Could Malcolm in the Middle be considered a teen sitcom?

PatrickGaffey

New member
wikipedia describes a teen sitcom as
Teen sitcoms are often comedic television series targeted towards teenagers, but are also popular with young adults as well as preteens. Older adults may enjoy them for nostalgic purposes.
well, lets see if its like this with Malcolm;
1.tageted towards teenagers. Yes, but it's also targeted towards people younger than teens (in Holland it's targeted towards children aged 6 to 9) and people older than teens (on comedy central its targeted towards adults)
2. also popular with young adults and preeteens.Yes, see point 1
3.Older adults may enjoy them for nostalgic perpouses. Yes, but since some of MITM jokes are aimed at adults, older adults watch it for other reasons too
 

Richiepiep

Administrator
Yes, I agree, I would call it a teen sitcom for this reason, knowing that a lot of adult people loved it too, which is shown again by the recent DVD reviews coming in, where some people express surprise that it isn't a lame kiddie show, but instead love its often edgy, intelligent humour aimed at adults, great writing and acting.

http://www.malcolminthemiddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=35716#post35716

I think the target audience was shown by the original timeslot, after The Simpsons at 8:30 PM, which is prime time, but a little late for young kids. I remember reading that Fox definitely aimed it at all ages, but I haven't got a quote for that.

I know there was some confusion in Germany and Holland about the target audience too, and the right timeslot, but this is what you get, I think, when you cast a child actor in the leading role.

I got some quotes from Dutch and German forums, expressing the initial confusion:

"This isn't a standard children's series."

"Delightfully absurd, politically incorrect humour."

"I avoided the series for a long time, because I was convinced this was some sort of lame children's series, but I discovered a few months ago it was quite the opposite. It's brilliant."

"I avoided it too for a long time, because my sisters loved it, and they were watching Full House, Little House on the Prairie, and Heartbreak High. But it's genius."

"Always thought this was like Lizzie McGuire, but boy I was wrong, what a delightful show."

"Surprisingly funny."

"Amazingly enough this is becoming one of my personal favourites."

"The first time I heard about it, I thought it would be another new kitschy children's series. But I have never been so wrong about a series as about Malcolm."

"Initially I didn't like Malcolm, I thought it was banal, and I thought that frantic doesn't automatically mean funny. But when I watched the second episode, I already liked it better."

A Dutch newspaper:

"Could it be a comedy for kids, but programmed too late [initially it was shown at 9 PM, later at 6, ed.]? Are the situations in Malcolm's family reconizable to parents who would gladly throw their children out of the house when they've turned 18? Hopefully the coming weeks will make this clear, otherwise Fox will have a hard sell on his hands."
 
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