Pilot (Malcolm in the Middle)

"Pilot" is the first episode of the first season of the television series Malcolm in the Middle. It originally aired on Fox on January 9, 2000. It was the first episode written by Linwood Boomer and was directed by Todd Holland. In the episode, the six primary characters are introduced, Malcolm, Lois, Hal, Reese, Dewey, and Francis (who is currently at military school), and Malcolm's struggles and fears to be placed in the accelerated learning class ('Krelboynes') even though he has an IQ of 165. Airing as a midseason replacement for Futurama, the episode gained a large viewer base, with ratings of 23 million.