The first season of ''
Malcolm in the Middle'' premiered on January 9, 2000, on
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
, and ended on May 21, 2000, with a total of sixteen episodes.
Frankie Muniz
Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award ...
stars as the title character Malcolm, and he is joined by
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominat ...
,
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...
,
Christopher Kennedy Masterson,
Justin Berfield
Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is an American former actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Malcolm's dimwitted older brother, Reese, on the family sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle''. He also played Ross ...
,
Erik Per Sullivan and
Catherine Lloyd Burns
Catherine Lloyd Burns is an American actress and author. She is best known for her role as Caroline Miller, the title character's teacher in the television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''.
Acting
She has appeared in multiple television sho ...
.
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
*
Frankie Muniz
Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award ...
as Malcolm
*
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominat ...
as Lois
*
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...
as Hal
*
Christopher Kennedy Masterson as Francis
*
Justin Berfield
Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is an American former actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Malcolm's dimwitted older brother, Reese, on the family sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle''. He also played Ross ...
as Reese
*
Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey
*
Catherine Lloyd Burns
Catherine Lloyd Burns is an American actress and author. She is best known for her role as Caroline Miller, the title character's teacher in the television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''.
Acting
She has appeared in multiple television sho ...
as Caroline Miller
Recurring
*
Craig Lamar Traylor
Craig Lamar Traylor (born March 19, 1989) is an American actor and artist. He made his acting debut in an episode of '' ER'' in 1996 and portrayed Stevie Kenarban, the asthmatic, one-lunged boy in a wheelchair and the title character's best frie ...
as Stevie Kenarban
*
David Anthony Higgins
David Anthony Higgins (born December 9, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Craig Feldspar on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', Joe on ''Ellen'', and Reginald Bitters on ''Big Time Rush''. He also had a recurring role as H ...
as Craig Feldspar
*
Daniel von Bargen
Daniel von Bargen (June 5, 1950 – March 1, 2015) was an American character actor of film, stage and television. He was known for his roles as Mr. Kruger on ''Seinfeld'', Commandant Edwin Spangler on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', and Chief Grady ...
as Commandant Edwin Spangler
* Karim Prince as Cadet Stanley
*
Drew Powell
Andrew Powell (born January 19, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Hoss Cartwright on the PAX series '' Ponderosa'', Cadet Drew on ''Malcolm in the Middle'', and Butch Gilzean/Cyrus Gold/Solomon Grundy, a series regula ...
as Cadet Drew
*
Merrin Dungey
Merrin Melissa Dungey (born August 6, 1971) is an American film and television actress, known for her roles on the television series '' The King of Queens'', ''Alias'', '' Malcolm in the Middle'', '' Summerland'', '' Conviction'', '' The Resident ...
as Kitty Kenarban
** Dungey also plays Malcolm's teacher before he transfers to the Krelboyne class in the pilot episode
* Landry Allbright as Julie
Production
Development
''Malcolm in the Middle'' was created by
Linwood Boomer
Linwood Boomer (born October 9, 1955) is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, and former actor. He is known for playing the role of Adam Kendall on the drama '' Little House on the Prairie'', and for creating the Fox sitcom ''Malc ...
and originally based at
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
. Four months later, the network passed on the series as it did not fit their target demographic; it was soon after picked up by
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
. Boomer based the series on his own life. He called the central family a "gigantically exaggerated and self-serving version" of his family and childhood: "My mother was very no-nonsense
..Who could blame her? She was working while trying to keep up with four destructive and always hungry boys."
Casting
The title character Malcolm was initially written as being nine years old. While auditioning,
Frankie Muniz
Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award ...
, who was 13 at the time, thought that he would not get it, believing he was "too old". However, the producers were impressed with Muniz, so he was cast, and the character was aged up. In the season, Malcolm's age is intentionally not mentioned, with the revelation only that he attends middle school, "not the actual grade level."
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...
was interested in auditioning for the role of Malcolm's eldest brother Francis, but the producers were not interested in casting him; instead, the role went to
Christopher Kennedy Masterson, who was cast after a single audition.
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nominat ...
initially did not want to play the matriarch of the family Lois, even after receiving the script, but then wondered, "Wow, they really love me
..Maybe I should read this." After reading the script, she found that "there was something undeniably quirky and endearing about Lois", so she accepted.
Justin Berfield
Justin Tyler Berfield (born February 25, 1986) is an American former actor, writer, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Malcolm's dimwitted older brother, Reese, on the family sitcom '' Malcolm in the Middle''. He also played Ross ...
was cast as Malcolm's older brother Reese, despite the fact that Berfield is younger than Muniz, while
Erik Per Sullivan was cast as the youngest brother Dewey, and
Catherine Lloyd Burns
Catherine Lloyd Burns is an American actress and author. She is best known for her role as Caroline Miller, the title character's teacher in the television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''.
Acting
She has appeared in multiple television sho ...
as Malcolm's teacher Caroline Miller. The character of Hal, the patriarch of the family, was initially underwritten, and described by Boomer as "a writer's conceit that just lay there on the page like a turd". During
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...
's audition for the part, he had to simply be "listening to a fight between the mom and one of her sons" as required. At that time, Cranston put a pipe in his mouth and watched the fight, causing Boomer to fall from his chair while laughing. Boomer recalled that Cranston "just had this vast inner life going on." He described Cranston's look at that time as a man who "looks like he's listening, but he's actually building a rocket ship in his head", and Cranston was cast immediately.
Filming
Much of the filming for the season was done
on location from 1999 to 2000. Unlike other sitcoms, the makers avoided including
laugh track
A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...
s or studio audience, and cinematography was done with
single-camera
The single-camera setup, or single-camera mode of production, also known as portable single camera, is a method of filmmaking and video production.
The single-camera setup originally developed during the birth of the classical Hollywood cinema ...
to achieve a more "cinematic look".
A privately owned home, located at 12334 Cantura Street in
Studio City, California
Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 192 ...
, was rented for upwards of $3,000 a day to film as Malcolm's house. School scenes were filmed at
Colfax Elementary School
The Colfax Elementary & Middle School is a public school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Its building, built in 1911, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. As of October 1, 2017, there were a total of 890 stu ...
. For the episode "Rollerskates", Cranston learned how to skate and performed most of his skating scenes, while a stunt double was used for the more complicated skating scenes. During "The Bots and the Bees", he wore a suit of live bees as required for the role. He was covered in 10,000 bees, but only got
stung once, during which he did not flinch. In "Stock Car Races", when Hal and the boys are entering a race track, the billboard behind the entrance displays the place as
Irwindale Speedway
Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702, w ...
, a real race track in Southern California. The season finale was filmed at a water park called
Wild Rivers located in
Irvine, California
Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
.
Release
Broadcast history
The season premiered on January 9, 2000 on Fox, and ended on May 21, 2000 with a total of sixteen episodes.
Home media
The season was released on
Region 1 DVD
DVD region codes are a digital rights management technique introduced in 1997. It is designed to allow rights holders to control the international distribution of a DVD release, including its content, release date, and price, all according to ...
by
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...
on October 28, 2002.
Reception
Critical response
The review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
calculated an approval rating of 100%, based on 23 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The site's consensus reads, "''Malcolm in the Middle'' blasts out of the gate with a startlingly adept child performance from Frankie Muniz, a robust family ensemble, and a distinctive, punchy visual style."
On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the season has an 88% score based on 25 reviews, indicating "Universal acclaim".
Ratings
The series started off with ratings of 23 million for the debut episode, and 26 million for the second episode.
References
{{Malcolm in the Middle
2000 American television seasons
Malcolm in the Middle