10 Amazing TV Shows (With Terrible Lead Characters)

7. Malcolm In The Middle

How I Met Your Mother Ted
Fox

Being the straight man in a comedy is a thankless job, but someone's gotta do it. But when you have a straight man as your protagonist, you need to make sure they feel like they still inhabit the same universe as the zanier members of your cast. The titular Malcolm from Malcolm in the Middle does not accomplish this.

Ask any fan of this show what their favourite scene from this classic sitcom was, and if any of them mention a scene where Malcolm was the one who delivered the funniest bit, that person is lying to you.

Some people will point to Michael Bluth from Arrested Development as the biggest example of a straight man protagonist dragging down the insanity of the rest of the show. But to be fair, Michael had his own quirks and eccentricities - it's just the rest of the cast was SO insane and out there that even a centimetre less than that felt like coming down from a high.

For the more grounded insanity of Malcolm in the Middle's cast, Malcolm's boring nature comes through all the more and with less of an excuse.

Contributor
Contributor

John Tibbetts is a novelist in theory, a Whatculture contributor in practice, and a nerd all around who loves talking about movies, TV, anime, and video games more than he loves breathing. Which might be a problem in the long term, but eh, who can think that far ahead?