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By PAUL BRENNER
Fox Home Video has released a three-disc collection of Linwood Boomer's comic bacchanal of family
dysfunction "Malcolm in the Middle" under the banner of "Malcolm in the Middle: The Complete First Season." Under the
ever watching eyes of Boomer and director Todd Holland (who directed seven of the sixteen first season episodes)
Malcolm's freshman year contains tightly controlled gems of visual slapstick, unvarnished by later seasons of annoying
guest stars and producer credits that go on longer than the end credits for a David Lean film.
The show is perfectly cast with Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek (as The Mother From Hell), Justin Berfield, Chistopher
Masterson, Erik Per Sullivan, and the great Bryan Cranston in a consistently brilliant comic performance as The
Diffident Dad (seeing Cranston do a rollerskating routine modeled on "Xanadu" or enveloped in a blanket of killer bees
is alone worth the price of the collection). With the utilization of cinematic one-camera shooting, abandoning the
three-camera sit-com setups and the studio audience laugh track, "Malcolm in the Middle" relies less on ill-tempered
insults and more on flowing comic gags and situations. Boomer and his cohorts have taken television comedy to the
tightly wound explosions of the well made comic film with nary a breath nor a shot wasted. Besides where else can you
see Bea Arthur dancing to ABBA.
All sixteen episodes have audio commentary provided by Boomer, the episode directors, and the main cast members
(although conspicuously absent from the commentary is Jane Kaczmarek). Also included is a featurette, a collection of
aspect ratio goofs, promos, a short video of Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) helping out in his Dad's restaurant, four unused
openings, a gag reel, four deleted scenes, and a promotion for the second season with quick shots of the crew members.
The collection is in English 4.0 Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, and Spanish Dolby Surround. The DVDs are
subtitled in English and Spanish. |
