MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE is the story of a middle-class family comprised of four squabbling brothers and their parents, who are just trying to "hold on until the last one turns eighteen."

Created and executive produced by Linwood Boomer ("3rd Rock from the Sun"), this inventive family comedy is seen through the eyes of Malcolm (Frankie Muniz), a normal kid who is perfectly content skateboarding, roughhousing with his brothers and avoiding the school bully. He has even managed to accept, okay, ignore, his parents' penchant for running around the house in the nude.

But Malcolm's world is suddenly turned upside down when it's discovered he has a genius IQ. He is forced into the "gifted" class, where he finds himself surrounded by a group of exceptionally bright social misfits.

Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) don't have the best-kept lawn, the cleanest house or the most refined children on the block.

But despite being overwhelmed by the daily chaos, at the end of the day Malcolm and his brothers know they are loved. Malcolm's oldest, and favorite, brother is Francis (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), who has been sent away to military camp as a disciplinary measure.

With Francis gone, Malcolm is left in the middle between the next oldest sibling, Reese (Justin Berfield), a kid whose fists "work exactly twice as fast as his brain," and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan), the youngest, who is "trapped somewhere between toddler and hamster."

With his endearing yet cynical wit, Malcolm navigates his way through the sometimes treacherous, always entertaining waters of childhood. But as he says, "The best thing about childhood is at some point it stops."