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Last week, in the first On TV with Mike Thompson of the new millenium, I mentioned that perhaps the most pleasant surprise for FOX this season has been Malcolm in the Middle, which debuted to astronomical ratings in January and has been posting strong ratings since. Of course, you can look at Malcolm in the Middle’s success in two different ways. You could say that FOX has scheduled in the show in the very cushy post-Simpsons and pre-X-Files time slot, which is Sundays at 8:30. Or you could agree with me (like you always do) and say that Malcolm in the Middle is a pretty darn good show.

Malcolm in the Middle is set around the life of the title character, Malcolm (played by the brilliant Frankie Muniz). Malcolm is an unusually gifted child, and in the blisteringly funny pilot episode, Malcolm is removed from his standard classroom and placed in a class with other gifted students, which is taught by the compassionate and attractive Caroline (Catherine Lloyd Burns). The series is basically about how Malcolm juggles his life in this new class, where he feels he doesn’t really belong, with his life at home with his family, where he also feels he doesn’t really belong.

Malcolm is the third of four brothers. Yeah, yeah, so that technically doesn’t make him the middle, but Malcolm in the Three-Fourths would be a pretty stupid title, now wouldn’t it? Besides, the title helps convey Malcolm’s state of mind, where he often feels trapped in the middle, both in his family and at school. Also, only two of Malcolm’s brothers live with him. The oldest brother, Francis (Christopher Masterson), is away at military school (however, he still manages to appear in every episode, for reasons I’ll explain later). So Malcolm really is in the middle at home. His other older brother, Reese (Justin Berfield), is only a year or two older than Malcolm, and isn’t very bright. The youngest of the four children, Dewey (Erik Sullivan) is a cute, innocent little kid. Malcolm’s parents are the overwrought but genuinely caring mother Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and the rather dim father Hal (Bryan Cranston).

Malcolm’s family is often hysterically dysfunctional. Like The Simpsons, this show really puts the "fun" back in "dysfunction." It’s fun to watch Malcolm react to his family’s sometimes-shocking behavior. Muniz plays his role so well that you understand perfectly that, in the midst of Malcolm’s disbelief and embarrassment, he really does love his family. The other great performance in Malcolm in the Middle comes from Kaczmarek. She really does a great job in this show. She conveys Lois’ feelings of frustration with her family, yet she also shows us just how much Lois loves her children. Most of the best scenes in Malcolm in the Middle have been set at Malcolm’s home. Of course, this doesn’t mean there aren’t some great scenes set at Malcolm’s school. There are, and most of these involve Caroline, who has taken a real shine to Malcolm and tries to help him out.

I haven’t mentioned one of the best elements of Malcolm in the Middle: the music. The theme song for this show is done by those twin quasars of rock, They Might Be Giants. They Might Be Giants also perform the incidental music heard throughout the show. The music is a nice touch, for the show has no laugh track. Yes, there is no laugh track on this show, which is a very good thing indeed. The incidental music helps keep the show flowing. It's just an added bonus that the music is done by my favorite band. Yes, I love They Might Be Giants. I’m listening to a CD of theirs as I type this. I’m even wearing a They Might Be Giants t-shirt as I’m writing this column. Yes, contrary to popular opinion, I’m not naked when I write my column.

Of course, there is room for improvement on Malcolm in the Middle. The pilot was hilarious, but the subsequent episodes, while still very good, haven’t yet reached the pilot’s level. I’m holding out hope that the show will return to the level of the pilot soon. The writers seem to be experimenting at the moment, looking for the elements that work best in the show. Here’s where the oldest brother, Francis, comes into play. Christopher Masterson does a fine job playing the character, and adopts many of the same acting mannerisms as his older brother Danny, who plays Hyde on the great That ‘70s Show. He is immediately noticed in almost every scene he’s in. However, Francis is still stuck in military school. The writers got around that plot point by having Francis call home the first two episodes, and actually come home in the third. However, they made a mistake in this past week’s (Feb. 6) episode by fashioning a sub-plot for Francis, set at his military school, where he doesn’t interact at all with the rest of his family. The sub-plot was not very funny at all. While, again, Masterson is a very good actor, his character needs to be with the rest of his family, or he’s just an average ‘90s (or ‘00s) sitcom teenager. Another way Malcolm in the Middle could improve is by involving Caroline more. She hasn’t really had much to do the past couple of episodes, and the character really has great potential. Although very sweet, she seems to believe that she is a better influence on Malcolm than either of his parents, and it would be interesting to see her interact with the family more often.

Even with its faults, Malcolm in the Middle is still a very good show. It is definitely better than a lot of the other sitcoms out there, and is very worthy to follow the still-great Simpsons on Sundays. So be sure to check it out. It airs Sundays, at 8:30 PM, on FOX, which is located on the Marist cable dial at channel 5.