Television pundits love to see a show break the rules. There's nothing so welcome to a jaded viewer as a program that escorts Hollywood convention out of the studio and slams the door behind it.
So it is with Fox's "Malcolm in the Middle," the new hit that has made its own rules, refusing to play nice with the rest of the sitcom world. And why should it? Network comedies have been increasingly unremarkable since the end of "Seinfeld," whose final episode was so mediocre that, in hindsight, we should have taken it as an omen.
I can think of only one new live-action comedy that has impressed me since then -- another Fox rebel, "That '70s Show." Certainly, there's never been a better time to abandon sitcom traditions.
"Malcolm" has been revered for breaking with tradition through a few unusual devices. In its portrayal of a young genius's life with his three hyper brothers and lunatic parents, the show uses no laugh track, depicts a shamelessly dysfunctional family, and often features the adorable Malcolm speaking directly into the camera.
Apparently, audiences like it; the first episode of "Malcolm" was the highest-rated premiere on Fox since the Simpsons, and the show hasn't lost momentum yet. So I'll admit that I'm in the minority when I point out a single flaw in this runaway hit.
It's not funny.
As a friend and I sat down to watch "Malcolm in the Middle," we were both excited to see what was special about this surprise phenom.
But during the next 30 minutes, my attitude changed from excitement to confusion as I barely smirked at this supposedly innovative, hilarious program. My friend likely would have shared my sentiment, but he had the good fortune to fall asleep from lack of stimulation.
Certainly "Malcolm" has a new feel, but I could switch from wool sweaters to hairshirts and say the same thing. Take the liberating absence of a laugh track. On a standard sitcom, the laugh track performs two functions: it generates an artificial rhythm by punctuating the jokes, and it slows the show down.
So if you remove the canned laughs, not only do you have to create your own rhythm, but it must be faster-paced, too. "The Simpsons" has done this successfully for 10 years.
I think that when the first episode of "Malcolm" was being edited, the technicians forgot to push the "laugh" button altogether. When the producers saw the final result, they decided to sell it as a fresh new take on sitcoms.
The timing of "Malcolm" is just as slow as a standard network comedy, and the lack of canned laughs leaves the viewer uncomfortable. We feel like the action has to keep moving, but "Malcolm" just sits there, reveling in an awkward silence.
One episode shows the grizzled mother as she dreams up fantastic methods of torture in order to extract a confession from her sons. There are only three jokes in this show: Mom's wily, her oldest son is also wily (what a twist!), and Dad's drunk. Mix and simmer for 30 long minutes. The subsequent episode also relies heavily upon the adversarial mother-son gag, with the added fun of serious head injury and trouble with in-laws.
Every time a network releases a show revolving around a so-called "dysfunctional" family, we're supposed to fill with glee. 'Finally! Somebody is going to portray the "real" America!' In fact, Fox has never created a sitcom family that wasn't dysfunctional.
In the case of "Malcolm," I'm supposed to be falling out of my chair laughing at the fact that Malcolm's parents walk around the house naked -- just like actual people! This idea is stupid enough by itself, but if your "real" parents routinely do this, I bet you find it even less funny.
And then there are the deplorable moments when Malcolm, played by future washed-up child star Frankie Muniz, looks right at us and quips his latest saccharine witticism. The same tactic was rightly derided as trite in Fox's fall ratings dude, "Get Real."
The in-your-face move is even worse on "Malcolm." It's as if the kid, with his I.Q. of 165, is turning to us and saying, "You're too stupid to understand the life lesson I'm learning here, so let me explain it to you in the form of a cute one-liner." Thanks, pal.
In the end, the show doesn't really defy Hollywood customs, it just blithely acts as if they never existed -- and supplies nothing to fill the void. Innovation is important, but it has to be accomplished in an entertaining manner, a feat "Malcolm" doesn't achieve.
"Malcolm in the Middle" airs Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on Fox.
