Question: What does "du kaya mischna" mean? Ida says it when falling asleep during the Christmas episode with Francis.
Answer: Right, complete nonsense. Du, obvious pain prefix for two, Kaya is drugs in Jamaica and a fruit, coconut thing in Asia, and Mishna, spelled multiple ways, are certain types of studies in Hebrew.
Question: Malcolm keeps giving Francis the phone number to call his girlfriend but why does he need it to call her? Why doesn't he use the number at school to call her?
Answer: Francis is only allowed to talk on the phone at school for three minutes a day. I think the code gives him free access to talk to his girlfriend.
Question: Who sings the theme tune? I know that it's called 'There Might be Giants' but that's all. Thanks.
Answer: Actually, the band is called They Might Be Giants; the song is called "Boss Of Me."
Question: This question could be for many American TV shows not just this one, but are American schools so strict about cheating on one single test? Because here in Europe if you are caught cheating you will most of the time get an "F" for that test, plus "official warning", and you need like 3 or 4 warnings like that to be Kicked Out of school. But, I saw on many American TV shows situations when a character cheated once and he was like "they are gonna kick me from school" (one example, Family Matters when Steve helped Edward during the test and he was almost expelled).
Chosen answer: I work in a student conduct office. Students are not expelled after one academic misconduct incident (there are rare exceptions in higher academia). A first time offense usually results in a "0" grade on the test or assignment in addition to a sanction of a warning or probation. Repeated offenses can lead to being suspended for a period of time and even permanently dismissed. Students often cheat or commit plagiarism because they are struggling in school. The goal is to help students get the help and resources they need. Students who are caught committing a misconduct often tend to panic and believe the worst will happen to them. TV shows tend to exaggerate the circumstances for dramatic or comedic effect.
Answer: They used to do this. Cheating was a violation of the honor code and you would get a mandatory suspension. American schools vary a ton from place to place. During the late 90s and early 2000s they were incredibly strict about a lot of things. The rules have changed because of a lot of scandals in the troubled teen industry. After the school shootings in the early 90s there was a huge moral panic about schools not being strict enough and millennials like the kids in this show paid for it.
Question: What is up with all of the random clips in the intro to the show? Only a select few appear in the show, and they all look like they were recorded using a camcorder which has been held up to a TV screen. Most have nothing to do with the show whatsoever. One involves some Japanese cartoon, another involves some kind of suit closing around someone's head, another shows someone skiing down a ski slope while on fire. Why?
Chosen answer: Wikipedia has a list of all the references from the opening. Since children are more impressionable, they tend to remember certain aspects of different things. The bits you see may indicate the scattered thoughts of youth, and how things can go by in a quick flash, whilst only remembering significant parts (in this case, it seems to be violence-orientated).
Question: In what episode does Stevie say "You're talking to me about luck?" I've heard he says stuff like that in other episodes and could I please have a few?
Answer: In season 5, episode 17 (Polly in the Middle), Malcolm complains to Stevie about Dewey believing he is having a 'lucky shirt', to which Stevie replies "you're asking me about luck?"
Question: Do they ever say from which side of the family Malcolm got his high IQ?
Answer: I'm not sure if they ever did but there's an episode with flashbacks and all of Lois' pregnancies. When Lois was pregnant with Malcolm, Hal used to do early stimulation exercises for Reese, it's proven that children who were stimulated early get higher IQ's. There's a line Louis says to Hal in that episode, something like: "He calls your phone. I don't know who is this helping, but not Reese", and then they do a close up to her belly, implying that's how Malcolm got so smart. But turning back to which side, probably Hal's side cause his father is kind of rich and successful as is most of his family which is why they didn't like Hal marring Lois. Ida and Victor were just farmers back in their country.
Question: Does anyone know where the anime image of a man grinning in the opening theme comes from, or whether it was just created for this montage?
Answer: That image is from the anime cartoon "Nazca".
Question: Does anybody know that last name of the family. I have watched almost every episode and I don't think it has ever been mentioned.
Answer: There has been speculation that the last name of Malcolm and his family is "Wilkerson." The name appeared in the title of the pilot script, but Linwood Boomer who wrote the pilot script says the family name has never been disclosed because they didn't want the family to fall into any specific ethnic group. Although on the DVD cover, the episode information refers to them as Wiskerson.
Question: I vaguely remember one or two promo ads for this show, which quoted reviews by critics, basically saying that it was better than "The Simpsons" and a refreshing change. However, many sitcoms have come and gone throughout the run of "The Simpsons." Is there some reason why this particular show was being promoted as an alternative?
Answer: I wouldn't read into it too much. It's not uncommon for a few critics to really love a particular film or TV show and compare it to other works in their reviews. ("It's better than XXX!" or "The best show/movie of its genre since XXX!") And since it makes for a great piece of promotion, a lot of times commercials will use these quotes in advertisements as a way to get publicity. Again, something that happens all the time. I've seen plenty of commercials for different films, TV shows, video games, etc. like the one you're describing.
Question: Why was Otto suddenly written out?
Answer: Because the actor died unfortunately.
He actually died five years after the show ended. It was because he had cancer and was going through treatment, and was physically unable to continue doing some of his roles.
Answer: It is made up - although it is implied she is Croatian, she never mentions it herself.