Why Malcolm in the Middle deserves a DVD release

Malcolm in the Middle was was one of the best sitcoms ever produced in recent years. It was the only sitcom at the time that truly captured the essence of family life in American suburbia and in turn could collectively appeal to families the world over. Usually this is a show's downfall as all the material is watered down to avoid offence which in turn creates punch line based, canned laughter filled throwaway nonsense; My Family anyone? But somehow Malcolm didn't fall into this trap. It had one of the most original, inventive and culturally precise scripts of recent times. Every episode, including the weaker ones, was pure gold creating six series of essential viewing. It achieved the impossible by somehow having the ability to combine Curb Your Enthusiasm’s edgy humour with Peep Show’s cult appeal along with harmless, wholesome family entertainment. It was a rare show that teenagers could comfortably watch with their parents and enjoy together.


At his peak Malcolm was being aired on BBC2 primetime and attracted audiences everywhere. It was one of those unique shows like Friends and Third Rock from the Sun that actually became funnier as the series progressed. Similarly the characters and their relationships really started to develop as the show began to deal with the problems of family life and growing up and how to deal with such issues. Underneath this humour lied a drama with serious worthwhile messages.

However such a series has been overshadowed by the brilliance of The Simpsons. Although unlike Matt Groening, Linwood Bloomer created a string of consistently funny episodes and did not overstay his welcome by embarrassingly running his show for ten more years. The Simpsons was the show of the ninetees but has long since lost its identity in its desperate attempts at trying to attract fans from the Family Guy bandwagon with its new found zany humour. Malcolm in the Middle may have only been able to run due to the yellow family’s legacy but it is one of the only shows able to rival such a landmark series.

A few years later after its sad demise a Malcolm in the Middle DVD box set is nowhere to be seen. It angers me knowing that there are countless amounts of rubbish family based sitcoms out there being produced, not worth the disc they are burnt on, but the show which at one point was the epitome of such a genre remains unavailable. It is sad to think this timeless work of genius could be missed and unheard of by future generations.