this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2025
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Malcolm in the Middle
Massive by today's standards, though I think it was fairly typical house in the 2000s at the time
Both parents in that show worked (though if I recall correctly Hal sometimes had trouble with employment) and the joke was the two of them were simply dysfunctional as hell. There is an episode where they stop having sex for a while and they fix everything up.
Side note but the scene where Hal goes to change a light bulb is one of my favourite ways to illustrate what ADHD can look like for people: not laziness so much as misdirected energy.
It's an interstate show that takes place in the middle of the transition to more modern situations.
Lois specifically works at a terrible job part-time. I remember her going on a rant mentioning that she works 39 hours a week, which is them saying the store works the staff as hard as possible while denying them full-time benefits. But they also manage to pay for boarding school for Francis for a few years of essentially 1.5 incomes.
But even after Francis has moved out on his own, Malcolm and and Reese have to eventually get jobs to help support the family.
That sounds right. Honestly it has been a long time since I watched it. It felt pretty real at the time though, being house poor ourselves.