# What show is like Malcolm in the Middle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210 "2010-02-24T02:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/1 "2010-02-24T02:16:01Z")
There is a show on television that is a lot like Malcolm in the Middle. There is a husband and wife with a younger son and teen daughter. The boy looks a lot like Dewey. What is the show? ---
**Author:** ![Gomi5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8491ac/32.png) [@Gomi5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gomi5)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/2 "2010-02-24T02:23:36Z")
[The Middle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Middle_%28TV_series%29)? The younger son is played by [Atticus Shaffer](http://images.google.com/images?q=Atticus%20Shaffer), who kind of has a Dewey thing going on. I only saw the show once, but I remember saying to my husband something along the lines of “Was the hole left by Malcom in the Middle really in such desperate need of being filled?” ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/3 "2010-02-24T02:28:15Z")
I thought from the thread title that you were asking for shows with a similar vibe to “Malcolm in the Middle”. Guess not…but if you _were_, I’d have recommended “Everybody Hates Chris”, which finished its run within the last year or two, and now airs on Nick at Nite. If you liked “Malcolm” I think you’d enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/4 "2010-02-24T02:39:46Z")
It’s The Middle. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/5 "2010-02-24T02:42:47Z")
It’s like a do over. The same family (with 1 sister instead of a 3rd brother.) But you know what? I like it better. I think it’s funnier. When the “Dewey” character whispers into his chest I crack up every time. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/6 "2010-02-24T02:52:24Z")
It’s a good show with good scripts and solid acting. The dad is not as wacko as Hal, Malcolm’s father. The star is really Patricia Heaton who shines in the show. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/7 "2010-02-24T06:28:34Z")
This show is really growing on us - we started watching and thought, “it’s OK…” and then about three episodes later, when the characters started to come to life, so to speak, the show got better and better. Both Modern Family and The Middle are the best new sitcoms to come around in quite awhile. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2010, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/8 "2010-02-24T13:58:24Z")
Yeah, I can’t get past the Dewey-ness of that kid actor…its like they came from the same Hollywood kid actor clone vat. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/9 "2010-02-24T14:30:34Z")
The kid’s name is “Brick”, BTW. Apart from him they’re a remarkably normal family, unlike Malcolm in the Middle. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/10 "2010-02-24T15:00:39Z")
I have tried _The Middle_ more than once, it just doesn’t work for me. They seem to be trying too hard to be wacky. The kid specifically - with him repeating himself in a whisper all the time - just screamed gimmick to me. I would not have believed it wasn’t the same kid who played Dewey if I hadn’t gone to look. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-show-is-like-malcolm-in-the-middle/530210/11 "2010-02-25T01:30:50Z")
> [@Gomi5](#): > > I only saw the show once, but I remember saying to my husband something along the lines of “Was the hole left by Malcom in the Middle really in such desperate need of being filled?” I had nearly the same experience. I wondered with the title. I liked Malcolm, up till the point where Malcolm became like the rest of the brothers.