When did Malcolm in the Middle start sucking?

[Gozu]

I enjoyed the show for the first 3 seasons and it suddenly became absolutely horrible in the 4th one. Was I just young and stupid? Did it always suck? I wonder...

[Scott Plaid]

You can chose from 21 diffrent reasons at : http://www.jumptheshark.com/m/malcolminthemiddle.htm , but personally, I think it was Lois went to work at the drug store.

[Agrippina]

My personal reason is when Francis got married and went to work at the ranch.

Although I've always liked the episodes that let us see a glimpse into Dewey's double life of get-rich-quick schemes, like when he becomes a street performer and goes door-to-door selling Patriotic Cookies.

[smiling bandit]

My personal reason is when Francis got married and went to work at the ranch.

But I love the german ranchers!

Seriously, I don't think it was any one thing. The premise was great, but it just can't be done for as long as it has without getting boring.

[Nonsuch]

The kids are just getting too old. Reece and Malcolm look like they're ready to start college.

[Fear Itself]

The kids are just getting too old. Reece and Malcolm look like they're ready to start college.Tha't because they are both 19 years old:

Frankie Muniz (Malcom) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005260/)

Justin Berfield (Reese) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0073678/)

[Lochdale]

I still like the show though it may be getting close to being played out.

I think Hal is great (perhaps because I can relate to him which says a lot...).

The German couple were the most passive-aggressive people ever to appear in a comedy. I miss them.

[BurnMeUp]

I always was mildy annoyed with Lois but lately her harpy overprotective act has gotten unbearable. Last week's episode where she told Malcolm he wasn't allowed to work anywhere she wasn't because she had to have complete control ovewr him and all his interactions or something of that ilk just pushed me past my tolerence level for the character.

[Nonsuch]

Tha't because they are both 19 years old:

Frankie Muniz (Malcom) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005260/)

Justin Berfield (Reese) (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0073678/)

QED.

[nivlac]

The kids are just getting too old. Reece and Malcolm look like they're ready to start college.
BINGO! The kids outgrew the original premise of the show. I also think that the show got increasingly nastier with some of the characters, case in point, Cloris Leachman's act as Lois' mom. The character is great, but has gotten beyond over the top.

[alphaboi867]

I always was mildy annoyed with Lois but lately her harpy overprotective act has gotten unbearable. Last week's episode where she told Malcolm he wasn't allowed to work anywhere she wasn't because she had to have complete control ovewr him and all his interactions or something of that ilk just pushed me past my tolerence level for the character.
"Now once I find you a proper wife then you can have your precious freedom." Lois.

Classic.

[Agrippina]

But I love the german ranchers!

Seriously, I don't think it was any one thing. The premise was great, but it just can't be done for as long as it has without getting boring.

So do I. I was just trying to think of a rough timeline of when the series started to suck, at least for me.

But now I change my mind. Yeah, when the kids started getting older. Perhaps when Malcolm became a high schooler.

[Bryan Ekers]

I'll miss it, but the series really should wrap up while it's still reasonably funny (I don't feel it's reached suckitude), ending with Malcolm going off to college. Once he's removed from his family, all the show's tension will evaporate and I don't think the writers could get lucky twice and build up a similarly perfect supporting cast of fellow students and teachers. It might end up looking like (blech!) A Different World.

I can imagine Fox trying something desperate, like having the focus move to Dewey (and have him inherit the talk-to-the-camera role) and that would suck.

[cosmosdan]

I think it was someright right after the first intro.

[cosmosdan]

I think it was somewhere right after the first opening credits.

[RandMcnally]

Once Malcom stopped being sympatetic. At first he was the only normal one in the family, now all he does is complain and whine.

[kunilou]

Another vote for the kids getting too old. The show is suffeering from the "Leave It to Beaver" syndrome.

When Francis finally busted out of military school it became clear that he was going to grow up to become just like Lois. Early Reese was a trouble-making scamp, now it's clear someday the police will find body parts in his freezer. Malcolm went from being a sympathetic victim to a grouchy nerd.

I admit I like the way Dewey has evolved, though.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

I'm not sure that I agree that it sucks. It has its weak moments, but the Ida's missing leg/ethnic center baking and stick-dancing arc was hysterical.