Bowling (Malcolm in the Middle)
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"Bowling" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Malcolm in the Middle ''Malcolm in the Middle'' is an American family television sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for Fox. The series premiered on January 9, 2000, and ended on May 14, 2006, after seven seasons and 151 episodes. The series follows a dysfunctional ...
'' and the show's 36th episode overall. The episode originally aired on
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
in the United States on April 1, 2001. The episode was written by Alex Reid and was directed by Todd Holland. The plot serves as a parody of the 1998 film ''
Sliding Doors A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually horizontal to a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a space in the parallel w ...
''. "Bowling" has received positive reviews from critics since airing. Reid and Holland later received
Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for their work on the episode.


Plot

Malcolm and Reese are preparing for a
ten-pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...
party with some friends from school, but need to be driven there by Lois or Hal. Dewey is being punished for killing a neighbor's parakeet, and one parent must stay home with him. When Lois and Hal are asked who will drive the boys, the screen splits, with Hal offering to take them on one side, and Lois offering on the other. From this point forward, the episode alternates between the realities in which each parent drives. When Lois takes Malcolm and Reese, she immediately warns them to behave themselves as the bowling alley is one of the few places left the family haven't been banned yet. They immediately arrive at the bowling alley, but as she is buying shoes she notices she only has enough money for one pair of shoes and forces both to share. Right away, both Malcolm and Reese notice a pretty girl named Beth ( Alex McKenna) at the party. Lois soon learns that there are no adults chaperoning, then decides to stay and chaperone it herself. Reese impresses Beth, but is repeatedly interrupted by Lois before he can tell her a joke. Malcolm is terrible at bowling, and Lois' overbearing cheering only makes the ridiculing worse. She gives him a lighter ball with the name Connie on it, making everybody call Malcolm Connie. When he finally stands up to her, he only embarrasses himself. Beth has had enough of Reese and her classmates and kisses Malcolm, but Lois breaks it up and takes everyone home. Meanwhile, Dewey tricks Hal into reading him a bedtime story, which he turns on a musical
carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
and puts Hal to sleep. Now free to do whatever he wants, Dewey orders pizza, toasts marshmallows and watches R-rated movies on television. When Hal drives Malcolm and Reese, he gets lost, but they are still excited. When they finally arrive, Hal sends the boys off for a good time while he takes a lane to himself. Reese's joke disgusts Beth, but Malcolm does well at bowling and Beth is impressed with him. Reese gets insanely jealous and tries to throw a bowling ball at Malcolm. He misses and hits a large man, who furiously chases after him. Reese must spend the rest of his evening hiding from the large man. Hal makes a strike and attempts a
perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...
by repeating his actions leading up to the strike, attracting a large audience. Malcolm leads Beth to an area behind the
pinsetter In bowling, a pinsetter or pinspotter is an automated mechanical device that sets bowling pins back in their original positions, returns bowling balls to the front of the alley, and clears fallen pins on the pin deck. Prior to the machine's ...
machines to make out, but his shirt catches in a pinsetter and he tumbles into Hal's lane, ruining the perfect game. He takes Malcolm to the car and orders Reese to get out of the photo booth. He attempts to sneak away, but the large man finds him and takes him back inside the booth. He is able to have pictures of himself beating Reese up as souvenirs. Meanwhile, Dewey cannot fool Lois, but when he appears to have given up she suspects he is up to something. Eventually, Lois allows Dewey to watch television, but only something he will not enjoy:
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
. Neither is sure who won. In the end, the two realities are shown side-by-side once again, with Hal and Lois simultaneously coming home and saying to their spouse: "Next time, ''you'' take them."


Cultural references

The episode's plot serves as a parody of ''
Sliding Doors A sliding door is a type of door which opens horizontally by sliding, usually horizontal to a wall. Sliding doors can be mounted either on top of a track below or be suspended from a track above. Some types slide into a space in the parallel w ...
'', in which two different timelines with the same characters are explored. ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation ...
'' had previously done a similar episode, and
Dan Harmon Daniel James Harmon (born January 3, 1973) is an American writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator and producer of the NBC/Yahoo! Screen sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), creator and host of the comedy podcast ''Harmontown ...
used this episode for inspiration of the ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
'' episode "
Remedial Chaos Theory "Remedial Chaos Theory" is the fourth episode of the Community (season 3), third season of the American television series ''Community (TV series), Community''. The episode was written by Chris McKenna (writer), Chris McKenna and directed by Jeff ...
".


Reception

"Bowling" has received positive reviews from critics since its airing. The episode was named among ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
s "best TV episodes of the decade" for series that weren't included in their top thirty television series of the decade. ''The A.V. Club'' reviewer Emily VanDerWerff praised the episode for its "wild stylistic innovations" and compared, both the series and episode, to ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
''. She went on to praise
Jane Kaczmarek Jane Frances Kaczmarek (; born December 21, 1955) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Malcolm's mother Lois on the Fox television sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned her three Golden Globe nomination ...
and Bryan Cranston's performance in the episode. In 2009,
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...
ranked this episode #90 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes.


Accolades

The episode won two
Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
s for Outstanding Directing and Writing for a Comedy Series for Todd Holland and Alex Reid, respectively, in 2001. Leading on from this, Holland won the
Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series The Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series is one of the annual Directors Guild of America Awards given by the Directors Guild of America. It was first presented at the 24th Directors Guild of Am ...
in 2002. Frankie Muniz was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. The award is presented to the best performance by a lead actor in a television comedy series. Beginning with the 18th Primetime Emmy ...
for this episode.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowling (Malcolm In The Middle) 2001 American television episodes Malcolm in the Middle episodes Emmy Award-winning episodes Television episodes about multiple time paths