Emrysgirl said:
The first ep I saw was actually Houseboat
. So, initially I thought MitM was really crappy.
I don't know if its just me, but i thought Houseboat was a great episode. A superb start to the third season even. However this is just my opinion, so I realise it is rather subjective.
I have a small theory to suggest why Houseboat and other episodes have been rated as poor and appear in the bottom 25 episodes on this website. Its not conclusive or anything.
If we look at the bottom 10 episodes there are:
1. Houseboat
2. Kreloboyne Girl
3. Cynthias' Back
4. Humiliation
5. Clip Show 2
6. Cheerleader
7. Stupid Girl
8. Forbiden Girlfriend
9. Watching the Baby
10. Poker 2
All of these episodes, (besides Clip Show 2) feature plots with Malcolm and/or Reese associating with girls of their own age. They are often presented as love interests or crushes. I feel that as the show is mainly aimed at an audience that fits in with this age group, the female members of such an audience have responded negatively to such plots.
Its kind of a psychological principle that i am applying. Teenage girls whom watch MITM on a regular basis perhaps see themselves as the perfect partner to Malcolm or Reese. (just look at the vast posts in Fox for that - around 90% of all postss there are devoted to Frankie or Justin); and seeing another girl on the scene kind of dashes their hopes and no matter how funny an episode my be, in thier mind it will be a bad one. This may be a subconcious audience feeling, so they may not realise this themselves at face value.
Looking on other forums, for example, the female audience really responded negatively to the character Cynthia. Perhaps without just cause, as she wasn't so bad. In fact, there are very few negative words said about her by a male public of forum visitors. And the episode she was in: Krelboyne Girl was really funny. The Dewey subplot was amazing.
In my opinion, the Cheerleader episode was also a classic piece of television. Not just in a MITM sense, but in popular culture at large.
@Emrysgirl - I'm really not picking on you personally. I'm just using your post to back up a theory i have had for some time. I'm using your post for no other reason than it is the latest on this subject.