#another post to toss in the queue for when i'm at work and can't agonize over my wording for months again

[absolutely-not-my-main-blog]

You know what, now that I think about it, I do think Malcolm in the Middle may actually be the show with the closest vibes to Sunny there is out there, (not quite, but like in comparison, imo, nothing else comes even remotely as close in each area that counts), but if I ever start doing deep dive analyses into Malcolm in the Middle, too, I am gonna need you to hunt me down and put a stop to that real quick because it’s too late for me.

I mean, okay, the last time I watched MITM was at the very least like 8-9 years ago, so bear with me but something something about horrible/imperfect people in ridiculous situations, who you can still sympathize with and who still have real affection for each other underneath all the chaos. For example, I remember one thing that always stood out to my sister and I when we were younger was just how much Hal and Lois really loved each other no matter how bad things got, especially in comparison to like every other sitcom couple. Or how Malcolm, Reese and Dewey (and Francis) would bicker and turn on each other at the drop of a hat but also team up or stick up for each other when it counted, even if it blew up miserably. In the same way, the gang may cause all this absolute mayhem and tear each other down and laugh at each other in dire straits, but at the end of the day, they'll also go out of their way to cheer up Charlie by making him a denim chicken or make a whole movie because they like doing silly things as a group or come together to do some grand gesture to go against the common enemy or help their friend in need, even if they sometimes go about it in awful ways, or etc. etc. But anyway, Always Sunny *handshake emoji* Malcolm in the Middle-> a family that’s allowed to be messy and flawed and terrible and real to the extent where there's not necessarily any Aesop or lesson and things don’t always or even often or at at all work out for them--a group of people who don't always or even often do the right thing, but you still have fun watching and rooting both for and against them at the same time, subverting so many expectations of the genre in all directions.