Malcolm in the Middle – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 0 – 2 0 0 6 (USA)
151 x 25 minute episodes

The third of four (later five) boys, twelve-year-old Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) struggled to get attention in his chaotic and noisy family.

Oldest brother Francis (Christopher Masterson) was sent away to military school and moved to Alaska. Older brother Reese (Justin Berfield) was a bully, and youngest brother Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) was simply annoying, but later developed into a musical prodigy.

With an IQ of 165, Malcolm struggled to cope with being different, and even his parents, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston), sometimes turned to him for moral support.

Unusually for a modern US prime-time sitcom, Malcolm in the Middle did not use a studio audience or laugh track. This allowed its young cast freedom to stretch their acting talents, and the show’s writers to be more experimental with the format.

The show culminated in Malcolm’s high school graduation.

In later seasons, the focus pulled away from him and onto the family as a whole. A fifth son, Jamie, was added in the fourth season.

Both Bryan Cranston (later of Breaking Bad) and Jane Kaczmarek welcomed the chance to explore their comedic talents in the show, becoming increasingly prominent in later seasons.

Malcolm
Frankie Muniz
Hal
Bryan Cranston
Lois
Jane Kaczmarek
Francis
Christopher Masterson
Reese
Justin Berfield
Dewey
Erik Per Sullivan
Jamie
James Rodriguez (1)
Lukas Rodriguez (2)