A gifted young teen tries to survive life with his dimwitted, dysfunctional family.
Malcolm finds his life as the middle brother in an eccentric family made even more difficult by his being placed in a class for "gifted" students at school.
Lois must take drastic steps to discover which of her sons ruined the special dress she bought for an anniversary dinner with Hal.
Lois and Hal leave the boys alone for the weekend with Francis, promising that if all goes well, Francis may not have to go back to military school.
Malcolm feels guilty after beating up a seven year old; Hal takes heat after cutting down a tree; Francis tries to sabotage Spangler's sex education lecture.
While his family is reduced to living in a trailer in their driveway while their house is fumigated, Malcolm luxuriates while babysitting for what seems like the ideal family.
During a sleepover, Malcolm sneaks Stevie out of the Kenarin house and loses his wheelchair; Francis deals with hazing at military school; and Reese tries to prove he's man enough to watch a scary movie
Malcolm's brother, Francis, runs away from military school and comes home to see his girlfriend.
The whole family attend a Krelboyne family picnic, and Malcom dreads his performance in the event's "Academic Circus" will make him look like a freak.
The family suffers in poverty after Lois gets fired from the grocery store; Francis loves his new assignment as part of an honor guard at a beauty pageant.
While Hal secretly takes the boys to the stock car races, Lois desperately searches for her missing paycheck.
Malcolm talks the family out of going to a relative's funeral, so he can go on his first date instead.
Malcolm helps Reese become a male cheerleader to attract a girl; Francis has a heart-to-heart conversation with headmaster Spangler; Dewey is enticed by a new toy.
Malcolm suffers under his father's roller skating tutelage, while Lois is sidelined with a nasty back injury.
While Lois is out of town visiting Francis after his appendectomy, Malcolm and his friends build a robot, but Hal reverts to his pre-marriage wild-man persona and takes over the project.
When Lois gets sick, Malcolm and his brothers convince her it's Sunday so they can stay home from school...while Hal heeds the Siren song of a Porsche dealership.
Malcolm and Reese spend the day fighting at a water park; Francis gets into a different kind of pool match with Spangler; and Dewey stays home with an odd babysitter.
Stranded in a traffic jam, Malcolm meets his match in an intriguing young girl; Reese attempts to break into an ice cream truck; and Lois tries to control the uncontrollable chaos.
Malcolm and his brothers build the ultimate stealth weapon, while Hal and Lois battle a speeding car that terrorizes their neighborhood.
When the boys demolish Lois' meager hopes for a happy birthday, she runs away from home.
Malcolm's family goes out to dinner with the straight-laced Kenarbans, while Francis makes the mistake of inviting local girls to a party at Marlin Academy.
When the family takes a vacation to a casino, Hal gets banned from gambling and takes Malcolm and Reese on an ill-fated trek into the desert; Lois and Dewey win a free day of spa pampering.
Malcolm and Reese compete with Dewey for a cute babysitter's attention, while Hal and Lois attend a convention where Hal can't resist fighting with an old rival.
While Hal and the boys are besieged by bats after Hal brings home an antique armoire; Lois gets robbed at work.
Malcolm gets into therapy to get out of class; Francis cleans up on laundry duty; Dewey turns out to be a skittles prodigy; and Hal and Lois attempt to clean out an over-stuffed closet.
Malcolm's friendships suffer when he becomes the suddenly popular star of a high school play; Hal and Dewey build their very own Utopia from plastic blocks.
When Reese gives up his position as school bully, Malcolm suffers at the hands of his successors; Francis dreads his upcoming birthday at Marlin Academy.
Malcolm gets in trouble with an elderly neighbor; Francis' slacker friend enrolls at Marlin Academy; Dewey trades his backpack for a purse.
Malcolm experiences his first crush as a confusing mix of love and hate; Francis tries to avoid discipline for his latest prank; Dewey overreacts to Lois' lecture about the hazards of dirty teddy bears.
New neighbors, who turn out to be even more awful than Malcolm's family, move in next door; the Marlin Academy cadets prepare for a visit from Oliver North.
Hal quits his job to become an artist; Francis suffers though a week of inventory work at Lucky Aide; and Malcolm begins to wonder about his own career future.
Lois' disapproving parents visit; Francis goes to Mardi Gras but gets stopped by food poisoning.
Lois disputes a cop's claim she was driving recklessly, and orders Francis to pay off $750 in parking tickets he racked up under her name.
Malcolm is hospitalized for an appendectomy; Francis stages a hunger strike at Marlin Academy.
Reese discovers a talent for cooking; Malcolm tries to convince a Krelboyne classmate not to have a party; Francis is forced to write a term paper.
Malcolm tries to help Reese bring his grades up; Francis is exiled to a friend's house after defying Lois' order to patch the roof.
Malcolm and Reese's trip to a bowling alley is seen in two versions; one with Hal chaperoning and one with Lois doing the honors.
Francis forces Malcolm and Reese compete to "earn a coveted ticket to a wrestling match; Dewey loses Craig's cat while Craig is away at a comic book convention.
The younger boys try to convince Lois to let them have a mini-bike; Hal attends a father-son weekend at Marlin Academy.
Malcolm, Reese, Dewey, and Stevie sneak out to a county fair, then get locked inside after hours with a drunk, belligerent guard.
Hal is inadvertently responsible for a toxic chemical spill that forces a neighborhood evacuation; Malcolm deals with being grounded even in the emergency shelter; Francis suffers though a date with a geeky 12-year-old.
When Lois thinks she might be pregnant again, she and Hal argue...and remember how their lives changed with the births of each of their sons.
Malcolm and Stevie's families vacation together on a houseboat; Francis decides to quit school and move to Alaska.
Malcolm and the Krelboynes do battle with a tough new teacher; Francis tries to get Lois to talk to him after his self-emancipation.
Lois joins a book club; Hal worries about getting the boys to behave while Lois is out; Francis hitchhikes through Canada with a trucker who vows to test Francis' limits.
Malcolm gets his first official girlfriend; Dewey makes a non-imaginary friend; Francis takes refuge with a mad bomber in a remote Canadian cabin.
Malcolm and his brothers mine personal profit from some church charity work; Francis gets a taste of life in a logging camp.
Hal sweats out a biopsy on a lump found during a medical checkup; Dewey babysits the class hamster; Lavernia challenges Francis to a fight at the logging camp.
Lois tries to get the boys to behave until Christmas by holding their presents hostage; Francis spends Christmas with his mean-spirited grandmother.
Hal accuses Abe of cheating him at poker; Francis weathers a storm at the logging camp; Reese and Lois attend a dance class.
Reese is accused of stealing at his new job; Dewey tries to convince his parents he can keep a goldfish alive; Malcolm chafes when a super-genius joins his class.
Lois gets dolled up after a scathing customer review; the boys take on Hal at basketball; Francis becomes a rat catcher.
As the picnic continues, Hal can't bring himself to admit his real identity to his boss, Malcolm further humiliates himself, and Reese bonds with his scavenger hunt partner.
As the picnic continues, Hal can't bring himself to admit his real identity to his boss, Malcolm further humiliates himself, and Reese bonds with his scavenger hunt partner.
Reese gets into trouble during his very first driving lesson; Malcolm helps Craig install a new stereo system; Francis barters a chain of favors to pay off a debt.
Malcolm reveals Cynthia's big secret to Reese; Dewey helps Hal overcome his fear of kites; a neighbor makes amends to Lois; Francis becomes enchanted with a totem pole.
After Francis shows up with his new wife, Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey get so fed up with Lois' constant yelling, they run away from home.
Hal begins coaching Dewey's soccer team...much to Dewey's horror; Malcolm gets unexpected results when he programs his new computer to act out the lives of his family; Reese blackmails neighbor Ed.
Dewey hides a dog from his parents; Hal and Lois try to keep a romantic date, even though both of them are sick; Commandant Spangler finds Francis at the logging camp.
While Hal gets into a variety of one-up contests with his poker buddies, Reese sets Stevie up with the daughter of one player, while Malcolm discovers the daughter of another player has a gun in her purse.
After the family car gets damaged and the boys won't own up to causing the incident, Hal takes them to see a psychiatrist.
While Lois is on jury duty, she pushes the other jurors to take their jobs seriously; Hal tries to solve a murder case he thinks Lois is assigned to; Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey get lost in a sewer.
Malcolm and the Krelboynes are forced to join the regular student body; Hal itches to knock down Dewey's elaborate domino setup; Francis itches to know what Piama did to get Lavernia to be nice to him.
Craig's new helper monkey turns vicious; Reese lets the power of authority go to his head; Francis' and his wife face eviction..
During a trip to the zoo, Hal gets jealous of Lois' former boyfriend; Dewey and Malcolm fall into a tiger pen, and Reese butts heads with a goat...while Francis gets stranded on a cross-country car trip and takes a new job at a dude ranch.
Malcolm suffers extreme humiliation during his first week as a high school freshman; Dewey loves his first week as a latchkey kid; Francis discovers the trials of working for a too-permissive boss.
When Lois is repeatedly insulted at Hal's family reunion, the boys take revenge and Hal is prompted to finally stand up to his avoidant father.
Malcolm tries to "dumb down" to attract a cute, non-intellectual girl; Hal rents a steamroller and becomes addicted to crushing things.
As Malcolm and Reese fight an escalating battle of revenge, they flash back to the chain of events that led to the war; Dewey prepares for a school play; Francis and Otto fear a Devil Cow.
Malcolm sneaks around to date a girl whose father hates him; Hal and Lois become more productive when they can't have sex for a week; Dewey discovers he's an "evil twin"; Francis mediates a dispute.
Malcolm tries not speaking his mind; Hal takes up race-walking; Reese goes on a date with his girlfriend...and Craig.
On a visit to Francis' dude ranch Hal can't help being disappointed in Francis' success; Reese and Malcolm fear Francis has turned into an overly responsible grownup, and Gretchen punishes Dewey for breaking a valuable doll.
When Lois' mother visits, she trips on a leaf and decides to sue Hal and Lois..just as Lois finds out she's pregnant again.
Wondering about the sex of her new baby, Lois imagines what life would be like if her boys were girls.
Lois uses a long drive with Malcolm to further his sex education; Reese spends a day in prison; Dewey plants seeds of discontent in Hal's vocal group.
When Hal kicks Malcolm out of the house for misbehaving, Reese tries to take advantage of Hal's distraction to come up with a truly bad stunt of his own.
Hal takes a second job at a stereo store, but has a hard time fitting in with the younger employees; the boys chafe under the sly rule of a new babysitter.
Hal spends a wild night with an old high school buddy; Malcolm tries to liberate Dabney from his mother's control; Francis spends the night with Otto when their wives are out of town.
Lois puts Reese in charge of the family's garage sale; Hal restarts his old pirate radio station.
Malcolm competes in an academic octathlon but hates the intensity of the other competitors; Hal fights to regain Dewey's love; Reese tries to get out of going to a formal dance.
As Lois and Hal write their wills in preparation for the baby's birth, they recall various colorful incidents with their four current children.
When Hal and Lois go on a less-than-romantic getaway, Reese throws a party at home, which is crashed by delinquent friends of Fracis, who take over teh garage and hold the boys hostage.
Malcolm meets a chess-playing bum who could be him in 30 years; Lois can't figure out why she's gaining weight; Dewey attributes his bizarre behavior to obeying requests from the fetus Lois is carrying.
Hal takes the boys to a bridal shower; Lois' mother wants to move in with the family; Malcolm gets an offer to enroll in a prestigious private school.
While Lois goes into hard labor at home, Hal winds up unconscious and hallucinating in an emergency room, and the boys wander into a hospital parenting class.
The family joins a church to get free day care for baby Jamie; Francis tries to help the dude ranch cash-in on a local UFO craze.
The family travels to Las Vegas when Hal experiences a dream about hitting the jackpot; Dewey and Reese enter an enormously obese rabbit in a contest. Lois gets to meet her favorite singer.
When an exhausted Lois falls asleep, Hal goes out for diapers, only to be branded a shoplifter; three beautiful girls use Malcolm, Reese, and Stevie to embarrass their prom dates.
Stevie goes into shock when he's told Kitty divorced Abe; Reese gets caught up in the hot-and-heavy entries in a diary, unaware it belongs to Lois.
As Thanksgiving approaches, Malcolm has a shot at getting lucky with a sexy friend from school; Reese prepares a fabulous Thanksgiving meal; and Francis and Piama want a divorce.
Malcolm's teacher forces him to secretly record Reese as he divulges his innermost secrets; Francis strikes back after a critic writes a scathing review about the hotel.
Lois gets Malcolm a job at the store, exposing Lois' well-kept secret; Hal and some other fathers start betting on babies.
As Christmas approaches...a layoff at work prompts Hal to make money selling Christmas trees.
Malcolm realizes the entire neighborhood has been throwing a block party when the family leaves town for an annual vacation; Hal and Lois participate in a kielbasa-eating contest.
When Malcolm becomes editor of the high school literary magazine, the principal instructs him to censor a well-written story; Lois encourages Hal to flirt with a new supervisor so he can keep his job.
Lois and Hal clash after Hal purchases a hot tub; Malcolm gets his driver's permit, only to get mixed up in a dispute between Polly and her ex-boyfriend; and Reese steals Dewey's friend.
Ida announces she's getting married to man who lives in Hong Kong; Malcolm gets his tongue pierced; Dewey pretends Reese doesn't exist.
Malcolm volunteers for the company's softball team, only to realize that Lois is the coach; Francis sets out to prove he's not lazy.
Lois' sister Susan comes for a visit and begins lavishing the kids with expensive gifts, including a classic Mustang convertible; and Francis and a scout troop get lost in a remote area of the ranch.
Lois has a dispute with Hal and the boys' favorite restaurant; Malcolm clicks with his girlfriend's family...to the point where he forgets about his girlfriend.
When Hal and Lois kick Reese out of the house, he ends up renting an apartment; and Malcolm helps a dumb jock write a personal essay so he can get into college.
Lois accompanies Malcolm to his first college visit, where she clashes with a resident advisor; Reese pretends he's a drug user to woo a pretty narcotics officer.
Polly begins dating Abe and Craig; Malcolm refuses to believe in the power of Dewey's lucky shirt; the ranch hands make fun of Francis; and Lois takes the kids to a baseball convention.
Malcolm tries to keep Dewey from scoring high on an IQ test so he doesn't end up with the Krelboyne's, but scheme backfires and Dewey is diagnosed as mentally disturbed.
Reese inadvertently perfects Malcolm and Stevie's science experiment, but can't remember how he did it.
Lois drives to Canada to meet with her sister, Roberta, and her family; Ida vows to spend all her money to get Victor's pension; and a temporarily blinded Hal participates in a 5K race with Dewey.
Reese joins the army after Malcolm causes his girlfriend to break up with him; and Hal is placed under house arrest when he refuses to cooperate with agents investigating his company.
During a simulated battle, Reese's team of soldiers ends up getting captured because Reese has trained himself not to think; and in court, the evidence against Hal continues to mount.
While guilt-ridden Malcolm and Dewey try to do penance for driving Reese into the Army, Lois goes on a mission to find Reese and bring him home...and Reese himself goes AWOL.
Reclassified as "normal" at school, Dewey basks in Lois' approval but is sorely missed by his former special-needs classmates; and Hal becomes a genius hero to a group of dimwitted bodybuilders.
Malcolm and Lois clash over an offensive advertising standee at the drug store; and Hal battles a garbage man who refuses to pick up a large item from the family's trash.
Neighbor Jessica convinces Malcolm that Reese is gay and Reese that Malcolm is gay; Dewey write an essay on Hal as his hero.
When Stevie's wayward mother Kitty returns, everyone except Lois forgives her; after an intense sunburn, Reese attempts to peel a whole, intact coat of skin from his body.
With Money too tight for Christmas gifts, Lois declares a "handmade" Christmas; Hal panics when his gifts don't measure up to those made by his sons.
When Hal gets stressed out over buying Lois an anniversary gift, he starts sleepwalking, which Reese discovers is a highly suggestible state; Malcolm tries to learn to play the guitar.
Trying to win a battle of wills with young Jamie, Lois brings Francis home to help her remember how she conquered him when he was a baby.
Malcolm uses his illegal gambling profits to buy a junk car, which quickly takes over is life; Hal discovers a talent for hair styling; and Lois discovers Craig is having an affair with the boss' wife.
After Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey get caught defacing a billboard advertising a strip club, they try to escape Lois' wrath by staging an improptu protest for women's rights.
When his parents fight over a new bed, Dewey writes an opera based on their arguments; Malcolm gets into "street luging."
Indecisive Hal is chosen to make a life-or-death decision for a neighbor he hardly knows; and Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey coach Craig on fighting his arch-enemy.
When Hal and Lois carve out some time for deep personal discussions, Hal is upset to learn Lois doesn't believe in an afterlife; Malcolm is roped into emceeing a silly charity auction at school.
After Ida loses a leg saving Dewey from being hit by a truck, Francis is forced to stay with her, Dewey holds a funeral for the severed limb.
Dewey defies his father and invites an oddball school chum for a sleepover; Malcolm and Reese discover just how unpopular they are with their peers.
On Francis' 21st birthday, Hal fulfills an old promise to take Francis on a motorcycle trip; and Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey hide from a bully who wants to give one of them a beating.
While working the night shift at the Lucky Aide, Malcolm finds a man living in the store; and Reese befriends a crop of caterpillars he acquired during his spring break job.
Ida forces Lois to bake a special tart for an old world saint's holiday; Malcolm meets his match with music appreciation; and Hal tries to bod with Reese by watching gory horror movies.
Hal takes over for a motivational speaker at a seminar and discovers a talent for the job; Reese joins a dog pack; and Lois catches Dewey "seeing another mom."
Malcolm gets promoted to a position promoting the Lucky Aide from atop a pair of stilts; Hal tries to make up for accidentally blowing the household budget on a phone-sex line.
While Dewey helps Francis research games for job interview; the Buseys take their teacher hostage; Malcolm talks Hal into becoming head of the local homeowners' association.
When the boys enter Lois in a beauty pageant as a joke, she takes it seriously and competes to win; Malcolm becomes a slave to Mr. Herkabe; and Reese discovers he's beautiful.
When the family goes to the Burning Man Festival Malcolm falls in love with a healer; Reese falls in love with the festival; and festival goers mistake Hal's suburban attitudes as a performance.
When Hal's health insurance lapses for a weekend, he tries hard to keep everyone safe without letting them know why; and Lois thinks Craig is the anti-union snitch at the Lucky Aide.
Reese's simmering dislike for Stevie finally comes to head; Hal tries to get Dewey to quit smoking by kicking his own addiction to coffee; and Lois tries to get Jamie to talk.
On Halloween Hal freaks out when he learns the family's house was once the site of a murder-suicide; Reese and Dewey run from an old man in a walker after egging him.
When Jessica stays with the family for few days, she shows Malcolm how to use emotional intimacy to manipulate Lois; Reese tries to mail himself to China; and Hal battles an angry bee.
Malcolm dates a popular girl who refuses to be seen in public with him; Lois tries to force Reese to get a job; and Hal gets upset when Dewey doesn't get upset after being denied a free game.
During a blackout, events are seen from three different perspectives; Reese cooks steaks for Hal; Malcolm tries to sneak three Dutch girls into the house; and Francis tries to steal a stuffed marlin.
When Reese's female army buddy comes to visit, Reese struggles to understand his attraction to someone he considers his best friend; Hal becomes jealous of Lois' orthotic shoe inserts.
To preserve an academic title he once won, Herkabe tries to get Malcolm to sabotage his grade point average; a clingy neighbor attaches herself to Lois.
While Malcolm battles a yearbook photographer to get a good photo, Hal,Lois, and Dewey intercept a scholarship check addressed to Malcolm and try to rationalize spending the money.
While Lois and Hal accompany Dewey on a mishap-plagued trip to a piano competition, Ida brings a girl from her home country to stay with Malcolm and Reese.
When Malcolm dodges advances from college recruiters, Hal is happy to be wooed instead; Reese flourishes in his new marriage, but misses a big warning sign.
When Lois and Malcolm are sidelines with mono, they're forced to share a bedroom; Hal gets to know his neighbors.
After Hal's father dies, he refuses to grieve but indulges his sons, hoping they'll remember him more fondly than he does his father.
Hal and Lois accompany Francis to his 1-year AA "birthday" party; left home alone, Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey argue about where to go when Dewey finds the spare key to Hal's car.
After Reese is severely humiliated by four girls at school, Lois exacts revenge on them; and Hal builds a pitching machine while hiding out from Lois in the garage.
Hal feels betrayed when he friend Trey charges $2,000 to fix Hal's teeth; Malcolm and Dewey find a new mattress; and Reese teaches Lois how to ride a bike.
A dance competition teaches Malcolm that beauty is in the eye of the beholder; Lois is determined to outlast her competition for a new truck.
Malcolm's afraid to visit his best friend Stevie in the hospital; Reese becomes a master telemarketer; and someone secretly tries to drive Lois crazy.
Reese pretends to be a vegetarian; Hal decides to teach Dewey a lesson about the game of "Life;" and Malcolm talks Craig into standing up to Lois...and then regrets it.
Malcolm organizes the outcast kids at school for an anti-prom; Reese is transformed into the perfect prom date...for a price; and Dewey holds Hal's wallet hostage for the attention he was denied.
Malcolm and his folks realize his scholarships will still leave them five-thousand dollars short for his Harvard tuition. Hal promises he'll find the extra money somehow.
