other people. Such an unusual and intelligent protagonist needs unusual and intelligent issues to keep things interesting, and the show comes out with every episode.
Sitcom families tend to be very tidy creations. Right from the days of The Brady Gangyou see immaculately dressed parents living in ridiculously large houses with their immaculately dressed children, dealing with the problems of rich people, despite the show insisting that the characters are middle class.
Of Malcolm in the middle, you can’t help but feel like you’re watching a real middle-to-low-income family. Malcolm and his relatives live in a dilapidated house full of broken appliances. They are always behind on paying bills. Good food is hard to find. The brothers have to share their clothes, and vacations are usually a quick trick for the arcade. Malcolm’s world feels like a middle-class construct rather than the glamorous version of reality that other sitcoms try to sell.
Intelligent humour
Similar shows often use the license of being aimed at children to indulge in simplistic jokes with little thinking behind them. But Malcolm in the middle is a show about a child genius, and the show’s themes and humor work at a correspondingly high level. Like the many times Malcolm has had a battle of wits with his teacher Mr. Herkabe (Chris Eigeman) and turned the tables with nothing but his brains.
Other times, you have Malcolm’s father Hal (the great Bryan Cranston) dealing with one midlife crisis after another in the most absurd ways, from quitting his job to paint naked to building a gun that can kill bees on his head. shoot enemies. These kinds of storylines are completely ridiculous, but with an underlying thread of humor that ties the overall story together.
Malcolm in the Middle has an engaging cast of characters
Malcolm in the middle is very much an ensemble show, and each of the main characters is interesting enough to have an entire show all to themselves. There’s Malcolm and his brothers, each a mad genius in their own way, from writing transcendental music to cooking Michelin-starred food to destroying their home multiple times through their antics.
Then there are Malcolm’s classmates from school with a random grab bag of neuroses that affect gifted minds. Malcolm’s father Hal gets to have his own personal adventures in almost every episode. Finally, there’s Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), TV’s most terrifying mother. Her love for her family is matched only by her extreme need for control that can cross any line, like the time she managed to track down Reese in a hostile foreign land so she could punish him for running off to join her family. to join the army.
Exploring the idea that life is unfair
Malcolm in the middle opens with a great They Might Be Giants theme song with the closing lyric: “Life is unfair.” This is a theme that recurs throughout the show. No matter how much effort Malcolm and those around him put into improving their lives, they rarely, if ever, manage to catch a break. While this may seem like a bleak attitude for a sitcom, the series proposes the idea that all you can really do is make peace with the cards you’re dealt and try to make the most of your surroundings.
This philosophical thread provides much of the story and humor throughout the show to surprisingly poignant effect. Spending time with Malcolm and his family feels like spending time with people you know. People who have had bad luck in their lives, but still try to make it the best they can with humor and always stand behind each other, no matter what. No wonder fans keep coming back to revisit Malcolm and co’s stories. more than a decade after the show went off the air.