Malcolm in the Middle is pretty damned funny

I haven't watched much tv in decades, but Netflix has breathed new life into my television viewing. The other day, one of my son's friends turned on "Malcolm in the Middle." I'd never seen the show before. I started watching because I noticed Bryan Cranston on the show and was impressed with his comedy skills. After an episode or two, I realized this was a very well-written comedy, directed and acted to near perfection. Malcolm's take-no-prisoners mother is particularly hilarious. I really like the brutal honesty of her character. And Cranston is pretty damn hilarious. He's great at playing over the top and always perfectly on note as the immature and daffy dad. Probably one of the best family comedy shows I've ever seen.

 

LOL, you might also like The Middle then.

 

The mom being such a nagging bitch kind of ruined the humor they were trying to build with this show. I got tired of it pretty fast.

 

I love MITM. Consistently funny, even through the final season.

 

I was never a huge fan of the show, but the episode where Hal and the boys fight the clowns is priceless, especially the sight of Walter White being kicked in the face by a giant clown shoe.

 

When the show was on Fox, I used to tape it for a German fan. It was shown dubbed in Germany, and he thought the dubbed version was so funny that the original English version had to be even more hilarious.

 

This was a very funny show for its time. I can recall both Bryan Cranston and Fox campaigning very hard to try to get a comedy Emmy nod for him, but it never happened. At least he had the great fortune (and talent) of coming back as Walter White in Breaking Bad.

I actually stayed away from Breaking Bad from the first season, because I said, "I don't want to watch a show about drug dealers! And I won't ever be able to believe that the father from Malcom in the Middle is an evil guy!" So much for me! Cranston turned out to be one of the most honored actors in the history of television, and he's got a golden career at this point.

 

Very funny show...

The parents were the true stars....

 

Who would've imagined Tim Whatley was so talented?

 

Ha! I remember seeing that when the episode first aired and laughing my head off.

 

But Malcolm wasn't in the middle. He had the older brother who was off at military school or canning fish. That always bothered me. Maybe that's why they had the baby, so Malcolm would actually be in the middle.

Chad

 

They were both pretty one dimensional characters- The Nagging Bitch and The Emasculated Idiot Dad.

 

My favorite plot line involved her being bedridden, due to throwing out her back from yelling.