# Malcolm in the Middle: What's up with the gerbil?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 15, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448 "2004-10-15T20:18:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448/1 "2004-10-15T20:18:14Z")

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Always liked “Malcolm in the Middle”, but never had Sunday nights free to watch it. I’ve been watching it fairly steadily now that it’s in syndicated reruns. But somebody spoil me please, what’s with the gerbil (at least, I think it’s a gerbil) that is perpetually crawling around in the plastic globule? It’s always in a throwaway shot, crawling un-noticed in the background, and appears in the most unlikely places - one week it’s in the courtyard of Malcolm & Reese’s school, the next week it’s scurrying down the road in the Alaskan logging camp that Francis works at. It’s apparently a recurring gag that I simply don’t get. Can anyone explain it?

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**Author:** ![Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mirror\_Image\_egamI\_rorriM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirror_Image_egamI_rorriM)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448/2 "2004-10-15T20:26:02Z")

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It’s a hamster. I haven’t seen the show in a while, but if I am not mistaken, he used to belong to Dewey, who set him “free” in a hamster ball.

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448/3 "2004-10-15T20:27:47Z")

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[http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-248/epid-100653/](http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/GuidePageServlet/showid-248/epid-100653/)

short version: It is Dewey’s turn to take care of the class hamster. The class bully is next. Rather than give the hamster back, he fills the hamster ball with food and sets it free.

Brian

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**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448/4 "2004-10-15T21:47:26Z")

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Hmmm, wonder if we’ll see it in Whatever-istan where Reese will be at the start of the new season.

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**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2004, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/malcolm-in-the-middle-whats-up-with-the-gerbil/269448/5 "2004-10-16T00:52:42Z")

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> [@Art Vandelay](#):
>
> the next week it’s scurrying down the road in the Alaskan logging camp that Francis works at.

I’m pretty sure that was the hamster’s last appearance, rolling northward toward the camp just as Francis and his new wife were leaving to start anew at the ranch on the show’s following season.