Malcolm in the middle
It isn't like the show was a huge failure and pulled off the air immediately. 7 seasons is pretty good for any sitcom and great for one with 3 kids. The careers of the kids and the story line of the kids being in school can only go on for so long before they are just too old. Here are the awards the show won:
Golden Globe Awards
2001
Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy Nominated
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek Nominated
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Frankie Muniz Nominated
2002
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek Nominated
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Frankie Muniz Nominated
2003
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy - Jane Kaczmarek Nominated
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Bryan Cranston Nominated
Peabody Award
2001
Peabody Award Win
Primetime Emmy Awards
2000
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Bea Arthur as Mrs. White Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
2001
Outstanding Comedy Series Nominated
Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series - Robert Loggia as Grandpa Victor Nominated
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series - Frankie Muniz as Malcolm Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
2002
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Susan Sarandon as Meg Nominated
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Won
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal Nominated
2003
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal Nominated
2004
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
2005
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Nominated
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
2006
Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series - Cloris Leachman as Ida Won
Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek as Lois Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series - Bryan Cranston as Hal Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards
2000
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek Nominated
2002
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series - Jane Kaczmarek Nominated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_in_the_Middle
The show really changed scenes from season to season a lot. Malcom usually had a different teacher with completely different personalities, Francis went from military school to Alaska to the Ranch. Reese moved on to High School and eventually work and Malcolm and Dewey worked their way through school.
It is not that the show wasn't a success it just never took over for FOX like it was capable of doing. Some other things I really liked about the show was NO RECORDED LAUGHTER, it wasn't extremely predictable (it was somewhat predictable but unlike other shows you had no clue what was going to happen from beginning to end) and each episode was completely different while the characters remained the same.