document_title: Return of the Jedi

question_text: when was hayden christensen added to return of the jedi

text: Return of the Jedi

text: Plot[edit]

text: Luke Skywalker initiates a plan to rescue Han Solo from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt with the help of Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2. Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine, disguised as a bounty hunter, with Chewbacca as her prisoner. Leia releases Han from his carbonite prison, but she is captured and enslaved. Luke arrives soon afterward, but is also captured after a tense standoff. After Luke survives his battle with Jabba's Rancor, Jabba sentences him and Han to death by feeding them to the Sarlacc. Luke frees himself and battles Jabba's guards. During the chaos, Leia strangles Jabba to death, and Luke destroys Jabba's sail barge as the group escapes. While the others rendezvous with the Rebel Alliance, Luke returns to Dagobah where he finds that Yoda is dying. Before he dies, Yoda confirms that Darth Vader, once known as Anakin Skywalker, is Luke's father, and that there is "another Skywalker". The spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi confirms that this other Skywalker is Leia, who is Luke's twin sister. Obi-Wan tells Luke that he must fight Vader again to defeat the Empire.

text: The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire has been constructing a new Death Star under the supervision of the Emperor himself. As the station is protected by an energy shield, Han leads a strike team to destroy the shield generator on the forest moon of Endor; doing so would allow a squadron of starfighters to destroy the Death Star. The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in a stolen Imperial shuttle. On Endor, Luke and his companions encounter a tribe of Ewoks and, after an initial conflict, gain their trust. Later, Luke tells Leia that she is his sister, Vader is their father, and that he must go and confront him. Surrendering to Imperial troops, Luke is brought to Vader and unsuccessfully tries to convince him to turn from the dark side of the Force.

text: Vader takes Luke to the Death Star to meet the Emperor, intent on turning him to the dark side. The Emperor reveals that the Death Star is actually fully operational and the rebel fleet will fall into a trap. On Endor, Han's strike team is captured by Imperial forces, but a surprise counterattack by the Ewoks allows the rebels to battle the Imperials. Meanwhile, Lando leads the rebel fleet to the Death Star in the Millennium Falcon, only to find out that the shield is still active, and the Imperial fleet is waiting for them. The Emperor tempts Luke to give in to his anger, and Luke engages Vader in a lightsaber duel. Vader senses that Luke has a sister, and threatens to turn her to the dark side. Enraged, Luke attacks Vader and severs his prosthetic right hand. The Emperor entreats Luke to kill Vader and take his place, but Luke refuses, declaring himself a Jedi as his father had been. Furious, the Emperor tortures Luke with Force lightning. Unwilling to let his son die, Vader throws the Emperor down a reactor chute to his death, but Vader is mortally electrocuted in the process. At his last request, Luke removes the redeemed Anakin's mask before he dies peacefully in Luke's arms.

text: As the battle between the Imperial and Alliance fleets continues, the strike team defeats the Imperial forces and destroys the shield generator, allowing the rebel fleet to launch their assault on the Death Star. Lando leads a group of rebel ships into the Death Star's core and destroys the main reactor. As Luke escapes on a shuttle with his father's body, the Falcon flies out of the Death Star's superstructure as the station explodes. On Endor, Leia reveals to Han that Luke is her brother, and they kiss. Luke returns to Endor and cremates Anakin's body on a pyre. As the rebels celebrate their victory over the Empire, Luke smiles as he sees the spirits of Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Anakin watching over them.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker: One of the last living Jedi, trained by Obi-Wan and Yoda, who is also a skilled X-wing fighter pilot allied with the Rebellion.
Harrison Ford as Han Solo: A rogue smuggler, who aids the Rebellion against the Empire. Han is Luke and Leia's friend, as well as Leia's love interest.
Carrie Fisher as Leia Organa: The former Princess of the destroyed planet Alderaan, who joins the Rebellion; Luke's twin sister, and Han's love interest.
Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian: The former Baron Administrator of Cloud City and one of Han's friends who aids the Rebellion.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: A humanoid protocol droid, who sides with the Rebellion.
Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca: A Wookiee who is Han's longtime friend, who takes part in the Rebellion.
Kenny Baker as R2-D2: An astromech droid, bought by Luke; and long-time friend to C-3PO. He also portrays a GONK power droid in the background.
Ian McDiarmid as Emperor Palpatine: The evil founding supreme ruler of the Galactic Empire, and Vader's Sith Master.
Frank Oz as Yoda: The wise, centuries-old Grand Master of the Jedi, who is Luke's self-exiled Jedi Master living on Dagobah. After dying, he reappears to Luke as a Force-ghost. Yoda's Puppetry was assisted by Mike Quinn.
David Prowse as Darth Vader / Anakin Skywalker: A powerful Sith lord and the second in command of the Galactic Empire; Luke and Leia's father.

text:
James Earl Jones as the voice of Darth Vader
Sebastian Shaw as the unmasked Anakin: After fighting and defeating his friend, ally, and Sith Master, in order to save his son's life, Vader is weakened and dying. Before he dies he asks Luke to take off his mask so he can see his son clearly before he dies, ultimately turning back to the goodness within himself. Originally, Shaw also appears as Anakin's Force-ghost in the original theatrical and 1997 Special Edition releases.
Hayden Christensen as the Force-ghost of Anakin Skywalker: In re-releases of the original Star Wars trilogy released after the prequel trilogy, Lucas made revisions. One of those revisions being the final shot of the film, in which the Force-ghosts of Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda are seen happily together. The addition of Christensen as the Force-ghost was explained to represent the fact that Anakin must return to his progress-point where he left off before turning to the dark side; Christensen portrayed Anakin in the second and third movies of the prequel trilogy, and the edits brought Return of the Jedi into consistency with the prequels.[12][13]

text: Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi: Luke's deceased Jedi Master, who continues to teach him after death as a Force-ghost.

text: Denis Lawson reprises his role as Wedge Antilles from Star Wars, and Kenneth Colley and Jeremy Bulloch reprise their roles as Admiral Piett and Boba Fett from The Empire Strikes Back. Michael Pennington portrays Moff Jerjerrod, the commander of the second Death Star. Warwick Davis appears as Wicket W. Warrick, an Ewok who leads Leia and eventually her friends to the Ewok tribe. Baker was originally cast as Wicket, but was replaced by Davis after falling ill with food poisoning on the morning of the shoot. Davis had no previous acting experience and was cast only after his grandmother had discovered an open call for dwarfs for the new Star Wars film.[14] Caroline Blakiston portrays Mon Mothma, a co-founder and leader of the Rebel Alliance. Michael Carter played Jabba's aide, Bib Fortuna (voiced by Erik Bauersfeld), while Femi Taylor and Claire Davenport appeared as Jabba's original slave dancers.

text: To portray the numerous alien species featured in the film a multitude of puppeteers, voice actors, and stunt performers were employed. Admiral Ackbar was performed by puppeteer Timothy M. Rose, with his voice provided by Erik Bauersfeld. Nien Nunb was portrayed by Richard Bonehill in costume for full body shots, while he was otherwise a puppet operated by Mike Quinn and his voice was provided by Kipsang Rotich. Rose also operated Salacious Crumb, whose voice was provided by Mark Dodson. Quinn also played Ree-Yees and Wol Cabbashite. Sy Snootles was a marionette operated by Rose and Quinn, while her voice was provided by Annie Arbogast. Others included Simon J. Williamson as Max Rebo, a Gamorrean Guard and a Mon Calamari; Deep Roy as Droopy McCool; Ailsa Berk as Amanaman; Paul Springer as Ree-Yees, Gamorrean Guard and a Mon Calamari; Hugh Spight as a Gamorrean Guard, Elom and a |Mon Calamari; Swee Lim as Attark the Hoover; Richard Robinson as a Yuzzum; Gerald Home as Tessek and the Mon Calamari officer; Phil Herbert as Hermi Odle; Tik and Tok (Tim Dry and Sean Crawford) as Whiphid and Yak-Face; Phil Tippett as the Rancor with Michael McCormick.

text: Jabba the Hutt was operated by Toby Philpott, David Barclay and Mike Edmonds (who also portrays the Ewok Logray) operated the tail. Larry Ward portrays the Huttese language voice with Mike Quinn, among other roles, controlling the eyes.

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: As with the previous film, Lucas personally financed Return of the Jedi. Lucas also chose not to direct Return of the Jedi himself, and started searching for a director for the film.[14] Lucas approached David Lynch, who had been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for The Elephant Man in 1980, to helm Return of the Jedi, but Lynch declined in order to direct Dune.[15] David Cronenberg was also offered the chance to direct, but he declined the offer to make Videodrome and The Dead Zone.[16] Lamont Johnson, director of Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, was also considered.[17] Lucas eventually chose Richard Marquand. Lucas may have directed some of the second unit work personally as the shooting threatened to go over schedule; this is a function Lucas had willingly performed on previous occasions when he had only officially been producing a film (e.g. More American Graffiti, Raiders of the Lost Ark). Lucas did operate the B camera on the set a few times.[18] Lucas himself has admitted to being on the set frequently because of Marquand's relative inexperience with special effects.[14] Lucas praised Marquand as a "very nice person who worked well with actors".[19] Marquand did note that Lucas kept a conspicuous presence on set, joking, "It is rather like trying to direct King Lear – with Shakespeare in the next room!"[20]

text: The screenplay was written by Lawrence Kasdan and Lucas (with uncredited contributions by David Peoples and Marquand), based on Lucas' story. Kasdan claims he told Lucas that Return of the Jedi was "a weak title", and Lucas later decided to name the film Revenge of the Jedi.[14] The screenplay itself was not finished until rather late in pre-production, well after a production schedule and budget had been created by Kazanjian and Marquand had been hired, which was unusual for a film. Instead, the production team relied on Lucas' story and rough draft in order to commence work with the art department. When it came time to formally write a shooting script, Lucas, Kasdan, Marquand and Kazanjian spent two weeks in conference discussing ideas; Kasdan used tape transcripts of these meetings to then construct the script.[21]

text: The issue of whether Harrison Ford would return for the final film arose during pre-production. Unlike the other stars of the first film, Ford had not contracted to do two sequels, and Raiders of the Lost Ark had made him an even bigger star. Return of the Jedi producer Howard Kazanjian (who also produced Raiders of the Lost Ark) convinced Ford to return:

text: "I played a very important part in bringing Harrison back for Return of the Jedi. Harrison, unlike Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill signed only a two picture contract. That is why he was frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back. When I suggested to George we should bring him back, I distinctly remember him saying that Harrison would never return. I said what if I convinced him to return. George simply replied that we would then write him in to Jedi. I had just recently negotiated his deal for Raiders of the Lost Ark with Phil Gersh of the Gersh Agency. I called Phil who said he would speak with Harrison. When I called back again, Phil was on vacation. David, his son, took the call and we negotiated Harrison's deal. When Phil returned to the office several weeks later he called me back and said I had taken advantage of his son in the negotiations. I had not. But agents are agents."[22]

text: Ford suggested that Han Solo be killed through self-sacrifice. Kasdan concurred, saying it should happen near the beginning of the film to instill doubt as to whether the others would survive, but Lucas was vehemently against it and rejected the concept.[14] Gary Kurtz, who produced Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back but was replaced as producer for Return of the Jedi by Kazanjian, said in 2010 that the ongoing success with Star Wars merchandise and toys led George Lucas to reject the idea of killing off Han Solo in the middle part of the film during a raid on an Imperial base. Luke Skywalker was also to have walked off alone and exhausted like the hero in a Spaghetti Western but, according to Kurtz, Lucas opted for a happier ending to encourage higher merchandise sales.[23]

text: Yoda was originally not meant to appear in the film, but Marquand strongly felt that returning to Dagobah was essential to resolve the dilemma raised by the previous film.[21] The inclusion led Lucas to insert a scene in which Yoda confirms that Darth Vader is Luke's father because, after a discussion with a children's psychologist, he did not want younger moviegoers to dismiss Vader's claim as a lie.[19] Many ideas from the original script were left out or changed. For instance, the Ewoks were going to be Wookiees,[24] the Millennium Falcon would be used in the arrival at the forest moon of Endor, and Obi-Wan Kenobi would return to life from his spectral existence in the Force.[25]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Filming began on January 11, 1982, and lasted through May 20, 1982, a schedule six weeks shorter than The Empire Strikes Back. Kazanjian's schedule pushed shooting as early as possible in order to give Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as much time as possible to work on effects, and left some crew members dubious of their ability to be fully prepared for the shoot.[26] Working on a budget of $32.5 million,[27] Lucas was determined to avoid going over budget as had happened with The Empire Strikes Back. Producer Howard Kazanjian estimated that using ILM (owned wholly by Lucasfilm) for special effects saved the production approximately $18 million.[27] However, the fact that Lucasfilm was a non-union company made acquiring shooting locations more difficult and more expensive, even though Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back had been big hits.[14] The project was given the working title Blue Harvest with a tagline of "Horror Beyond Imagination." This disguised what the production crew was really filming from fans and the press, and also prevented price gouging by service providers.[14]

text: The first stage of production started with 78 days at Elstree Studios in England,[26] where the film occupied all nine stages. The shoot commenced with a scene later deleted from the finished film where the heroes get caught in a sandstorm as they leave Tatooine.[20] (This was the only major sequence cut from the film during editing.)[21] While attempting to film Luke Skywalker's battle with the rancor beast, Lucas insisted on trying to create the scene in the same style as Toho's Godzilla films by using a stunt performer inside a suit. The production team made several attempts, but were unable to create an adequate result. Lucas eventually relented and decided to film the rancor as a high-speed puppet.[14] In April, the crew moved to the Yuma Desert in Arizona for two weeks of Tatooine exteriors.[20] Production then moved to the redwood forests of northern California[28] near Crescent City where two weeks were spent shooting the Endor forest exteriors, and then concluded at ILM in San Rafael, California for about ten days of bluescreen shots. One of two "skeletal" post-production units shooting background matte plates spent a day in Death Valley.[26] The other was a special Steadicam unit shooting forest backgrounds from June 15–17, 1982, for the speeder chase near the middle of the film.[29] Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown personally operated these shots as he walked through a disguised path inside the forest shooting at less than one frame per second. By walking at about 5 mph (8 km/h) and projecting the footage at 24 frame/s, the motion seen in the film appeared as if it were moving at around 120 mph (190 km/h).[14]

text: Music[edit]

text: John Williams composed and conducted the film's musical score with performances by the London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestration credits also include Thomas Newman.[30] The initial release of the film's soundtrack was on the RSO Records label in the United States. Sony Classical Records acquired the rights to the classic trilogy scores in 2004 after gaining the rights to release the second trilogy soundtracks (The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones). In the same year, Sony Classical re-pressed the 1997 RCA Victor release of Return of the Jedi along with the other two films in the trilogy. The set was released with the new artwork mirroring the first DVD release of the film. Despite the Sony digital re-mastering, which minimally improved the sound heard only on high-end stereos, this 2004 release is essentially the same as the 1997 RCA Victor release.[31]

text: Post-production[edit]

text: Meanwhile, special effects work at ILM quickly stretched the company to its operational limits. While the R&D work and experience gained from the previous two films in the trilogy allowed for increased efficiency, this was offset by the desire to have the closing film raise the bar set by each of these films.[27] A compounding factor was the intention of several departments of ILM to either take on other film work or decrease staff during slow cycles. Instead, as soon as production began, the entire company found it necessary to remain running 20 hours a day on six-day weeks in order to meet their goals by April 1, 1983. Of about 900 special effects shots,[26] all VistaVision optical effects remained in-house, since ILM was the only company capable of using the format, while about 400 4-perf opticals were subcontracted to outside effects houses.[32] Progress on the opticals was severely delayed for a time when ILM rejected about 100,000 feet (30,000 m) of film when the film perforations failed image registration and steadiness tests.[26]

text: Release[edit]

text: Return of the Jedi's theatrical release took place on May 25, 1983. It was originally slated to be May 27, but was subsequently changed to coincide with the date of the 1977 release of the original Star Wars film.[27] With a massive worldwide marketing campaign, illustrator Tim Reamer created the image for the movie poster and other advertising. At the time of its release, the film was advertised on posters and merchandise as simply Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, despite its on-screen "Episode VI" distinction. The original film was later re-released to theaters in 1985.

text: In 1997, for the 20th anniversary of the release of Star Wars (retitled Episode IV: A New Hope), Lucas released The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. Along with the two other films in the original trilogy, Return of the Jedi was re-released on March 14, 1997, with a number of changes and additions, which included the insertion of several alien band members in Jabba's throne room, the modification of the Sarlacc to include a beak, the replacement of music at the closing scene, and a montage of different alien worlds celebrating the fall of the Empire.[33] According to Lucas, Return of the Jedi required fewer changes than the previous two films because it is more emotionally driven than the others.[19]

text: Title change[edit]

text: The original teaser trailer for the film carried the name Revenge of the Jedi.[34] In December 1982, Lucas decided that "Revenge" was not appropriate as Jedi should not seek revenge and returned to his original title. By that time thousands of "Revenge" teaser posters (with artwork by Drew Struzan) had been printed and distributed. Lucasfilm stopped the shipping of the posters and sold the remaining stock of 6,800 posters to Star Wars fan club members for $9.50.[35]

text: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, released in 2005 as part of the prequel trilogy, later alluded to the dismissed title Revenge of the Jedi.[36]

text: Home media[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The original theatrical version of Return of the Jedi was released on VHS and Laserdisc several times between 1986 and 1995,[37] followed by releases of the Special Edition in the same formats between 1997 and 2000. Some of these releases contained featurettes; some were individual releases of just this film, while others were boxed sets of all three original films.

text: On September 21, 2004, the Special Editions of all three original films were released in a boxed set on DVD. It was digitally restored and remastered, with additional changes made by George Lucas. The DVD also featured English subtitles, Dolby Digital 5.1 EX surround sound, and commentaries by George Lucas, Ben Burtt, Dennis Muren, and Carrie Fisher. The bonus disc included documentaries including Empire of Dreams: The Story of the Star Wars Trilogy and several featurettes including "The Characters of Star Wars", "The Birth of the Lightsaber", and "The Legacy of Star Wars". Also included were teasers, trailers, TV spots, still galleries, and a demo for Star Wars: Battlefront.

text: With the release of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, which depicts how and why Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side of the Force, Lucas once again altered Return of the Jedi to bolster the relationship between the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. The original and 1997 Special Edition versions of Return of the Jedi featured British theatre actor Sebastian Shaw playing both the dying Anakin Skywalker and his ghost. In the 2004 DVD, Shaw's portrayal of Anakin's ghost is replaced by Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. All three films in the original unaltered Star Wars trilogy were later released, individually, on DVD on September 12, 2006. These versions were originally slated to only be available until December 31, 2006, although they remained in print until May 2011 and were packaged with the 2004 versions again in a new box set on November 4, 2008.[38] Although the 2004 versions in these sets each feature an audio commentary, no other extra special features were included to commemorate the original cuts. The runtime of the 1997 Special Edition of the film and all subsequent releases is approximately five minutes longer than the original theatrical version.

text: A Blu-ray Disc version of the Star Wars saga was announced for release in 2011 during Star Wars Celebration V. Several deleted scenes from Return of the Jedi were included for the Blu-ray version, including a sandstorm sequence following the Battle at the Sarlacc Pit, a scene featuring Moff Jerjerrod and Death Star officers during the Battle of Endor, and a scene where Darth Vader communicates with Luke via the Force as Skywalker is assembling his new lightsaber before he infiltrates Jabba's palace.[39] On January 6, 2011, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment announced the Blu-ray release for September 2011 in three different editions and the cover art was unveiled in May.

text: On April 7, 2015, Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm jointly announced the digital releases of the six released Star Wars films. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released Return of the Jedi through the iTunes Store, Amazon Video, Vudu, Google Play, and Disney Movies Anywhere on April 10, 2015.[40]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Depending on sources, Return of the Jedi grossed between $475 million and $572 million worldwide.[7][8][9] Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 80 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run.[41] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 80% approval rating with an average score of 7.2/10 based on 84 reviews from critics. Its consensus states, "Though failing to reach the cinematic heights of its predecessors, Return of the Jedi remains an entertaining sci-fi adventure and a fitting end to the classic trilogy".[42] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 53/100 based on 15 reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[43]

text: Contemporary critics were largely positive. In 1983, film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four,[44] and James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk described Return of the Jedi as "a magnificent experience."[45] The film was also featured on the May 23, 1983, TIME magazine cover issue (where it was labeled "Star Wars III"),[46] where the reviewer Gerald Clarke said that while it was not as exciting as the first Star Wars film, it was "better and more satisfying" than The Empire Strikes Back, now considered by many as the best of the original trilogy.[47] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "by far the dimmest adventure of the lot".[48] ReelViews.net's James Berardinelli wrote about the 1997 special edition re-release that "Although it was great fun re-watching Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back again on the big screen, Return of the Jedi doesn't generate the same sense of enjoyment. And, while Lucas worked diligently to re-invigorate each entry into the trilogy, Jedi needs more than the patches of improved sound, cleaned-up visuals, and a few new scenes. Still, despite the flaws, this is still Star Wars, and, as such, represents a couple of lightly-entertaining hours spent with characters we have gotten to know and love over the years. Return of the Jedi is easily the weakest of the series, but its position as the conclusion makes it a must-see for anyone who has enjoyed its predecessor."[49]

text: While the action set pieces – particularly the Sarlacc battle sequence, the speeder bike chase on the Endor moon, the space battle between Rebel and Imperial pilots, and Luke Skywalker's duel against Darth Vader – are well-regarded, the ground battle between the Ewoks and Imperial stormtroopers remains a bone of contention.[50] Fans are also divided on the likelihood of Ewoks (being an extremely primitive race of small creatures armed with sticks and rocks) defeating an armed ground force comprising the Empire's "best troops". Lucas has defended the scenario, saying that the Ewoks' purpose was to distract the Imperial troops and that the Ewoks did not really win.[19] His inspiration for the Ewoks' victory came from the Vietnam War, where the indigenous Vietcong forces prevailed against the technologically superior United States.[51]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: At the 56th Academy Awards in 1984, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston, and Phil Tippett received the "Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects." Norman Reynolds, Fred Hole, James L. Schoppe, and Michael Ford were nominated for "Best Art Direction/Set Decoration". Ben Burtt received a nomination for "Best Sound Effects Editing". John Williams received the nomination for "Best Music, Original Score". Burtt, Gary Summers, Randy Thom and Tony Dawe all received the nominations for "Best Sound".[52] At the 1984 BAFTA Awards, Edlund, Muren, Ralston, and Kit West won for "Best Special Visual Effects". Tippett and Stuart Freeborn were also nominated for "Best Makeup". Reynolds received a nomination for "Best Production Design/Art Direction". Burtt, Dawe, and Summers also received nominations for "Best Sound". Williams was also nominated "Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special". The film also won for "Best Dramatic Presentation", the older award for science fiction and fantasy in film, at the 1984 Hugo Awards.[53]

text: Marketing[edit]

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text: Novelization[edit]

text: The novelization of Return of the Jedi was written by James Kahn and was released on May 12, 1983, thirteen days before the film's release.[56]

text: Radio drama[edit]

text: A radio drama adaptation of the film was written by Brian Daley with additional material contributed by John Whitman and was produced for and broadcast on National Public Radio in 1996. It was based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and on the screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas. The first two Star Wars films were similarly adapted for National Public Radio in the early 1980s, but it was not until 1996 that a radio version of Return of the Jedi was heard. Anthony Daniels returned as C-3PO, but Mark Hamill and Billy Dee Williams did not reprise their roles as they had for the first two radio dramas. They were replaced by newcomer Joshua Fardon as Luke Skywalker and character actor Arye Gross as Lando Calrissian. John Lithgow voiced Yoda, whose voice actor in the films has always been Frank Oz. Bernard Behrens returned as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Brock Peters reprised his role as Darth Vader. Veteran character actor Ed Begley, Jr. played Boba Fett. Edward Asner also guest-starred speaking only in grunts as the voice of Jabba the Hutt. The radio drama had a running time of three hours.[57]

text: Principal production of the show was completed on February 11, 1996. Only hours after celebrating its completion with the cast and crew of the show, Daley died of pancreatic cancer. The show is dedicated to his memory.[citation needed]

text: The cast and crew recorded a get-well message for Daley, but the author never got the chance to hear it. The message is included as part of the Star Wars Trilogy collector's edition box set.[citation needed]

text: Comic book adaptation[edit]

text: Marvel Comics published a comic book adaptation of the film by writer Archie Goodwin and artists Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon, Tom Palmer, and Ron Frenz. The adaptation appeared in Marvel Super Special #27[58] and as a four-issue limited series.[59][60] It was later reprinted in a mass market paperback.[61]

text: Book-and-record set[edit]

text: Lucasfilm adapted the story for a children's book-and-record set. Released in 1983, the 24-page Star Wars: Return of the Jedi read-along book was accompanied by a 33⅓ rpm 7-inch (18 cm) gramophone record. Each page of the book contained a cropped frame from the film with an abridged and condensed version of the story. The record was produced by Buena Vista Records.[62]


document_title: Malcolm in the Middle

question_text: where do they live on malcolm in the middle

root

text: Malcolm in the Middle

text: Premise[edit]

text: Set in the fictional town of Star City, California, The series Malcolm in the Middle is about a boy named Malcolm Wilkerson and his dysfunctional family.[5][6] The show stars Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, the third of four and later five boys, his brothers, and their parents, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Bryan Cranston). Their first child, Francis (Christopher Masterson), was sent away to military school, leaving his three younger brothers at home, Reese (Justin Berfield), Malcolm, and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) with Malcolm being the middle child still living at home. In season four, the character Jamie (James and Lukas Rodriguez) was added to the show as the fifth son of Hal & Lois. The show's early seasons centered on Malcolm dealing with the rigors of being an adolescent and enduring the eccentricities of his life. Later seasons gradually explored the other members of the family and their friends in more depth, including others such as Craig Feldspar, Lois' coworker at the Lucky Aide drugstore, Malcolm's friend Stevie Kenarban, and Stevie's dad Abe.

tag: p

text: The series was so much different from many others in that Malcolm broke the fourth wall by talking directly to the viewer,[7][8] all scenes were shot using a single-camera setup,[9] and the show employed neither a laugh track nor a live studio audience.[9][10] Emulating the style of hour-long dramas, this half-hour show was shot on film instead of on video.[11] Another distinctive aspect of the show is that the cold open of every episode is unrelated to the main story. Exceptions were episodes which were the conclusions of "two-parters"; each part two episode opened with a recap of its part one episode.

text: Characters[edit]

text: The Family[edit]

text:
Malcolm (Frankie Muniz): the title character of the series. Malcolm is a genius with an IQ of 165 and a photographic memory.[12][13] He is placed in a class for gifted students (or "Krelboynes" as they are known at the school).[14] His intelligence, as well as feelings of not fitting in, and a large ego fueled by a cruel streak of snarkiness cause numerous problems for him over the course of the series. As the title suggests, Malcolm is initially the middle child of the three living at home; chronologically, he is Hal and Lois' third son. His best friend is Stevie Kenarban. In the series finale, he graduates from high school and starts attending a prestigious college by both scholarship and working various jobs, specifically as a janitor at Harvard University.
Lois (Jane Kaczmarek): The family's hot-headed and stubborn mother. An intelligent and decisive woman, most of her bullishness comes from her constant battles throughout the series to keep her badly behaved, highly destructive boys in check, while maintaining a menial job at a Lucky Aide drugstore. Despite her constant aggressiveness, she is motherly [15] and will defend her family fiercely, especially towards neighbors and others who view them as poor trash; in one episode, she finds that Malcolm and Reese discovered their neighbor having an affair with her Hispanic gardener while they planned to frame her son for theft, but doesn't punish them for their actions as this counted as revenge against the woman, who hated Lois. Lois is disliked by both Hal's wealthy family and her own parents. She has a younger sister named Susan, who blames Lois for stealing Hal from her. Neighbors despise Lois and her boys and celebrate the weekends when they're gone. In the series finale, she discovered that she and Hal are expecting a 6th child.
Hal (Bryan Cranston): Hal is Lois' husband and father to Francis, Reese, Malcolm, Dewey, and Jamie. Hal is a well-meaning, loving, but inept and somewhat immature father, and is completely dependent on Lois, whom he loves absolutely. He comes from a wealthy family that does not accept Lois as his wife and wishes that he married Susan instead. Because his family is disrespectful towards Lois, he rarely mentions them and avoids his family. Hal loves his boys and will sometimes sneak them out for fun father-son activities behind Lois' back. Hal is an indecisive character who frequently picks up new hobbies for short periods of time, such as speed walking, or painting, and is irresponsible with the money he earns from his low-paying desk job. His indecisiveness was explored in "Living Will" from a childhood which he had a hard time making decisions for himself and because of this, he always deferred to Lois to make them for him. In the series finale, he discovered that he and Lois are expecting a 6th child. Hal is also a sex addict, this was revealed in the episode "Forbidden Girlfriend" when Lois is taking medication and is unable to have sex for an entire week, it is mentioned again in the episode "Poker 2" when Hal tells his friends he has sex 14 times per week. Hals best friend is Abe Kenarban.
Francis (Christopher Masterson): Hal and Lois' first son. At the beginning of the series, he is attending military school in Alabama,[16] run by the strict Commandant Spangler (Daniel von Bargen).[17] It is shown that his parents enjoyed a promising middle-class, comfortable lifestyle before he was born and that he was such a difficult, destructive child that that dream soon ended. He has himself legally emancipated at the start of Season 3, leaves the school, and travels to Alaska.[18] He finds work at a logging camp and later meets and marries Piama (Emy Coligado), a girl of Inuit heritage.[19] When the camp closes, they move to the western United States and take jobs at a Wild West-themed hotel/ranch, run by kindly but eccentric German, Otto Mannkusser (Kenneth Mars), and his wife, Gretchen (Meagen Fay).[20] Francis and his mother have a mutual love-hate war of wills and his main motivation in life is to thwart or irk her (though, ironically, he marries a woman with the same personality as Lois.) Although a juvenile delinquent, he is street-smart. Francis becomes a less frequently seen character after season 5, becoming an occasional recurring character and making only a small handful of appearances in Season 6 and the final Season 7.[17] Whereas he was featured regularly in previous seasons as a side-story to the main family, Francis' steady job disappeared in season 6 due to legal issues, and he returned to being a delinquent, leading a questionable and poor lifestyle with his wife, Piama, until it is revealed in the final episode of season 7, "Graduation", that Francis already has a steady desk job sorting out computers. He admits he likes his job to Hal, but also enjoys frustrating Lois by telling her that he's unemployed. Also in the series finale, Francis and Piama are expecting their first child.
Reese (Justin Berfield): Hal and Lois' second son.[17] He is the older brother of Malcolm, Dewey, and Jamie, and younger brother of Francis. Reese is the most impulsive and physical of the boys.[21] He lacks common sense, he is frequently outwitted and outspoken by other family members, and is gleefully violent.[21] Despite being unwilling to think, Reese is as much a genius as his brothers, although in less traditional or obvious ways. Reese is better than Malcolm at devising plans, and is masterful at the rare things which can pin his drifting focus, such as driving, or when he's revealed to be a Culinary prodigy, excelling at cooking and baking.[22] In the series finale, he finally graduates from high school after intentionally failing many times before, he obtained full employment as a high school custodian, and shares an apartment with Craig.
Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan): Hal and Lois' fourth son. He is the youngest child until the birth of Jamie, and often falls victim to his brothers' pranks.[23] Dewey is very intelligent and musically gifted. He plays the piano.[24] He has a very high tolerance for pain due to years of physical and mental abuse from his brothers. Despite his intelligence, he is placed in a remedial class for slower students (or "Buseys") due to a misunderstanding.[25] Dewey remains in the class and serves as their self-appointed teacher. By the seventh and final season of the show, the Busey class is no longer mentioned. He is the only sibling that eventually breaks the cycle of abusing the younger sibling, which ends up with him acting like a normal, lovable brother towards Jamie. In the series finale, he along with Jamie are seen hiding under the table.
Jamie (James and Lukas Rodriguez): Hal and Lois' fifth son, born at the end of Season 4.[26] Despite his infancy, he is shown to already have some of his brothers' habits, such as stealing and disrespecting Lois. He is shown to being the only child who is capable of defeating Lois.[27] Like Malcolm and Dewey, Jamie is revealed to be very intelligent and takes advantage of his less intelligent older brother, Reese. In the series finale, he along with Dewey were seen hiding under the table.

tag: ul

text: Other characters[edit]

text:
Craig Lamar Traylor as Stevie Kenarban, Malcolm's best friend since childhood who's in the Krelboyne class and is in a wheelchair. Stevie has difficulty breathing and is revealed in season 5 to have only one lung. He is socially awkward and has trouble making friends.
David Anthony Higgins as Craig Feldspar, Lois's overweight coworker at the Lucky Aide Drugstore, who has a secret crush on Lois. He is very geeky and self-absorbed and in the rare event he is given actual powers. he can also be as bossy as Lois, but much less competent as her. Craig also has a non-existent relationship with his estranged father, who is utterly obsessed with running his gym.
Emy Coligado as Piama Tananahaakna, Francis' wife. She is an Inupiat Alaska Native. She is a good wife to Francis and helps him resolve troublesome situations. Piama has the same type of fiery, unyielding personality as Francis' mother, Lois, who initially dislikes Piama until a disastrous family reunion made her realize how unfair she was to Piama.
Eric Nenninger as Eric Hanson, Francis' somewhat naïve friend from military school who precedes Francis to Alaska. It is his call which brings Francis to Alaska. However, Eric is left to hitchhike back home possibly as revenge for suggesting that he and Francis find work in Alaska.
Catherine Lloyd Burns as Caroline Miller, Malcolm's "overly earnest" teacher. She ardently adores Malcolm due to his intelligence. Francis uses her adoration to pay a medical bill to stitch up Malcolm in one episode.[28] She is the teacher of the Krelboynes in Seasons 1 and 2, at which time she is seen heavily pregnant. After she gives birth, Caroline leaves teaching. She was also the only non-family member to be credited as part of the main cast in the intro.
Kenneth Mars as Otto Mannkusser, Francis' boss who owns the ranch he works at after he leaves Alaska. He is of German descent and he is a naïve and kind-hearted person. Francis tries to protect Otto from being scammed by con-artists and helped him reconcile with his estranged son, Rutger. He is married to Gretchen.
Evan Matthew Cohen, Kyle Sullivan, Kristin Quick, Will Jennings, and Victor Z. Isaac all play Krelboynes from Malcolm's class.
Gary Anthony Williams as Abe Kenarban, Stevie's overprotective father and Hal's best friend.
Daniel von Bargen as Commandant Edwin Spangler, the head of Marlin Academy. He is missing his right eye, his left hand, and his ring finger on his right hand, and he actually never served war time. He despises Francis because he fought against him. In the end, he loses his other hand and later is fired from Marlin Academy. After arriving in Alaska, Francis gets Spangler a job at a retirement home, which gives him free rein to bully the elderly.
Cloris Leachman as Grandma Ida, Lois' mother and Malcolm's grandmother. She despises Francis and Lois, except on one occasion when she was kind to Lois. Ida has one common interest with Francis: they both despise Lois for being a control freak. She is generally disliked by the family, bar Reese whom she clearly favors. She lost her leg saving Dewey from being hit by a truck, one of her few recorded good deeds. She once tried to sue Lois, her own daughter, for slipping on a leaf in the walkway of Lois' house and becoming temporarily injured. She was foiled by Francis and the boys who gave their support their parents and the lawyer willingly abandons her. Ida favors Susan over Lois as she is more graceful and talented.
Meagen Fay as Gretchen Mannkusser, Otto's wife who helps out at the ranch.
Karim Prince as Cadet Stanley, Marlin Academy student, Francis' best friend and informal bodyguard during the show's first season.
Kasan Butcher, Drew Powell, and Arjay Smith all play Francis' friends at Marlin Academy.
Sandy Ward, John Ennis, Richard Gross, and Christopher Michael Moore all play Francis' friends at the Alaskan logging camp.
Dan Martin, Jonathan Craig Williams, Edward James Gage, and Alex Morris all play Hal's poker friends.
Chris Eigeman as Lionel Herkabe, the second teacher of the Krelboyne class and a former Krelboyne himself. Despite sharing many of the same personality traits, he and Malcolm hate each other, but on one occasion Herkabe was nice to Malcolm. He is also bossy, stubborn and sadistic. Herkabe loses his GPA award in light of his actions for flunking Gym.
Brenda Wehle as Lavernia, Francis' first boss, a malevolent woman.
Merrin Dungey played two different, unrelated characters.[29] In the pilot episode Dungey plays Malcolm's teacher before he transfers to the Krelboyne class. Later in the first season, she appears as Kitty Kenarban, Stevie's mother who left him and Abe, but then returned. It is shown that Kitty is very overprotective of Stevie.
Todd Giebenhain as Richie, Francis' friend
Cameron Monaghan, Danny McCarthy, and Amy Bruckner as Dewey's special-ed class friends
Tania Raymonde as Cynthia, a Krelboyne girl who had a crush on Malcolm but left for Europe and later returned. Her dad is played by Fred Sanders.
Hayden Panettiere as Jessica, a girl hired to babysit Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey who later ends up living on their couch temporarily after her dad is arrested. Jessica is shown to be a very manipulative girl, once showing Malcolm how to emotionally manipulate Lois. She had been known to play tricks on Reese and Malcolm. Despite this, Jessica has a crush on Malcolm and has shown that she can be a loyal friend.
Landry Allbright as Julie Houlerman, a girl whom Malcolm had a crush on
Julie Hagerty as Polly, Jamie's babysitter, who is extravagantly open about her personal problems and medical conditions. In one episode its revealed she has a sadistic, and somewhat threatening, ex-boyfriend named Danny, who only appears once in the show. They end up reconciling and getting back together.
Steve Vinovich as Mr. Hodges, the school principal (season 7)

text: Episodes[edit]

text:
Season
Episodes
Originally aired

First aired
Last aired

1
16
January 9, 2000 (2000-01-09)
May 21, 2000 (2000-05-21)

2
25
November 5, 2000 (2000-11-05)
May 20, 2001 (2001-05-20)

3
22
November 11, 2001 (2001-11-11)
May 12, 2002 (2002-05-12)

4
22
November 3, 2002 (2002-11-03)
May 18, 2003 (2003-05-18)

5
22
November 2, 2003 (2003-11-02)
May 23, 2004 (2004-05-23)

6
22
November 7, 2004 (2004-11-07)
May 15, 2005 (2005-05-15)

7
22
September 25, 2005 (2005-09-25)
May 14, 2006 (2006-05-14)

tag: table

text: Production[edit]

text: Opening titles[edit]

text: The opening titles feature short clips from cult films or television shows, edited together with clips from the early seasons of the show, set to the song "Boss of Me" by They Might Be Giants. The original opening includes, in order of appearance:

text:
Three men fighting a giant Archelon: From One Million Years B.C. (1966)[30]
Grinning animated man in rain: Shiogami from the anime Nazca[30]
The monster rising out of the ocean is the Kraken: From Clash of the Titans (1981)[30]
Woman being held above a nest of hungry pterodactyls: From One Million Years B.C. (1966)[30]
Anime boy skateboarding: From the anime Nazca[30]
Mud-monster grabbing a woman as she kisses a man: From Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)[31]
Man ski-jumping while ignited in flames: Thrill Seekers[32]
Wrestling match: Bret Hart locking Chris Benoit in the Sharpshooter during the WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match at WCW Mayhem 1999 PPV in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Robot head being assembled: From the BBC series Out of the Unknown episode "Liar!" (1969)[33]
Man attacking giant brain with an axe: From The Brain from Planet Arous (1957)[30]
Boxer knocking out referee: Cuban Pedro Cardenas fighting Canadian Willie de Wit but accidentally KOing referee Bert Lowes instead, during the 1982 North American Championships in Las Vegas.[30]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Much of the filming for Malcolm in the Middle was done on location[34] in various parts of the Thirty Mile Zone around Los Angeles. A privately owned home, located at 12334 Cantura Street in Toluca Lake, California, was rented for upwards of $3,000 a day to film as Malcolm's house.[35] Rebuilt in 2011, the property is no longer recognizable due to its modern two-floor design.[36] However, the house directly to the left of it is nearly identical to what it looked like during filming, still making it a frequent stop for fans of the show. School scenes were filmed at Walter Reed Middle School,[37][38] in North Hollywood, and the Lucky Aide was represented by a Drug Emporium at 6020 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood. In "Stock Car Races," when Hal and the boys are entering a race track, the billboard behind the entrance displays the place as Irwindale Speedway, a real race track in Southern California. The last episode in the first season ("Waterpark") was filmed at a water park called Wild Rivers located in Irvine, California. It is never revealed which state the show is set in (except for Francis' whereabouts in early seasons, such as his military school in Alabama and his job in Alaska).

text: Studio filming for Malcolm in the Middle took place on Stage 21 at CBS Studio Center in Studio City.[39]

text: Chris Masterson would take a diminished role starting with Season 6 of the show in favor of getting behind the camera, directing and writing some episodes in Seasons 6 and 7.

text: Music[edit]

text: The show's theme song, "Boss of Me", was written and recorded by the alternative rock group They Might Be Giants.[40] The song won the "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" award at the 2002 Grammy Awards.[41] The band also performed nearly all of the incidental music for the show in its first two seasons.[42]

text: Mood setting music is sprinkled throughout the series, in lieu of audience laughter, in a way that resembles feature film more than other TV sitcoms. Some examples of this highly varied music include ABBA, Basement Jaxx, Sum 41, Kenny Rogers, Lemon Jelly, Lords of Acid, The Getaway People, En Vogue, Electric Light Orchestra, Fatboy Slim, Phil Collins, Tears for Fears, Quiet Riot, Queen, and Citizen King whose song "Better Days" is played at the end of both the pilot episode and the series finale. The Southern California pop-punk band Lit have many of their songs featured in several episodes. Lit songs that were never released as singles were also used.

text: A soundtrack, Music from Malcolm in the Middle, was released on November 21, 2000.[43]

text: Broadcast and syndication[edit]

text: The show entered barter syndication one month before the sixth season premiered on Fox and was later aired on FX in the fall of 2007 until the fall of 2010.[44]

text: The show was launched on Nick at Nite on July 5, 2009 at 8:00 pm with an all night marathon.[45] However, Nick at Nite aired the show with a PG rating and the episodes were either banned or heavily edited due to content that was too strong for the PG rating. When Nick at Nite pulled Malcolm it began airing on TeenNick[46] from November 26, 2010 and continued until December 2010. The show returned to TeenNick's line-up on July 18, 2011.

text: On September 26, 2011, Malcolm in the Middle began airing on IFC.[47] As of March 2013, the show has returned to TeenNick, airing weeknights at 10:00 pm (EST) and again at 10:30 pm (EST). Later during 2013 the show aired from 3:00 am (EST) till 5:00 am (EST), but has since switched to just a one-hour block from 4:00 am (EST) to 5:00 am (EST) after the 90's Are All That block was pushed back an hour. The series has not been shown on TeenNick since May 2014.

text: In the UK, the show was originally aired on Sky1 from September 3, 2000, later also airing on Sky2 and Sky3 before finally leaving all Sky channels in December 2010. It was also shown on BBC2 from April 6, 2001 until March 7, 2009. From January 3, 2011, it was shown on Fiver (now 5*) at 6:00 pm and again at about 7:30 pm. By 2014 it was only being shown weekly on Saturday at 3:15 pm in the order originally broadcast, the last repeat of the show in the UK (also the last ever episode produced) was shown for last time on 5* at 3:15 pm on Saturday January 18, 2014.

text: In November 2015, the show started airing from its first episode sequentially on Comedy Central at 11am in the UK.

text: On November 2, 2015 Family Channel in Canada started airing Malcolm in the Middle.

text: In March, 2016 Fox Comedy in Portugal started airing Malcolm in the Middle.

text: Home media releases[edit]

text: Only the first season of Malcolm in the Middle has been released on DVD in the U.S. Season 2 was set to be released in the fall of 2003, but was cancelled due to high costs of music clearances.[48]

text:
DVD name
Region 1
Region 2
Region 4
French release date
Ep #
# of discs
Extras and notes

The Complete First Season
October 29, 2002
September 24, 2012[49]
September 4, 2013[50]
March 4, 2014[51]
16
3
Extended pilot episode, A Stroke of Genius featurette, commentary on select episodes, gag reel, deleted scenes, alternate show openings, bloopers, Dewey's Day Job featurette.

The Complete Second Season
N/A
November 19, 2012[52]
September 4, 2013[53]
Spring 2014
25
4
Still Gallery

The Complete Third Season
February 4, 2013[54]
September 4, 2013[55]

22
3
A Still Gallery is listed but is absent from the actual DVDs

The Complete Fourth Season
March 4, 2013[56]
September 4, 2013[57]

22
3
A Still Gallery is listed but is absent from the actual DVDs

The Complete Fifth Season
April 29, 2013[58]
September 4, 2013[59]

22
3

The Complete Sixth Season
May 27, 2013[60]
September 4, 2013[61]

22
3

The Complete Seventh and Final Season
October 7, 2013[62]
September 4, 2013[63]

22
3

The Complete Collection Box Set
October 17, 2013[64]
September 4, 2013[65]

151
22
Extended pilot episode, A Stroke of Genius featurette, commentary on select episodes, gag reel, deleted scenes, alternate show openings, bloopers, Dewey's Day Job featurette, Season 2 Still Gallery.

text: In February 2012, it was announced that Fabulous Films would be releasing the first season of the show in the UK in April, as well as releasing each subsequent season the following month, ending with a complete series set near Christmas 2012.[66] However, in late March 2012, several retailers had removed the release date from their websites; this was later revealed to be because of "technical issues with the Masters" and that the release date had been pushed back to June.[67] Other seasons will now follow on either a monthly or bi-monthly basis.[68]

text: All the UK DVD releases are intact as originally aired with no cuts, with the original music, with the exception of one Season 3 episode "Company Picnic" which was originally aired as a one-hour special, before being re-edited and split into two parts for syndication. The DVD presents the syndicated version.

text: All seven seasons as well as the complete series set were released in Australia in September 2013. The complete series set altered the separate seven season sets to fit into four volumes. A collector's edition boxset which has the seasons split up instead of volumes was released subsequently in 2014. It features everything from the four-volume set and includes a bonus T-shirt. This set is exclusive to Australia.[65]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Season one holds a Metacritic score of 88 out of 100, based on 25 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[69]

text: Ratings[edit]

text: The show started off with ratings of 23 million for the debut episode[70] and 26 million for the second episode.[71]

text: Fox shuffled the show's air time repeatedly to make room for other shows. On January 13, 2006, Fox announced that the show would be moving to 7:00 pm on Sundays effective January 29, 2006.[72] The 151st and final episode aired at 8:30 pm ET/PT (the show's original timeslot) on May 14, 2006.[73] The finale was watched by 7.4 million.[74]

text:
Season
Season premiere
Season finale
TV season
Timeslot
Ranking
Viewers
(in millions)

1st
January 9, 2000
May 21, 2000
1999–2000
Sundays at 8:30
#18[75]
15.2[75]

2nd
November 5, 2000
May 20, 2001
2000–01
#22[76]
14.5[76]

3rd
November 11, 2001
May 12, 2002
2001–02
Sundays at 9:00
#25[77]
13.0[77]

4th
November 3, 2002
May 18, 2003
2002–03
#43[78]
10.7[78]

5th
November 2, 2003
May 23, 2004
2003–04
#71[79]
8.4[79]

6th
November 7, 2004
May 15, 2005
2004–05
Sundays at 7:30
#99[80]
5.6[80]

7th
September 30, 2005
May 14, 2006
2005–06
Fridays at 8:30 (Episodes 1-11)
Sundays at 7:00 (Episodes 12-22)
#127[81]
3.8[81]

text: In Australia, in 2001 Malcolm in the Middle premiered on Channel Nine, Monday nights at 8:00 pm. It rated strongly, with the help from its lead-in Friends, which at the time rated 2,279,000, 2,031,000 and 2,410,000 as the night's most watched show, and year's 2nd most watched TV program. Malcolm in the Middle's ratings included 1,952,000, 1,925,000, 1,712,000, 1,644,000, and sometimes rating over the 2 million mark: 2,002,000, 2,008,000.

text: In France, the show first aired daily at 8 pm in December 2001, on M6, but did not find its public and was quickly off schedule. Then, when the show made its comeback in the summer of 2003 at noon, it had a big success. The last seasons had over 1.5 million viewers and a share sometimes over 30%. Due to the show's popularity, the network is currently still broadcasting reruns.

text: In the UK, in April 2001, six months after it premiered on Sky 1, the show premiered on terrestrial television on BBC2 at 6:45 pm on Fridays, where the first episode gained 3.3 million. With the success of the first season, season 2 was moved to prime-time the following year at 8:35 pm. It was later shown weekdays on 5*, beginning on January 3, 2011. In November 2015, Comedy Central UK picked up the series.

text: In Mexico, the national channel Canal 5 began airing the show in 2001. It screens five-episode blocks of the series on weekdays from 7:00 pm to 9:20 pm. It is considered one of the favorite shows until today, still airing non-stop for 16 years.

text: In Canada, the series aired on Global TV. YTV in Canada started airing the series from fall 2006 to 2009. It also aired on Much, & MTV2 and is currently airing on Family.

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: Jane Kaczmarek and Cloris Leachman gained the highest honors in the cast for being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award every year they appeared on Malcolm in the Middle.[82][83] Leachman succeeded in winning 2002 and 2006.[83] The show won a total of 7 Emmys during its six-year run[84] and a Peabody Award.[85]

text: Adaptation[edit]

text: Russian channel STS made a shot-for-shot adaptation called Супер Макс (English: Super Max) that comprises 1 season so far.[86]

text: Notes[edit]

text: ^ Current international prints of the show have the Fox Television Studios logo replaced by the 20th Century Fox Television logo.

tag: ol