Malcolm in the Middle: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

In the words of They Might Be Giants' rollicking Grammy-winning theme song, "life is unfair." The inventive and wholly original sitcom Malcolm in the Middle has been honored with a Peabody Award and Emmys for directing and writing, but if life was fair, it would have earned an Emmy for Best Comedy Series, not to mention statuettes for its pitch-perfect cast. With his perpetual "yes, me worry" expression, Frankie Muniz instantly earns audience empathy as Malcolm, whose chances for a normal life are thwarted not only by his genius IQ, but also by his outrageously dysfunctional family: Lois, his obsessive, control-freak mother; Hal, his loving but ineffectual father; Francis, his eldest brother waging his own private war at military school; middle brother Reese, a delinquent savant; and Dewey, the put-upon youngest. As Malcolm observes at one point, "This family may be rude, loud and gross, and have no shame whatsoever, but with them you know where you stand."

Series details

• Title: Malcolm in the Middle
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Comedy
• Premiere date: 2000-01-09
• Final broadcast date listed: 2006-05-14
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: FOX
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVmaze community rating: 7.8/10
• TVMaze ID: 568

Cast and credited roles

• Bryan Cranston — Hal
• Justin Berfield — Reese
• Erik Per Sullivan — Dewey
• Frankie Muniz — Malcolm
• Jane Kaczmarek — Lois
• Christopher Masterson — Francis
• Catherine Lloyd Burns — Caroline Miller

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2000-01-09; final listed air date 2000-05-21; episode order: 16.
• Season 2: premiered 2000-11-05; final listed air date 2001-05-20; episode order: 25.
• Season 3: premiered 2001-11-11; final listed air date 2002-05-12; episode order: 22.
• Season 4: premiered 2002-11-03; final listed air date 2003-05-18; episode order: 22.
• Season 5: premiered 2003-11-02; final listed air date 2004-05-23; episode order: 22.
• Season 6: premiered 2004-11-07; final listed air date 2005-05-15; episode order: 22.
• Season 7: premiered 2005-09-30; final listed air date 2006-05-14; episode order: 22.

Source and licence

Adapted from Malcolm in the Middle on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.