Malcolm in the Middle is important for a very strange reason: much less the Drew Carey Show, it's one of those examples where the show lasted three seasons longer than it had to, and becomes one of those strange 'abondoncoms' in which anybody who works on the show is recognized for being on the show, but has to remind everybody that it wasn't cancelled three years ago. It was just shifted off to compete against Survivor or something more culturally relevant. Or got the fabled Futurama deathslot before the important Simpsons/Seth McFarlane trifecta.<br /><br />Does this mean it was a good show? Honestly, it suffered greatly from the puberty curse. Taking a glimpse at the hyped 'series finale' it's clear that the show probably would have been better served if it just gave up the ghost about three years ago. The situations are effective for smaller children, but when those children are sporting horrible acne, cracking voices, and puberty mustaches it comes off as sad and desperate. In fact, when it comes down to history, Malcolm in the Middle can be summed up in two ways:<br /><br />1) As a skit on Family Guy that showcases how annoying the mother is. 2) As more ammo against Frankie Muniz when his career turns into game show appearances or episodes of Cops as the perfect juxtaposition between 'sitcom family life' and 'child predator/drunken mess/druggie/meth addict who gets caught urinating in a gutter and beaten by cops.'<br /><br />Malcolm is an example of sitcom days gone by. If this ran on NBC during the big Cheers/Seinfeld/Friends decade, then it would have ran for nine years, supported on bigger shows. But those times are gone, perhaps forever, and it's hard to see how this show is going to make an impact when nobody remembers it exists until the series finale is used as gum to keep people watching until Family Guy. Unfortunately for this reviewer, that ploy didn't work.<br /><br />Malcolm in the Middle is dead, but that's not the bad news. The bad news is that people thought it was already dead, and seeing how lame the situations became, perhaps it would have been better if it had.