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The show has its trendy crutches: its main device, in which Muniz talks to the viewers (now there's something you don't see every night), is its biggest liability. But the show's bratty good nature more than makes up for it. Visually antic and full of belly laughs (a rarity this season), Malcolm is cartoonish in the best sense of the word, yet it doesn't deny any of its characters humanity, even (rarer still) the parents. It's now rote to knock TV and real-life families as morally bankrupt, and when shown to the press last year, the pilot was wrongly lumped with the fall's genuine network sleaze for its mild (and funny) scenes of parental nudity. But Malcolm is a testament to the virtues of an imperfect home; Malcolm's fratricidal sibs and daft folks keep him grounded as he adjusts to life as a reluctant prodigy.
That reluctance is where the parallel between Muniz and his character ends. Even as work cuts into his tee time--a golfer since age 5, Muniz has a 13 handicap--he relishes his 9 1/2-hr. shooting days. Still, he says, "I don't see myself as different from other kids." To ensure he stays that way, Denise has quit her job as a nurse to tend to her son, who's being home-schooled. "I want Frankie to stay a good kid," she says. "I love it when people say he's talented, but I love it more when people say he's a nice kid."
--Reported by Jeanne McDowell/Los Angeles