QWhy was Francis sent to military school?
AHis wrongdoings are only told in flashback and sketchily, but we know that Francis was a troublemaker from a young age: he broke curfew, drank alcohol, smoked and slept with many women. After being caught in bed with a girlfriend, crashing a neighbor's car (which proceeded to catch on fire), and getting four nose rings (Lois warned him he would go to military academy if he got so much as one), he was finally sent away.
QWhere are Lois' parents from?
ALois' parents, Victor Welker and Ida Kenzel, are probably Ukrainian. Ida mentions having been through a "camp", and they later lived in an unnamed city which has a large Ukrainian population in the province of Manitoba, Canada. In Malcolm in the Middle: Ida's Dance (#6.18), Lois and Ida dance in what resembles Ukrainian traditional dress. However, within the same episode, Lois and her mother use the Romanian word "Noroc" when toasting. The Ukrainian phrase for cheers is "Na zdorov'ya! Budmo!" (let's live long!)
QWhat is the family's last name?
AWilkerson.The writers original wanted to keep the family's surname a mystery but it was already revealed on the show. The last name of the family has been revealed only twice in the show, in Malcolm in the Middle: Pilot (#1.1), where Francis wears the name tag "Wilkerson" on his school uniform (it can be seen best in the scene where he is talking with his family on the phone). Also, though unaired, it appears in a joke from the original pilot script. In that script, Malcolm was walking to school when a neighborhood kid came running up shouting, "Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm. I was talking to my parents last night - I was listening to them talk, and what's your last name?" "Wilkerson, why?" Malcolm replied. "Oh. Who are the Pariahs?" said the other kid. The joke was eventually cut.A special feature on the season 1 DVD stated also that their surname was Wilkerson.A trailer on the UK channel Sky One in early 2006 advised viewers to spend time with The Simpsons and "The Wilkersons," advertising Sunday night new episodes of both series. Another trailer was released to advertise the last episodes, of 24 and Malcolm in the Middle: it claimed "Say Goodbye to the Wilkersons."In Malcolm in the Middle: Graduation (#7.22), when Malcolm is being introduced for his graduation speech, his last name is not heard due to feedback from the microphone. Just before Malcolm gives his graduation speech, Francis drops his employee ID on the ground and it clearly shows his name as "Francis Nolastname", a nod to the fact that the family surname has barely been mentioned.
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