# The Baby on 'Malcolm' **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183 "2003-05-19T04:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/1 "2003-05-19T04:32:43Z")
So, the baby’s gender… [spoiler]WE DON’T KNOW?! They give the kid a gender-neutral name, dress it in gender-neutral clothes, and refer to it as ‘it’ or ‘the baby’ the entire episode! It was funny in the first half when the siren went by as the baby’s gender was stated, but that constant “it,” etc. throughout the second was just annoying. My vote is for girl. I think that if it were a boy, they would have said something, and perhaps not referred to it as “sweetheart;” the term sounds feminine. Plus, you need the conflict there–5 boys including Hal, against 2 girls including Lois.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/2 "2003-05-19T05:00:17Z")
Well, it’s been shown, but in the interest of people like me, who tape shows and watch them later in the week: They referred to the baby as “him” in the second half-hour. I don’t know why they were cagey about it in the first one, nor do I know why they pretended it was a “one-hour season finale” when it was quite obviously two separate shows. ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/3 "2003-05-19T05:04:54Z")
I don’t remember anyone saying ‘him.’ If they had, wouldn’t they have made a bigger deal out of it, and started referring to it as ‘him’ from then on? ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/4 "2003-05-19T05:09:48Z")
I heard “him” too, near the begining of the 2nd show. ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/5 "2003-05-19T05:24:55Z")
OK, I don’t want to be a pest, but I really didn’t hear “him” anywhere. I didn’t see it on the captions, either. Why would they have said ‘him’ in the beginning and then kept the joke of “its” and “the baby” all throughout the entire show? ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/6 "2003-05-19T05:40:39Z")
So you’d ask about it. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/7 "2003-05-19T07:20:12Z")
Nope, I agree with **Caesar’s Ghost** –I was listening for it, especially in at the beginning of the second episode, and I didn’t hear the baby referred to as “him”. In an earlier episode, I thought they had found out the baby was a girl, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Madawc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@Madawc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madawc)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/8 "2003-05-19T07:27:14Z")
gender neutral… i didn’t hear a “him” or a “her” but if we have to bet… i wager on a “her”. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/9 "2003-05-19T12:10:42Z")
I watched that finale last night and I gotta say, its time to throw in the towel on that show. The stories are so outlandish and unfunny now. Just as in every sitcom-gone-bad the dad gets more and more mentally inept as the series goes on, trying to find more gags. Reese is too old now and do is Dewey. That finale last night was the most confusing mess I have seen. Not just because of the baby/gender thing, but the whole church thing. Everything. It stank. BLECH! King of the Hill was pretty funny though. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/10 "2003-05-19T12:54:56Z")
I remember thinking, “that is the _cleanest_ newborn I have ever seen!” What did Francis do, blow-dry [it] before handing [it] to Lois? I did think Cloris Leachman was great. But I always think Cloris Leachman is great. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/11 "2003-05-19T13:07:34Z")
Newborns on sitcoms are always clean and perfect. It’s only shows like ER that DARE to show the ickiness of a true newborn. My vote is that the baby is a girl. I thought I heard “him” a few times, but it could easily have been “it” or “them”. Besides, why would they reveal the sex of the baby without making a big deal about it? That’s just not proper sitcom form. As for the episode, I thought it was pretty funny at times. I absolutely loved Reese’s rendition of “Amazing Grace”. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/12 "2003-05-19T20:39:45Z")
Jane Kazmarek (or however you spell her name) has stated in an interview they aren’t revealing the gender just yet…since they didn’t know what gender to make it. You’re probably hearing things. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/13 "2003-05-19T20:45:26Z")
Jane Kazmarek (or however you spell her name) has stated in an interview they aren’t revealing the gender just yet…since they didn’t know what gender to make it. You’re probably hearing things. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2003, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/14 "2003-05-19T23:55:59Z")
They said him at the very end of the first show, when the boys come in to claim the baby. Dewey asks " When’s the last time you changed him?" **Caesar’s Ghost** Hal occasionally refers to _Dewey_ as sweetheart on the show, so that not really a good indication, is it? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/15 "2003-05-20T06:09:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Madawc \* > \*\*gender neutral… i didn’t hear a “him” or a “her” > > but if we have to bet… i wager on a “her”. \*\* I’m betting on “her” too. ---
**Author:** ![j.c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@j.c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j.c)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/16 "2003-05-20T07:35:25Z")
I thought a heard a him. Networks being what they are these days, I wouldn’t put it past them to have a tiny HIM looped in that episode, and then to mess with us by using an almost inaudible HER in another. Did notice that the baby was dressed in green (after it was dressed I mean, not when it was smeared with grease.) ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/17 "2003-05-20T16:07:47Z")
The boys definitely called Jamie ‘him’ when they came in to grab the tot from Hal and Lois in the bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/18 "2003-05-20T19:05:39Z")
I heard him. Wasn’t there a mention about jamie peeing everywhere? I took that to mean he had a willy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Mr\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/19 "2003-05-20T19:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Caesar’s Ghost \* > \*\* > > My vote is for girl. I think that if it were a boy, they would have said something, and perhaps not referred to it as “sweetheart;” the term sounds feminine. [/spoiler] \*\* Hal calls Dewey sweetheart all the time. It’s endearing. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-baby-on-malcolm/176183/20 "2003-05-20T20:45:30Z")
i heard him in both episodes, plus it fits in with the show to have another messy boy.