The distinctive look and sound of the series relied heavily on elaborate post-production, including fast-cut editing, sound effects, musical inserts, the extensive use of locations, and the unusual camera styles, compositions and effects (e.g. Malcolm routinely broke the fourth wall by both narrating in voice-over and talking directly to the viewer on camera.
The series differed significantly from the standard TV sitcom presentation commonplace at the time. Later seasons expanded the show's scope by exploring the family's interactions with their extended family, friends and colleagues in more depth, including Lois's tyrannical mother ( Cloris Leachman) Craig Feldspar ( David Anthony Higgins), Lois's hapless coworker at the Lucky Aide drugstore Malcolm's best friend Stevie Kenarban ( Craig Lamar Traylor) (who is both a wheelchair user and highly asthmatic), and Stevie's dad Abe ( Gary Anthony Williams) as well as a series of continuing subplots detailing Francis's misadventures at the military academy, from which he subsequently disenrols to work in an Alaskan logging camp, before finally landing a job on a dude ranch run by an eccentric German couple. The show's early seasons centered on Malcolm dealing with the rigors of being an intellectual and enduring the eccentricities of family life. In season four, the character Jamie (James and Lukas Rodriguez) was added to the show as the fifth son of Hal and Lois. With Francis away, Malcolm becomes the middle child of the family. As of the first season, their delinquent oldest child, 16-year-old Francis ( Christopher Kennedy Masterson), has been sent away to military school, while his brothers 13-year-old Reese ( Justin Berfield), Malcolm and 7-year-old Dewey ( Erik Per Sullivan) remain at home with their parents. Of Lois ( Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal ( Bryan Cranston). He is the third-born child in a comically dysfunctional family of four, and later five, boys, The series is about a 12-year-old boy named Malcolm ( Frankie Muniz), who is revealed in the first episode to be a genius with an IQ of 165, which places him in a class for gifted students (also known as "Krelboynes"), originally taught by Caroline Miller ( Catherine Lloyd Burns). It won a Peabody Award, seven Emmy Awards, one Grammy Award and seven Golden Globe nominations.
It has been placed on several lists of the greatest TV and sitcom series of all time. The show received widespread acclaim from critics and proved a popular draw for the Fox network. Malcolm in the Middle was produced by Satin City and Regency Television in association with Fox Television Studios (now known as Touchstone Television). Another character, Jamie (James and Lukas Rodriguez), was introduced as the fifth son of Hal and Lois at the end of season four. In earlier episodes, the show's focus was on Malcolm, but as the series progressed, it explored all six members of the family more. Erik Per Sullivan plays younger brother Dewey, who develops to be people-smart, musically talented, and concerned about his well-being.
Justin Berfield is Malcolm's dimwitted older brother, Reese, a cruel junior-high bully who tortures Malcolm at home despite defending him at school. Christopher Kennedy Masterson plays eldest brother Francis, the trouble-making son who, in earlier episodes, is in military school, but eventually marries and settles into a steady job. Jane Kaczmarek plays Malcolm's overbearing, hotheaded and stubborn mother, Lois, and Bryan Cranston plays his immature, manic, but loving father, Hal. While he enjoys his intelligence, he doesn’t like having to take special classes for gifted children, which are made fun of by the rest of the kids at school and called "Krelboynes", referring to the clumsy and nerdy lead character Seymour Krelboyne from Little Shop of Horrors. The series follows a dysfunctional lower-middle-class family and stars Frankie Muniz in the lead role as Malcolm, an adolescent who tests at a genius level. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. Malcolm in the Middle is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox.