I don't necessarily agree. I thought some of the best moments in the show the first couple of seasons was when he was at military school.

The thing is, they been doing this since episode one. If the formula ain't broke, don't fix it.

First episode of this ive seen in a long time...I thought it was pretty funny.

A little off the mark, imo. Malcolm is hitting that taller, deep-voiced period, which might hinder the brainy-kid cuteness that made the show so appealing.

Reese and the goat was funny, but that German ranch owner (oh god, was that Kenneth Mars?) was painful. I like the premise of a clueless Francis at a dude ranch, but I just can't stand the owners.

Well yeah - back when he was getting into similar mischief that got him sent to military school in the first place. I agree that Francis' storylines just SUCK lately. His stories (except when he was home) have been little more than boring filler since he emancipated himself and went to Alaska. And I LOATHE that wife of his - if they're trying to make her similar to his mother, it ain't working.

I actually thought it was a really funny episode. The goat was awesome, Malcolm questioning life was good, the guy in the bathroom, et al. Had me laughing the full 30 minutes.

I have a feeling the dude ranch owner is going to end up being a tyrant. So far he's had to deal with the military school commander and Lavernia. I don't expect anything to really change. The guy already hinted at it by telling him how awful it was in Germany where you had to do everything perfectly.

What the hell is up with this stupid voice-over on Malcom tonight? This had the potential of being a great episode, but they ruined it with the stage direction voice overs. Sheesh!

Ok, it is still pretty funny. That would be awesome to steam roll a huge strip of bubble wrap! "It's in the trunk."

-CM-

Ok, I feel like an idiot. I had my TV on SAP. The voice over went away when I turned it off.

-CM-

i was wondering what you were talking about

I was messing around with the TV settings earlier because I hooked up my computer speakers to the Audio out plugs, and it was coming out very quit, so I changed some of the settings in hopes of getting decent sound out of the tv itself. It didn't help and I had to settle for just getting good sound out of my DVD player instead. Apparently I forgot to put the settings back the way that they were.

-CM-

I enjoyed it. the whole steam roller bit was great.

"stage direction"

That was a funny episode. I liked that Malcolm started acting stupid for awhile. The Minty Mint's song is great.

Ok, whatever it is called. I know it isn't stage direction... but it was everything that would be in the script except for dialogue. things like "Malcom faces us," and "Dewey steps into the path of the steam roller," stuff like that.

-CM-

The steamroller was a retread of the chipper that they used to get rid of the "sacred" tree that Hal cut down a few seasons ago. I wasn't too impressed with the episode overall.

I wasn't laughing at your phrasing, I was laughing that you left it on for the entire episode.

Normally SAP is for dubbing Spanish or another language, sounds like this case was descriptions of the action for the blind.

Ah, that makes sense! and BwG I didn't know that it was on. I thought that it was some kind of gimmick. Then when it came on again with the following rerun, I knew it was something else, and remembered that I had been playing with the settings earlier.

-CM-

I also thought it was similar to the chipper, but thought it was brilliant, since Hal got a taste of destruction with the chipper and since has longed for something more... I thought this episode was ****ing hysterical... absolutely brilliant... the steam roller ruled...

MATT

and when Dewey found the wrecking ball pamphlet in Hals pocket...priceless

The Hal speed walking plot was about the funniest thing I've seen on TV all season.

Boring, utterly boring. You know, this is the first time in years I have actually watched a full night of network tv, and I came away VERY dissapointed.

The Malcom Ulcer was pretty funny, reminded me of the Simpsons where Homer can't talk and starts becoming very thoughtful and considerate. Hal Speed Walking was great. And the boots thing was boring until that gruesome and hilarious payoff at the end. The date thing was decent. Good show especially with speed walking.

I enjoyed seeing Reagan Dale Neis from Maybe it's Me as Malcolm's girlfriend.

I thought it was funny; mainly because I went to the Junior Olympics 4 times because I was a good racewalker. I liked the stuff about floating and no bent knees. Racewalking is definately odd and not to be confused with mallwalking.