The Seven Best MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE Episodes of Season One

[TMC]

https://jacksonupperco.com/2023/09/0...of-season-one/

Most of this era’s best were live audience multi-cams, and compared to them, Malcolm In The Middle stood out as a single-cam, laugh track-less rebellion, emerging right before this style of TV comedy would come to the fore again, partly due to Malcolm’s success. Yes, there had always been a school of viewers who preferred sitcoms without a live audience — mainly because it’s annoying to be encouraged to guffaw at something that’s not funny (which is why multi-cams must be genuinely comedic) — and the 1990s certainly had a few classic single-cam predecessors, especially on cable. But it was still notable for mainstream network sitcoms to be shot like this in 2000, and in particular, to eschew a laugh track of any kind. This made Malcolm distinct, in the same basic way that dramas (or burgeoning dramedies) were different from comedies — enjoying a perceived gravitas or sophistication that rendered it intrinsically unique and more critically interesting to those perpetuating the industry’s (and culture’s) enduring dramatic bias. To that point, the single most important trend we’ll observe as we cover the best samples from the most recent 25 years is already suggested by Malcolm In The Middle — the sitcom form has increasingly adopted more of the traits associated with prestige dramas from cable (and streaming), rejecting the core tenets that once defined TV comedies as a singular, separate aesthetic.