Why do you think people stopped watching? - Malcolm in the Middle Voting Community

rzombie1988 · May 15, 2007, 03:49 PM

Hey guys,

I know the easy answer to this one is FOX's carelessness towards MITM in general(With football/time changes/bad promotion), but would anyone be willing to offer some different theories?

Personally, what I've always wondered is why people stopped watching prior to the third episode(The 2nd episode had 26 million viewers). Especially since Red Dress is my favorite episode.

AlexTheMartian · May 15, 2007, 07:44 PM

I think for adults point of view they grown up and were no longer the little cute troublemakers. I think that is why my parents didn't really watch it anymore after first or second season.

Also, maybe, for those who watched Season 1, then somehow didn't pick up watching it when the next season started, and then at a later time they tried to watch it again, they would realize that the show is no longer mainly focused on Malcolm, and it didn't really have that breaking the 4th wall anymore. That might have turned off some people from picking it up again. But for those of us that continued with the series throughout, we appreciate the changes happening on the show, and really that is what got us to keep watching the show, every character had their own in-depth story.

Gouki · May 15, 2007, 09:56 PM

People didn't want to see the kids grow up, or they just simply became bored with it. Similar thing has happened with Scrubs, which also had/is havign a pretty awful sixth season.

Tyno · May 16, 2007, 03:17 AM

Well, they stopped watching is 'cause it went less good. Season 5 is kinda "bad" (well, not that good at least). It's a shame 'cause I think that the two last season were really good.
Anyway, the drop of audience is happening with all of the shows after a few seasons: people get bored and wanna see new series.

Gouki · May 16, 2007, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyno

Well, they stopped watching is 'cause it went less good. Season 5 is kinda "bad" (well, not that good at least). It's a shame 'cause I think that the two last season were really good.
Anyway, the drop of audience is happening with all of the shows after a few seasons: people get bored and wanna see new series.

Interesting. I thought Season five was really enjoyable, and season six was the bad one.

But, yeah, last time I took a look at the voting/rankings of the episodes, a lot of really good episodes were rated lowly, purely because they dealt with things like girlfriends, drinking and other such activities which make the fangirls/fanboys cringe because it ruins the idolised images they have of these characters.

MalcolmFun · May 21, 2007, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rzombie1988

I know the easy answer to this one is FOX's carelessness towards MITM in general(With football/time changes/bad promotion), but would anyone be willing to offer some different theories?

I really think that is the number 1 reason. Also the fact that it was even on Sunday with Fox's animated line up in the first place really hurt it. That only added to the (false) perception it was a kids show. However popular Simpsons is, and however long it has been on, most people over 30 still simply are never tuning into Fox's Sunday lineup. Lots of times it was up against 60 minutes, one of the top rated news shows, or against sports. Malcolm should have been on a weeknight for seven years like other sitcoms that adults watch.

I think it is quite possible for some people (and kids themselves) to watch Malcolm and after an episode or 2 conclude it was a kids show. They may have only watched because they like the overt funny things that happen, as if Malcolm was like the Threee Stooges (bee shooting robots, giant sling shots, Malcolm and Reese fighting ect). On top of the wackiness and physical comedy that is first apparent, there is a whole other layer of intellectual comedy that goes right over many people's head's. I think what happened is over time those who just liked the superficial elements, that there were funny kids ect... well those fans got bored and didnt watch after a couple seasons. In fact the kids grew up so if that was the main reason you are a fan you begin to say things like the later seasons were not as good...

If you don't see the intellectual comedy, psychology ect.. then you will lose interest over time. Teenagers being obnoxious is naturally not as cute as Malcolm and Reese rolling on the floor in the pilot. The fans who only liked the zany antics of some kids in the first seasons would not even really comprehend the premise of episodes like Billboard, Zoo, Pearl Harbor or Hal Greaves. I mean the season 2 episode Bowling won an emmy. Do you think anyone under about 16 even understands what is going on in that episode? I doubt it. I almost think you really have to have taken at least psych 101 to really understand some of the Malcolm episodes.

Basically, Malcolm in the Middle got screwed by being grouped with or as a kid or kid friendly show from the begining, when actually much of the jokes kids wouldn't even understand. These fans jumped off the Malcolm train as the family became less cute and more grown up and they never realized there is a whole other layer to the show. Even after seven years on the air there are lots of people who thought it was just a silly show about kids and never tuned in.

yardgames · May 22, 2007, 05:17 PM

You raise a couple of good points. Scheduling not just timewise, but the day they chose is an interesting suggestion. And I agree that it took me awhile to understand what was happening in Bowling.

In my experience my mom stopped watching because she disliked Lois' yelling and decided the show was pretty much becoming a shoutfest; my dad stopped watching because he had other things to watch during the same time period.

AlexTheMartian · May 22, 2007, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yardgames

You raise a couple of good points. Scheduling not just timewise, but the day they chose is an interesting suggestion. And I agree that it took me awhile to understand what was happening in Bowling.

In my experience my mom stopped watching because she disliked Lois' yelling and decided the show was pretty much becoming a shoutfest; my dad stopped watching because he had other things to watch during the same time period.

yeah my parents were the same way

APK · May 23, 2007, 05:18 PM

I haven't seen enough of the later seasons to say whether there was a decline in quality or not (I've seen the first season, half of the second season and a handful of episodes from seasons four and five) but many people seem to say that the show wasn't as good in the later years, so that may have been a factor. And perhaps, as other people have suggested, people didn't like some of the changes.

Deweyrules! · Jun 3, 2007, 12:36 PM

BBC in the UK seem to be adopting a similar attitude to Fox. Season 5 (shown last year) got a regular (but completely unadvertised) Sunday night slot; the run was frequently interrupted by other programmes. This year, season 6 seems to have begun but is just shown whenever the BBC can be bothered at whatever day and time it will fit.
It think, being a show that appeals to a really diverse audience the networks/channels don't actually know what to do with it.