# Malcolm in the Middle season 6
Season 6 of *Malcolm in the Middle* is the sixth and penultimate season of the Fox single-camera sitcom, broadcast from November 7, 2004 to May 15, 2005 in 22 episodes.[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) The season continues the story of the Wilkerson family, with Malcolm ([Frankie Muniz](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankie-muniz)) entering his senior year of high school, Reese ([Justin Berfield](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-berfield)) returning from an Army enlistment he abandons in the premiere, and Francis (Christopher Masterson) appearing in only a fraction of the episodes after being a main character since the pilot.[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) • [2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original channel | Fox (United States)[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) |
| Original run | November 7, 2004 – May 15, 2005[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) |
| Episodes | 22, produced under the production line 06-04-6xx[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) |
| Season position | Sixth of seven seasons; the penultimate season[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) |
| Main cast | Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston, Justin Berfield, and Erik Per Sullivan appear in all 22 episodes; Christopher Masterson (Francis) appears in 6[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) |
| Critical score | Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 89% based on 1 review[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/malcolm_in_the_middle/s06) |
| Streaming | Hulu and Disney+ (subscription)[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/malcolm_in_the_middle/s06) |
## Broadcast and structure
The season premiered with "Reese Comes Home" on November 7, 2004 and closed with the season finale "Mrs. Tri-County" on May 15, 2005.[4](https://thetvdb.com/series/malcolm-in-the-middle/seasons/official/6) Episodes aired on Fox with breaks around the holidays; the run skipped from December 19, 2004 ("Hal's Christmas Gift") to January 16, 2005 ("Hal Sleepwalks").[4](https://thetvdb.com/series/malcolm-in-the-middle/seasons/official/6) Listed runtimes differ by source: TheTVDB's episode table gives 25 minutes per episode, while streaming listings give 22 to 23 minutes.[4](https://thetvdb.com/series/malcolm-in-the-middle/seasons/official/6) • [5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/malcolm-in-the-middle/season-6) • [2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
## Cast
The five core family members appeared in every episode of the season: Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Jane Kaczmarek as Lois, Bryan Cranston as Hal, Justin Berfield as Reese, and Erik Per Sullivan as Dewey.[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) Christopher Masterson's Francis, a main character since the pilot, appeared in only 6 of the 22 episodes, the season in which his separate storyline was reduced most sharply.[1](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6) [Cloris Leachman](https://www.edgepedia.org/cloris-leachman) guest-starred as Dewey's grandmother Ida in the episodes "Ida Loses a Leg" and "Ida's Dance".[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
## Episodes
| No. | Title | First aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reese Comes Home | November 7, 2004 |
| 2 | Buseys Run Away | November 14, 2004 |
| 3 | Standee | November 21, 2004 |
| 4 | Pearl Harbor | December 5, 2004 |
| 5 | Kitty's Back | December 12, 2004 |
| 6 | Hal's Christmas Gift | December 19, 2004 |
| 7 | Hal Sleepwalks | January 16, 2005 |
| 8 | Lois Battles Jamie | January 23, 2005 |
| 9 | Malcolm's Car | January 30, 2005 |
| 10 | Billboard | February 13, 2005 |
| 11 | Dewey's Opera | February 20, 2005 |
| 12 | Living Will | March 6, 2005 |
| 13 | Tiki Lounge | March 13, 2005 |
| 14 | Ida Loses a Leg | March 20, 2005 |
| 15 | Chad's Sleepover | March 27, 2005 |
| 16 | No Motorcycles | April 3, 2005 |
| 17 | Butterflies | April 10, 2005 |
| 18 | Ida's Dance | April 17, 2005 |
| 19 | Motivational Seminar | April 24, 2005 |
| 20 | Stilts | May 1, 2005 |
| 21 | Buseys Take a Hostage | May 8, 2005 |
| 22 | Mrs. Tri-County (season finale) | May 15, 2005 |
[4](https://thetvdb.com/series/malcolm-in-the-middle/seasons/official/6)
## Storylines
**Reese's Army arc.** The premiere resolves the previous season's cliffhanger: Reese, finding the Army more than he can handle, deserts and poses as an Afghan woman, while Lois travels to Kabul to hunt him down and Malcolm volunteers at a veterans hospital out of guilt for having pushed him to leave.[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
**Dewey and the Buseys.** Dewey's special-needs classmates, the Buseys, run away and hide when they learn Dewey will be leaving their class, forcing him to assist them; the plot returns in "Buseys Take a Hostage", in which the fed-up classmates take their teacher, principal, and janitor hostage.[6](https://malcolm.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_List) • [2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
**Lois and Malcolm's billboard war.** In "Standee", Lois gets her job back at the Lucky Aide grocery store off probation and fights Malcolm to take down a billboard of a smiling janitor whose nametag reads "Slappy", holding a mop and a six-pack of malt liquor; the conflict escalates into an all-out war between mother and son.[6](https://malcolm.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_List) The sequel episode "Billboard" has the boys vandalize a strip-club billboard and rework the vandalism into a women's rights protest, drawing feminists, conservative religious groups, and national news crews.[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
**Hal and Lois stories.** Hal's plots this season include a trash-dumping war with the garbageman ("Standee"), a homemade-Christmas lie that ends with him buying a ski vacation using Malcolm's secret credit card ("Hal's Christmas Gift"), sleepwalking and being programmable by Reese ("Hal Sleepwalks"), deciding a neighbor's living will ("Living Will"), converting the garage into a tiki lounge ("Tiki Lounge"), and accidentally running up an $800 phone charge ("Stilts").[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/) Dewey's centerpiece episode is "Dewey's Opera", in which he writes an opera, "The Marriage Bed", based on his parents' fight over a new king-sized bed.[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
## Reception
Rotten Tomatoes records a Tomatometer score of 89% for the season, from a single collected review, with audience ratings from more than 50 users.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/malcolm_in_the_middle/s06) Moviefone's audience score for the season is 75, slightly below season 2 (76) and season 1 (77) and above seasons 3, 4, and 5 (72 to 74).[2](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
## Availability
The season streams on Hulu and Disney+ by subscription in the United States; [JustWatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/justwatch) listed it at number 8474 on its daily streaming chart in September 2026.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/malcolm_in_the_middle/s06) • [5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/malcolm-in-the-middle/season-6) All 151 episodes of the series, including this season, are available on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+.[7](https://press.hulu.com/pressrelease/its-a-family-reunion-malcolm-in-the-middle-lifes-still-unfair-premieres-april-10-on-hulu-and-hulu-on-disney/)
## References
1. [Season 6, Malcolm in the Middle Wiki (Fandom)](https://malcolminthemiddle.fandom.com/wiki/Season_6)
2. [Malcolm in the Middle Season 6, Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/tv-shows/malcolm-in-the-middle/AorOuiZrw6vH5otjets0U4/seasons/6/)
3. [Malcolm in the Middle: Season 6, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/malcolm_in_the_middle/s06)
4. [Malcolm in the Middle, Season 6, TheTVDB.com](https://thetvdb.com/series/malcolm-in-the-middle/seasons/official/6)
5. [Malcolm in the Middle Season 6, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/malcolm-in-the-middle/season-6)
6. [Episode List, Malcolm in the Middle Wiki (Fandom)](https://malcolm.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_List)
7. [It's a Family Reunion, Hulu Press](https://press.hulu.com/pressrelease/its-a-family-reunion-malcolm-in-the-middle-lifes-still-unfair-premieres-april-10-on-hulu-and-hulu-on-disney/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › American sitcom seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license