Lowest Common Denominator

MalcolmFun

New member
I happened to see the Jaywalking segment that Jay Leno does the other night. This is where he goes on the street and asks random people simple questions that everyone should probably know, but they don't - Like 'who is the President?' or 'Is the Earth round?' or stuff like that.

Anyway, this made me realize another one of the reasons/explanation I like Malcolm is that the writers of the show don't assume that the audience watching the TV are morons. The writers of Malcolm ussually just assume the audience has a basic understanding of cultural refrences, how society works in general, even science and psychology. There are many things that are not explained in the show, it is left up to the audience to either already know or figure it out. Most stuff on TV would never do this. Jokes and the plot will be spelled out as if the viewers are morons. Not only is it annoying but that slows down the pace of the show to the Lois common denominator.

I have some examples of things that are not explained. You as the audience simply have to know what they are or figure it out or you would miss the joke. Probably no one knows them all from the whole series so you might miss a few a jokes. I think the point is just that it is refreshing that the writers didn't assume we are idiots who know nothing, which is really how you the audience is treated on most tv shows.

"Buseys"
"Krelyboynes"
asbestos
Happy Days
John Lennon
Wuthering Heights
Quentin Tatantino
ACLU
Pam Grier
Donny Osmond
Pearl Harbor
Rain Man
Roadrunner
Flux capacitor
red+blue=green
Cher
Mamma Mia!
The Sims
Frank Miller
Wilima Shatner
Geroge Takei
Sleepless in Seattle
JFK and the missle crisis
MIT
vasectomy
Yoko Ono
AA&AAA
The Flinstones
Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers
Meow Mix

thats all I can think of but there are tons
 

Amigo22

Super Moderator
Krelboyne is explained:

Lois: Malcolm. He's a genius. He's going to a special
class.

Malcolm: What?

Hal: Malcolm's special? Where do you think that came from?

Lois: They have a special program for gifted children. They have advanced textbooks and devoted teachers and all sorts of good things they don't want to waste on normal kids. You start on Monday.

Malcolm: Mom, no. I don't want to.

Lois: What are you talking about? Of course you want to.

Malcolm: No. I want to stay in my own class. I don't want to be a Krelboyne.

When he says "I don't want to be a Krelboyne", viwers would think that must
be the name of his class.

Same with the Buseys. First we see Dewey entering the class, and then we
see him at home where Malcolm goes "they put you in with the Buseys?"
 

MalcolmFun

New member
Amigo22, that classes are are explained and become aparent in the show, but see you have missed the "joke" if you didn't already know that Gary Busey is a Hollywood actor who has become known for drunken whacked out rants and other crazy or possibly mentally defective behavior! Dewey's councilor officially called it the "special needs" class. it was everybody else who called it that.

That's my point, it possible to watch Malcolm and not even realize that some of the dialouge that just seems like mundane lines actually has jokes in there. Other shows don't do that. They say mundane lines that build into one punchline at a time and thats it. In Malcolm almost every line can be joke, and there can be more then one at a time and everyone might not even get them all on the first viewing.

Like when Hal tries to convince Lois to go to Las Vegas he says he has money from outsourcing Flux Capacitors. The audience automatically knows he is lying based on the previous conversation with Malcolm. But is this just a mundane line to move along the plot or is there a joke in there? You have to have seen the classic "Back to the Future" to get it. And beyond just having seen it you have to understand that Flux Capacitor has become a part of the culture as a quintessential mad scientists creation from a beloved B rate movie. I think it is perfectly hysterical and in character that Hal and the boys would know what that is and Lois would have no clue.

I saw "Charity" multiple times before I even noticed the amusing line about Stevie wanting Pam Grier memorabilia that he has to hide from his parents.
Jackie Brown, great movie
jbsep4.jpg.html



I love that stuff
 
Last edited:
D

Deleted member 1693

Guest
"Lois" common denominator was such a geeky and ridiculous nickname. xD

And yes, I adore watching old episodes and listening very closely to the lines being said to catch any quick jokes.
 
Top