Malcolm: this well-kept secret in the series has become a joke

On January 9, 2000, the Fox channel launched Malcolma comedy series that marked the history of the American audiovisual landscape. Malcolm in the Middle, in its original version, ended in 2006 after seven seasons, but has never ceased to be a success and to play in a loop on French television channels. It tells the daily life of a middle-class American family, whose parents, Hal and Loïs, are completely overwhelmed by the nonsense of their offspring, namely Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), Reese (Justin Tyler Berfield), Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) and a fifth son, Jamie, who will expand the family from the fourth season. It must be said, moreover, that the father, played by Bryan Cranston of breaking Bad, is also himself a big child who contrasts with the severity of Loïs. A sibling who, it must be admitted, does not always shine with its intelligence, but delights us with each episode, and whose last name is still unknown.

This secret about Malcolm was never revealed

Among the little well-kept secrets of the production, there is a mystery that has never been elucidated: Malcolm’s last name and his brothers. As the site points out Screen Rant, this omission also made the actors of the series laugh a lot, as well as the whole team. The producers did not hesitate to openly mock this suspense: in one of the seven seasons, the eldest of the family, Francis, has an employee card which states “Nolastname” (“has no name”, in French). However, if you paid attention to the pilot episode, in which Francis phones his mother from the military academy, you can see that his uniform shirt bears his name: Wilkerson. Afterwards, Malcolm’s last name will never be spoken again. It is in fact a will of the creator of the series, Linwood Boomer, who wanted each American to be able to identify with this noisy and endearing family, and for that, that it be entirely neutral. The production will also maintain the mystery until the grand finale of the series, when Malcolm, major of his class in high school, is called on stage to receive his diploma. It was then that a loud noise from the microphone drowned out his last name, preventing anyone from discovering it.

These other facts that you probably don’t know about the series

With so many seasons, difficult to be totally unbeatable on the series. Did you know for example that Malcolm was inspired by the life of its producer? Linwood Boomer, known for playing the role of Adam Kendall, husband of Mary Ingalls, in The Little House On The Prairie, himself grew up in a family of boys, and also had, like Malcolm, a very developed IQ. Another scoop: Brian Cranston, whose character learns he’s going to be a dad again in the show’s final seconds, did nearly all of his own stunts, including the one wearing a jumpsuit covered in thousands of bees in the premiere. season. The actor later admitted that he had only been stung once, “in a very private place“. Last anecdote for the road, which this time concerns the actress Jane Kaczmarek who plays Lois, this tough woman who reigns with an iron fist over her small tribe. If in the series, she is the mother of five children, the The actress, also a mom in real life, has never experienced a natural childbirth. To be credible on screen, she said she has seen tons of scenes from movies and TV shows where women Like what, the series had more than one trick up its sleeve and will never cease to surprise us!

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Article written in collaboration with 6Médias