Red Dress (Malcolm in the Middle)

Infobox Television episode
Title=Red Dress
Series=Malcolm in the Middle


Caption=
Season=1
Episode=2
Airdate= January 16, 2000
Production=06-99-103
Writer=Arlene Sanford
Director=Alan J. Higgins
Episode list=List of Malcolm in the Middle episodes
Season list =
Prev = Pilot
Next = Home Alone 4 "Red Dress " is the second episode of the sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle". It was aired on FOX on January 16, 2000.

Awards

Artios Award, Best Casting for TV, 2000, Comedy: Mary V. Buck, Susan Edelman [cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212671/awards|title=Awards for "Malcolm in the Middle"]

Cold Opening

The episode teaser begins with Lois sweeping the floor and passing the boys' bedroom. Malcolm and Reese are seen studying and Lois passes the room. However, Lois thinks something is suspicious and quickly returns to the boys room. She asks them what did they do and Reese and Malcolm says they didn't do anything. After failing to find anything amiss in the room, Lois leaves. When she closes the door, it turns out Reese and Malcolm tied Dewey up and hung him up at the back of the door. "That was close!" says Dewey.

The original cold opening of the episode featured Malcolm tricking the Krelboynes into getting sprayed with toilet water and making them like it by telling him it is an "experiment".

Plot

It is Lois and Hal's anniversary. Lois had a nice red dress prepared, only to now find it burned and stuffed in the toilet! She blames the boys and starts to interrogate them to find out who "almost burned down the house!" While interrogated, the boys have the chance to call Francis for guidance, as he has been through the most trouble of them all and best knows how to deal with an angry Lois. He helps them to navigate through severe torture methods, such as crushing toys, corner standing, single interrogation and loud children's songs.

Meanwhile Hal is waiting in the restaurant and gets bored while drinking Martinis. When visiting the toilet, he chums up with the restaurant staff. Now that Lois hasn't shown up for several hours, Hal even eats the lobster himself. At home, Lois finds out that Francis was helping the boys and starts a fight, but Francis tries to convince her to let something go for once. She decides to do that and takes the boys out for dinner.

The episode closes with a drunk Hal coming home, starting to smoke his pipe. He accidentally sets the couch on fire, and as we close, we learn the truth about the dress.

Music

*"Ooh, La La" by The Wiseguys — start of the interrogation
*"Nice Is Good, Mean Is Bad" by They Might Be Giants — interrogation part 2
*"Reprehensible" by They Might Be Giants — when Hal comes home

Characters

Recurring Roles

* Karim Prince as Stanley
* David Anthony Higgins as Craig Feldspar

Guest Stars

* Joel McCrary as Bathroom Attendantcite web| title = Malcolm in the Middle - Red Dress, Full Cast and Crew| publisher = IMDB.com | url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0640386/fullcredits#cast]
* Drew Powell as Cadet #1
* Adam Hendershott as Cadet #2
* Robert Cesario as Maitre d'
* Daniel R. Escobar as Franklin
* Paul Willson as Ed

External links

* [http://www.fox.com/malcolm/ Official FOX "Malcolm in the Middle" website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0640386/fullcredits#cast "Malcolm in the Middle," Red Dress at IMDB]

References