suehockleyford

Back in the eighties when my family first purchased a (Betamax!) video recorder, I watched this all the time. There's just something about the combination of youngster actors who obviously hadn't come from the usual stage schools, the lines from minor characters that you almost miss the first few times (the school reporter - 'I want to interview you and that girl in 4A who had the triplets' - and so many more!) and just the general surrealism (the penguin wandering around the school must surely have influenced the writers of 'Teachers'?) There's a wealth of bizarre characters, both pupils and staff, and for someone who was 13 when it came out, it will never fail to take me back to those awkward teenage crushes and raise a smile. Well, several smiles actually.

I must admit, I was surprised to see so many negative comments about Malcolm in the Middle, because as far as I'm concerned, it's one of the best comedies to come out of the USA for a long while. There's something about it that reminds me of a more surreal version of The Wonder Years, although it's been so long since I saw that I could be wrong. The whole family and supporting characters are all great in their own right, and I would be hard pressed to name my favourite character. I love the blend of mundane day to day life and totally bizarre situations, although, as a mother of 3 boys, I'm sometimes slightly unnerved when I see myself in Lois. Just occasionally it's way too close to home for comfort! I'm not sure that I could pick a favourite episode, though the memory of Hal's roller skating dance routine will remain with me for a long time... But the best thing about this programme is the fact that I can sit down and watch this each week with my 7 - 12 year old sons and we can all say we've seen one of our favourite programmes of the week. How many programmes can you say that about?

I remember when I first saw this I immediately bought the soundtrack, and also the video as soon as it was released. I never understood why this wasn't a bigger hit, as it had the combination of perfect casting, damn good singalong tunes, great humour and just a great visual look, from the narrating Sixties style girl group to the star of the show, the mean green mother of a man-eating plant itself. You just couldn't imagine anyone else apart from the mighty Levi Stubbs voicing it, and, although Rick Moranis irritates me in many of his films, he hits the mark spot on here.

There are also some wonderful cameos, my favourite being Bill Murray as a patient who enjoys going to the dentist rather more than is appropriate...

This is a film that I can put on again and again, and it still never fails to entertain. What more could you ask of a musical?