Best Era Of Francis

[Disciple Of Francis]

Military School - From the Pilot episode until his escape, Francis was confined to a military school headed by the strict Commadant Spangler, and whenever Malcolm, Reese and Dewey got in a fix they would always speak to Francis over the phone in hope of guidance. Francis repeatedly got in trouble at the establishment and was considered a lost cause by Spangler. Eventually, however, Francis escaped and headed to Alaska.

Alaska - After his escape, Francis made his way to Alaska where he got a terribly paid job at a loggers cafe, on top of the awful line of work, the owner charged the workers for everything and refused to release them from their position without them repaying all that they owed, neither Francis nor any of the other workers could work enough to keep ahead of the unfair things charged to them, on the upside of his time in Alaska, this is where Francis met his wife Piama, a native of the land.

The Grotto - In Season 4, Francis and Piama both start work at The Grotto, a hotel/ranch ran by Otto and Gretchen who's workers take advantage of their kind nature until Francis' street smarts helps Otto out of a few scrapes and Francis is promoted and becomes close friends with the owners.

In which period did you enjoy the antics of Francis the most?

 

[tjpeople]

Welcome to the forum what a great post to start with.

Well for me it would be Grotto, becuase i really like how Francis changed and deveopled. I think the storieslines where generally hillarious and unique, u could not guess what was gunna happen.

I disliked Alaska the most, i just sorta felt it dragged and never really went anywhere (which may be the who point)

But i cant dislike Military school in season 1 cuase they are just classic.

 

[Disciple Of Francis]

That is pretty much my opinion as well, though it is pretty close between his military school days and the Grotto days. His time in Alaska would definitely come in third for me though as well.
Francis' character has been a lot more multi-dimensional since being at The Grotto and has made for some great storylines like Reese, Malcolm and Dewey visiting and realising Francis isn't the same person they used to look up to, Francis admitting to Hal that he had an alcohol problem, as well as the intricate overall relationship around Francis, Piama and Lois.

 

[Wildcat]

I think the best Francis era was probably his military school days. His storylines where funnier and showed how clever he is. I really enjoyed his interaction with Spangler and his classmates. I also liked his time at the Grotto, but he was older and more mature so his wasn’t quite the same. Even though he still got into plenty of trouble, overall he was more responsible and didn’t do much of the crazy, funny stuff that he did in earlier episodes. But like TJ mentioned, these episodes were good because they showed his transition from a teenager to an adult. I don’t really understand why they dropped the Grotto storyline. It seemed so sudden too. They should have incorporated the events that let to him being fired into an episode. I really hated his storylines in the Alaska episodes. Most of them were just plain boring (to me anyway.) I wish they would give him his own storyline this season so he could be in more episodes, other than just having him occasionally drop in for a visit or whatever.

 

[yardgames]

For me, Alaska is generall the worst part of Francis. When I look back on those episodes, they generally interested me the least. But when I watch them back in reruns, I'm oftentimes impressed by the ingenuity of many of them. Some of them were excessivly boring, sure, but some helped to make the entire episode a classic.

 

[Dabney]

I wouldn't want it if any era would have been left out, because I have started to love each of them. But the best for me was definitly the Grotto time, because Francis just seemed so happy there, and didn't have to cope with some crappy boss (like Spangler or Lavernia).

 

[lala]

I cannot agree more Disciple of Francis. The best era of Francis would be when he goes to military school. I find it a bit crazy that in one episode Francis admits Dewey is his favourite brother and all he did to them was torture Reese and Malcolm, they still look up to their older brother for guidence.

 

[Disciple Of Francis]

in one episode Francis admits Dewey is his favourite brother and all he did to them was torture Reese and Malcolm, they still look up to their older brother for guidence.

Just finished watching that episode.

 

[Wemboy]

Well my favourite period is definitely at Marlin academy. If nothing else, i just think that Daniel Von Bargen (Spangler) is a fantastic actor playing a great character. He's brilliant at appearing menacing, yet having a kind of vulnerable, softer side, which we get (very small) glimpses of. Also, i love the way that the cadets interact; like a stupid argument about who can eat the most candy occupying them all day, or the ridiculous little sect that terrorises the others in one episode (can't remember which). The storylines are perfect examples of irresponsible lads, with way too much time on their hands, finding ever more unlikely ways of occupying themselves.

However, my least favourite is not Alaska, but The Grotto. I think it's good the way they developed Francis' character, and Piama is a great rival for Lois too. But i just think that the individual storylines are weak, and i also really dislike the Gretchen and Otto characters. They seem completely one dimensional, and it seems that the only reason they're meant to be funny is because they have "comedy" accents, which i really don't find funny at all. The humour is either poor quality slapstick, or jokes that you can spot coming a mile off, and completely lose all humour. For me the Grotto storylines are not just the worst era of Francis, but the worst aspect of MITM, period.

 

[vinnymonster]

I think they all had something to offer, the best, however were the grotto and military academy.

Although there were some damn good alaska storylines, like the hockey match and when francis and lavinia had a fight.

Oh yeah, and I have to make an obligatory mention of Piama!