Consistency with Years...

hvg3akaek

New member
I know this topic comes up reasonably frequently, that is, the kids ages, the actual anniversary and so on, but I thought i would start it fresh here :)


Now, I know one of the major inconsistencies with the anniversaries is that in "Hal Sleepwalks" (S6), its stated that it is their 20th anniversary, whilst some time in S7 (Blackout?), it is said (i believe...) that there have been 22 other anniversaries.

I have seen people argue for either one, but as far as I can see, they are both wrong. Here's how I see it...


in "Red Dress" (S1), it is their 16th anniversary. Later that season, Francis turns 16. This is consistent with the episode (the name eludes me) where flashbacks to the boys being born and growing up takes place.

That would mean that Francis' statement ("But I am 21", or some such thing) was more correct than he thought. The anniversary Hal was sleepwalking about was actually the 21st.

16 (S1) + 5 (S6 - S1) = 21 (S6).

Which means that in S7, it is the 22nd anniversary that is being celebrated (and thus, only 21 have gone by before).


Anyway, this is how I have seen / calculated things. Are there mistakes in my ideas, or is this all old news to everyone, and I am just reinventing the wheel? :eek:hmy:
 

Gouki

New member
"And Francis is a year older than we think he is."

Didn't Malcolm say that in Lois' Sister? I guess after the huge blowout ("Where do I look?" "There's nowhere to look!"), they must have just accepted Francis being as old as he really was.:tongue:
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Sam did update it for Season 7.

Gouki - Hal said that in "Stilts", but in "No Motorcycles", Malcolm said that Hal thought Francis turned 21 in Season 5. The episodes were aired in the wrong order.
 
This is all very confusing, if someone very good at technology could just compile all the data and present it in an understandable way and post it, then that would be great.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Thanks for sharing the timeline TJ and Amigo. Granted, we have a separate discussion for this but let me duplicate a few things here:

First of all, numerically the ages and anniversaries work out when you manipulate the positions of the episodes. If you haven't read my original post, remember that I assumed the episodes must be placed in their original air order in the timeline (withe the exception of the 2 season 7's, Cattle Court and Stevie in the Hospital, which were aired out of order) but that they were not necessarily aired at the time of year when the action took place. For example, an episode that aired in April might have taken place in February or July.

What does not work out is the exact date of birthdays and anniversaries. I've published what I think is the closest I can possibly get, down to the month, in this timeline. If you look at the version containing only seasons 1-6, everything works out consistently; season 7 is what ruined some of those dates.
 

hvg3akaek

New member
The problem with the timeline is that it does not have years for the anniversaries :) I had seen that timeline before, but as it was missing this piece of information, I decided to start this thread.


Additionally, if whoever can edit the timeline could match up the months so that the columns were only one month each, that would help greatly! :D


First of all, numerically the ages and anniversaries work out when you manipulate the positions of the episodes.

What does not work out is the exact date of birthdays and anniversaries. I've published what I think is the closest I can possibly get, down to the month, in this timeline. If you look at the version containing only seasons 1-6, everything works out consistently; season 7 is what ruined some of those dates.
Only if you assume that some of the dates / values given are incorrect (that is, the speaker was mistaken). :) Specifically, the anniversary was out of line in S6.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Did you take a look at this file? http://malcolminthemiddle.co.uk/various/MITM TimeLine MITMVC.htm
Everything is lined up there; the other one is formatted funny.

Anyway, you're right that the problem does come in season 6, but it's not that it was aired out of order; it's that there were too many episodes after it for it to be in April, as the clues originally pointed to. Unfortunately, a February anniversary complicates things in a few episodes but for the most part works out.
 

MalcolmFun

New member
It is obviously complicated to come up with a timeline based just on all these clues, and I'm sure what you have there is mostly correct - but are you really certain there are 17 months between Malcolm and Reese. That just seems like to much. There should really be 2 grades between them, not 1 by that formula especially if Reese's birthday is in the summer before the school year.

Frankie is alot shorter then Justin but I just can't buy an almost 2 year gap. The whole series they were mentioned as being a year apart and they are like 2 months apart for real.

If you could put the birthdays closer together so it was something like 12-14 months or else move them apart and subtract a year so it is like 9-12 it would work better. I can't find a way to reconcile that with the chart though which seems pretty accurate.
 
I thought Malcolm was 12 in Sesaon 1 and Dewey was 7(OR) 8 in Season 1 and Reese was 14 and Francis 16 and Lois 34 and Hal 36?

I'm pretty sure I'm wrong though...
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
The only way we know ages is, for the most part, based on grades in school. Most 12-year-olds are in 6th grade so we assume that's how old Malcolm is in season 1. Now the precise cut-off date for kindegarten varies but most schools will enroll the kid if he turns 5 by September 1-ish. So I stand behind my previous claims. :D
 

Gouki

New member
Gouki - Hal said that in "Stilts", but in "No Motorcycles", Malcolm said that Hal thought Francis turned 21 in Season 5. The episodes were aired in the wrong order.

Are you sure? I could swear it was Malcolm. I'm almost up to Season 5 in my rewatch, so I'll double check.
 

Murph

New member
Well, the timeline answers all, but even more so if it's updated with season 7? ;)

To be honest, I find faults with it. Reese had to repeat his final year, and if the timetable is correct, he was only 17 while doing so. Shouldn't he be 19 and Malcolm be 18?
 

MalcolmFun

New member
Your schedule with Malcolm almost 2 years less then Reese would really only work if he skipped a grade at some point which it is never mentioned they knew he was smart before the pilot, it was a surprise.

If we assume it is correct Reese birthday was in the summer before a September cutoff to enter school that means he turned 5 for K + he was in G7 in season 1 so 7+5 = Reese was 12 in season 1 and turned 13 at the end of season 1 and he would have turned 19 in the summer right after graduation.

-That makes good sense except it does create a flaw when Reese says he can not die because hes 17. He has to turn 18 in the summer before season 7. I think there is evidence in season 7 that several of the episodes are somehow out of order from what was originally intended. Perhaps they shuffled some plots around when they found it would be the last season. The statement works if Health Insurance occured in the summer before Burning man (however that isnt the case as aired). Also it is unusual that Rees's Job and Reese Drives occured when he was only 14 but these issues vary by state law, not national.

If Malcolm was something like only 9 months younger then he would miss the school cutoff and be a year behind (Malcolm could even be premature - I just checked in "Flashback right before she unexpectly gave birth to Malcolm on the lawn she said was only 8 months pregnant. In that segment the actor who played Reese looks at least 4 years old so you cant go by that). I think this schedule actually works with most of your chart. Malcolm would be 5 entering K and turn 6 midyear. He would be in the 6th grade the first season so that is 11 entering that year and turning 12 close to the time of the pilot (maybe after). This means during most of season 1 (spring time) both Malcolm and Reese are 12 at the same time. That puts Malcolm 17 at burning man turning 18 by graduation.

This works with birthday in about Feb for Malcolm with Reese in about June, you would have to point out if there is some reason why those months dont work I cant think of any.The only thing I see that goes against this is the length of time between when Reese vs Malcolm got thier drivers permits. I think this can be explained as Lois fulfilling Malcolms prophecy of never letting him drive after what happend to Reese.

Sam did update it for Season 7.

Gouki - Hal said that in "Stilts", but in "No Motorcycles", Malcolm said that Hal thought Francis turned 21 in Season 5. The episodes were aired in the wrong order.

There are multiple episodes where the real age of Francis is in question. Not just to us the audience, but as part of the plot. This is related to Hal dating Lois sister before Lois. When they were caught I imagine a falling out between Lois and her sister and the may have pretended she wasnt pregnant until later.
 
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Murph

New member
This is a minor thing, but, in the Season 3 episode, when Malcolm gets his first kiss, Hal says "I waited until I was eleven before I kissed my first...how old are you", then he counts three fingers forward...

Just notable :laugh:
 

hvg3akaek

New member
Did you take a look at this file? http://malcolminthemiddle.co.uk/various/MITM TimeLine MITMVC.htm
Everything is lined up there; the other one is formatted funny.
Hrmm, that one is a little worse, being on different tabs means it is harder to compare things between seasons. If the original (with all seven seasons on one page) could have some lines shifted so that the months matched up vertically, that would be great!

Anyway, you're right that the problem does come in season 6, but it's not that it was aired out of order; it's that there were too many episodes after it for it to be in April, as the clues originally pointed to. Unfortunately, a February anniversary complicates things in a few episodes but for the most part works out.
Its not only when the episodes are screened, but that characters say the wrong numbers. There is the 20th anniversary / Francis' 21st birthday in (i think) Hal Sleepwalks, but from (again, i think) Flashback, we see that Francis' birthday was their wedding day. (That idea is repeated in the episode where hal and Lois go to dinner, but both are sick, and they end in hospital - Hal mentions the vows he didn't get to read, because Francis' birth happened in the middle of the ceremony)

So, something is wrong in what we are given in S6 :) The 21 matches up with the 16 in S1, but neither match up with the 23 given in S7.
 
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