Too Many Words Devoted to Malcolm in the Middle
Of all of the shows I’ve seen in my life in my capacity as a person who values television over personal relationships, I would limit the shows that have had a perfect series finale to Six Feet Under, The Larry Sanders Show, Lost, Arrested Devlopment, Friday Night Lights, The Wire, Newhart, and Malcolm in the Middle. Oh those shows, I would limit the shows whose seasons either maintained or improved quality over its entire run to The Larry Sanders Show and Malcolm in the Middle, (Six Feet Under’s and Lost’s third seasons kept them from pitching perfect games, Arrested Developments condensed third season really hurt it, FNL’s season two was a shit show, while season five of The Wire was completely necessary, it never quite reached the amazing heights of previous seasons, and Newhart was just never as good as The Bob Newhart Show; only the finale was better).
The Larry Sanders Show, (a separate essay altogether), and Malcolm are the only two shows I can think of that maintained or improved quality and ended in a finale that satisfied absolutely every character arc and plot point in the show. Sure, The Simpsons made all the funniest episodes possible, but Malcolm has not made a bad episode.
But we’ll get to the finale in a bit. I’d like to just generally talk about Malcolm for a while, and how, (now that the entire series is on Netflix Instant Streaming), you should watch it if you haven’t and rewatch it if you have.
The Show
It’s tough to call Malcolm in the Middle underrated by traditional standards: it did well in the ratings and lasted seven seasons and most people don’t absolutely hate it for unjustifiable reasons. But I still feel like it doesn’t get as much credit among comedy nerds/snobs as it should. Comedy snobs are happy to celebrate The Office or Parks and Rec for seamlessly blending comedy with a surprising amount of heart, or Community for taking risks and making ambitious, high concept episodes, (like the alternate-reality-producing “Chaos Theory”), like they’re all pioneers, even though Malcolm was loaded with heart and played withmultiple-perspective storytelling, (“Blackout”), and alternate realities, (“Bowling” and “If Boys Were Girls”), five years ago. And I don’t meant to suggest that Malcolm was the first; just that it gets unfairly overlooked even as a participant in the game of using television to tell complex and interesting stories that are loaded with jokes.
Most people that I talk to about Malcolm have fond but fuzzy memories of it. They remember watching it, and liking it, but it’s not super fresh in their minds. I think that has a lot to do with timing. I’m a twentysomething, so the other comedy snobs I talk to are also twentysomethings. Which means that Malcolm in the Middle debuted while they were in middle school and high school, (when they watched it), but continued on while these same viewers entered college, (when absolutely everything about being in college became more interesting than a TV show). So most people like the show, but it doesn’t quite leave an impact. It didn’t happen early enough in their development that they love it for nostalgia’s sake, (The Wonder Years), and it’s not a hidden gem they found when they got older that went overlooked by everyone else, (Freaks and Geeks), so it just exists in a weird, grey “Oh yeah, that was a pretty good show” area. When, really, it belongs in the same conversations with Arrested, Parks and Rec, Cheers, early The Office, and all of our other favorite comedies.
The Plots
On the subjects of story structure and efficiency of language, Malcolm in the Middle should be a required course if anyone wants to learn about writing for television. Watch any episode of Malcolm in the Middle. I will guarantee you two things: 1) the episode will feature between three and five completely different but completely realized plots and 2) the premise of each plot will be clearly established within six minutes. If you’re not the kind of person who focuses on writing or story structure, that might not seem impressive, but please take my word for it that holy shit it is. A typical episode could have a Malcom-centric “A” plot, (Malcolm is trying to romance a girl), a Reese-centric “B plot, (Reese is being tormented by a kid at school), a Hal-and-Dewey-centric “C” plot, (Hal and Dewey spend an entire episode playing with dominoes), plus an additional “D” plot, (maybe Lois does something, maybe Francis does something, etc). And all of those plots are established within six minutes. Five, if you take away a minute between the unrelated-to-the-plot Cold Open and the opening titles. So, in five pages, between three and five unique storylines need to be completely set up for the audience. Five clear storylines in five minutes. And every one of those stories will be neatly resolved within 22 minutes. And every line isn’t even dedicated to exposition; they’ve still got jokes in there, too.
Soap and Arrested set up just as many storylines in an episode, but those shows often felt manic and rushed, (which was of course part of their charm). I never get that vibe from Malcolm; it’s simply one of the most efficient shows I’ve ever seen. The plots are simple, (Hal finds and falls in love with a Dance Dance Revolution game, Francis bets his buddies he can eat 50 marshmallow peeps, Reese looks for a job, Malcolm tutors a football player, Hal finds a steamroller! etc), without feeling half-assed, and the resolution of each is always worth it.
The Acting
Now that Bryan Cranston is clearly the greatest actor working in television today, it’s easy to forget that he also used to be that five years ago on Malcolm. He so thoroughly embodied the role of Hal. It’s amazing watching his incredible physical comedy and then getting blown away by how much heart he brings to the show. He’s one of the most lovable characters you will ever meet in fiction.
And Lois, obviously, is untouchable. Whenever anyone says “Oh, there have never been any strong but flawed and complex female characters on television,” I can always point to Lois and Jane Kaczmarek’s portrayal of her to shut them up.
The child actors aren’t great, especially when they’re young, but the show’s writers know that. They don’t write anything that the kids will screw up, (looking at you, whoever writes Manny’s dialogue on Modern Family); they write exactly what their actors can handle, which is why Dewey’s acting in the first three seasons was basically reduced to “screaming” and “doing kid stuff.”
Even the supporting cast is amazing. Every minor, recurring character, (Abe and Stevie, Craig Feldspar, the Busey’s, Piama, every authority figure who has ever interacted with Francis, motherfucking Ida), is funny, realized and a completely new character that doesn’t exist anywhere else. No other show spends so much time developing their minor characters, (maybe Simpsons and Parks and Rec, but those both feel more like world-building than character-creation). Malcolm created an entire population of funny, bizarre and unique people that the viewers got to know so well.
The Finale
Larry Sanders has a great finale, but that show wasn’t quite about heart; it was about jokes, and how Jeffrey Tambor and Rip Torn are two of the greatest comedic actors who have ever lived. When I watched that finale, I thought “What a funny, kind of poignant finale for a funny, kind of poignant show.” When I watch the Malcolm finale, even though I’ve already seen it a dozen times, I almost get choked up at how emotional, funny and perfect it is. It’s perfect on the level of writing, in that it’s the most satisfying way to end the series and how, if you watch it from the beginning, it’s clearly the only way this show ever could have ended. It’s also perfect on a gut emotional level; if you think of the characters as real people, (the way that I and sociopaths do), you realize that everyone ends up exactly where they’re supposed to end up, and they’re all finding happiness in their own unique ways.
I shouldn’t have to keep talking about the finale; just watch the shit out of it.
Also Watch the Shit Out of These
There are plenty of episodes that are balls-out funny. Pick any and you’ll hear some good jokes. But as for specific suggestions…
For Jokes Plus Heart and Poignancy
“Graduation”
“Future Malcolm”
“Poker” (The end of this episode still gives me chills.)
“Family Reunion”
“Flashback” (May every marriage be as strong as Hal and Lois’s fake one. I firmly believe that Walt and Skylar have such a terrible marriage because Walt is still in love with Lois …somehow.)
For Jokes Plus Interesting High Concept Episodes
“Bowling”
“Blackout”
“Forwards Backwards”
Anyway it’s a good show and I like it a lot and I’d prefer it if people bring it up when we talk about Simpsons and Arrested from now on okay thank you.
