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| Show Reviews |
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Malcolm In The Middle
Review by Dennis Burger
09/01/2005
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Produced by: Regency Television
Network: Fox
Scheduled: Sunday, 7 p.m.
Reviewed on: WCOV-DT, Montgomery
Channel: 20 (16 Digital)
 Ironically enough, the worst thing about Malcolm in the Middle as it enters its
seventh season is Malcolm himself, played by Frankie Muniz, who seems torn
between playing the role as originally conceived (precocious teen coping with
the idiocy of his family) and growing up on a show whose message seems to be
“The older you get, the stupider you become.” What was once a quirky, witty, and
critically acclaimed series has become a sad parody of itself, replete with
pointless storylines and “acting” that crosses the border into the land of
unnecessarily overwrought pantomime.
The one thing the show certainly has
not lost, though, is its subtle-but-brilliant cinematography and high production
values, which are all the more admirable in widescreen; but Fox’s
presentation––which is supposedly 720p but exudes an undeniable
480p-ishness––hardly does the visuals justice. And although my processor detects
5.1 channels of sound, my ears say au contraire. It’s sad when a show’s most
enveloping aural moments are the commercial breaks. But this is somehow fitting
given that the only laughs to be found in Malcolm in the Middle are the ads for
Family Guy.
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