What if the Wilkersons weren't poor?

yardgames

Retired Administrator
How would their life be different if they actually had money? A bigger house? Different jobs? Better lives for the kids? Personally, I don't think so. I think the lack of money is one of the things that holds the family together.

Abundance of money might work temporarily but sooner or later I think something would tear Hal and Lois apart, like in Tiki Lounge. The boys wouldn't feel obliged to stick together anymore. The family that we know today wouldn't be if the family were rich.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
I agree with you. Hal and Lois would be stuck up, and the boys would be asses. I mean, Im sorry they never got to have a little money in the show and I wish they would have at some point, but Im very, VERY, grateful they were not rich. Like you said, Sam, it would have torn the family apart.
 

patrick4488

New member
I was thinking about this topic before and I came to the conclusion that mitm wouldn't be very interesting if the family would be rich.
They would have anything...that would be boring.
So they have a lot of problem and these problems are nutrients for the show. They are a very important part of the storyline.
That's my opinion.
 

rzombie1988

New member
They would never stay rich. As we have seen when they had money before, they do dumb things with it and it is gone. The show would be less interesting, and the kids would annoy everyone because they would be like spoiled brats.
 

Nico21

New member
I agree with all of you. The series would be less interesting if they were rich.
The fact they are poor is a reason why they are so close in the familly (despite the characters don't want to show it), and it's a basis for many stories in the episodes.

And that's one of the points that make MITM different from the other series !
 

reese35

New member
You said it. If the family was rich, there was no way the show would last a whole season, at most! Right now, let's be glad MitM held up the way it did.
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
I never really thought about it in terms of interest on the show before, but you're right--there's so many storylines that just couldn't exist if they had the money.

Say, for the sake of argument, that their money became limitless, so a $10,000 dollhouse couldn't eat up all the "excess" money. What sorts of things would they buy?
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
What would they buy? Stupid stuff.:D REALLY stupid stuff.
Hal-An endless collection of vintage record players.
Lois-She would pay for some professional to come massage her feet every day.:rolleyes:
Reese-....I can't even imagine this one.:D
Malcolm-Stuff that will seem to make him popular(a car, etc).;)
Dewey-Dewey actually wouldn't splurge any money he gets...he's smart enough to invest and do that kind of stuff with his money.:cool: :)

Anyway, that's what I think.:)
 

rzombie1988

New member
yardgames said:
Say, for the sake of argument, that their money became limitless, so a $10,000 dollhouse couldn't eat up all the "excess" money. What sorts of things would they buy?

It would all depend what season of the boys we are thinking of to figure out what they would buy. The 1st season they probably would have bought candy.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
I thought about it a little more, and what IF they were rich, but Hal and Lois were thier same old selves and didn't spoil the boys?:D
 

patrick4488

New member
tony_montana said:
I thought about it a little more, and what IF they were rich, but Hal and Lois were thier same old selves and didn't spoil the boys?:D

interesting question, I think Lois would still be evil (I don't think she will become good and nice^^) and open for new punishments. But maybe they would get better. Maybe she would buy a torture chamber:D .
But I don't think they would spoil the kids... or would they? Difficult question because you only know them being poor...
I think Hal would fade away in a casino in Las Vegas.
Lois would buy a tortue chamber.
Reese would buy himself a pool filled up with candy, as will Dewey.
Malcolm would finance his studies in Harvard.
And nobody would be interested in Jamie anymore.
That's my theorie:D
I'm curious about what you think
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Well if Hal and Lois were rich but didn't share it with the boys we'd have an episode called Watching the Baby. :D

It's a good point that we only know them poor so it's hard to think about what they might do if they actually had money. Just saying that they had it doesn't mean that the kids have access to it though. I mean, how many parents give their kids an endless cash supply? Hell, I wish mine did. :D But the point is that they'd probably have a nice house and everything, but the money would tear the family apart. The boys wouldn't share a bedroom; they wouldn't know each other as well and wouldn't defend each other from people outside the family. I think the family really would be dysfunctional if they were rich.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
....As if they aren't disfunctional already?:D ;) Lol, I still agree with you. The poorness binds them together...and that's whats most important in life, not money.:)
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
Perfect answer! And they definitely are NOT dysfunctional--at least not in the sense everyone believes them to be.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
Well, if you really think about it, you are right...they aren't disfunctional, and Ill go as far to say they are probably the most believeable family on tv.:)
 

Moe_210

New member
Hey everyone. I think personally if it was about them being rich, they wouldn't live in such a bad neighborhood. I mean look at the yard he he. They'd have moved some where big, some huge city where Malcolm STILL wouldn't fit in, Reese would probally buy stuff that didn't make sense so he could do something stupid like that episode when he was creating a second Reese out of skin. Dewey would probally by things like pianos and musical instruments, Lois would live at the spa pretty much, Hal would just sit in his garage listening to records. But it depends on the season completely. Like if it was any of the early ones Dewey would by an endless candy supply, Malcolm would by microscopes and scientific/academic stuff, Reese might buy candy too. Of course Malcolm would buy cars and everything like that to be popular, and it would probally work. That just wouldn't be fun to watch. Good thing that they're poor! :D
 

patrick4488

New member
The neighborhood isn't that bad, didn't the neighbors say that the Wilkersons destroyed their nice neighborhood?
And their yard is the only one in the neighborhood that is...erm...dirty^^
But I personally also don't like this suburb style
 

yardgames

Retired Administrator
So you guys think they should have lived in a city instead of the suburbs? Like in an apartment in downtown Chicago or something? That's interesting. Especially knowing that Hal and Lois did live in an apartment--a perfect pristine one--before the kid's were there. I think it's safe to assume that it probably was a bit more downtown--that apartment was almost like a small penthouse.

I think the Wilkerson's house was a bit small, yes, but not "bad." Definitely not in a bad neighborhood. There's lots of clues that the neighborhood is of a bit more class than the family.
 

tony_montana

Semper Fidelis
You know, after watching the episode where it shows the birth of all the boys(up to Dewey, and I forgot the episode name), I noticed something funny: They seemed to be ok financially when Francis was born, and the lighting on the set was set to that really bright white(just watch the episode and you'll see what I mean). Then, Hal starts loosing money at work because I think he's de-moted for wanting time off to spend with Francis and Lois. Anyways, when Reese is born, they are still ok financially, but things are a little harder now that they have two kids, and the bright white light was dimmer. Then, Malcolm was born, and they weren't so good financially anymore, and the white light was even dimmer. Then, by the time Dewey was born, the white light was gone and the picture that we see on tv was it's normal image(the one we are used to).:)
Sorry if I ranted on, I just realized that about that episode. It's just funny...the poorer they got, the dimmer that white light in the flashbacks became.:D
 
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