We're in the midst of a
Malcolm in the Middle marathon, and I must admit that the dysfunctional family sitcom (2000-2006) was not particularly gay-positive. There were some gay references here and there; Francis, the bad boy sent to military school, pretends to be gay to get girls; Reese tells a girl "Sorry, I'm gay" to dissuade her. But overall, this was an aggressively heterosexist world.
But what it lost in gay potential, it made up for in beefcake.
1. Over the course of the series, Reese (Justin Berfield, left) bulked up, becoming a veritable muscleman.
2. Gifted child Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) was a little scrawny, but a few years later, in
Extreme Movie, he displayed biceps and a bulge while being tormented by a S&M dominatrix.
3. Francis (Christopher Masterson) had a respectable physique which he displayed a few times.
4. He was in military school, surrounded by muscular cadets, such as Eric (Eric Nenninger, top photo)
5. Drew (Drew Powell, left)
6. And Stanley (Karim Prince), who didn't own a shirt.
7. Dewey, the youngest boy, had a never-ending procession of weirdo boy friends, some of whom grew up to become teen hunks, like Chad (
Cameron Monaghan), star of
Shameless.
8. But the real revelation was in Frankie's gifted-student classmates, the Krelboynes. According to Hollywood myth, high intelligence goes hand-in-hand with social phobia, lack of fashion sense, glasses, buck teeth, and multiple allergies, so they were drawn as unattractive as possible. As if to make up for the stereotyping, they have blossomed.
Remember Lloyd, aka Evan Matthew Cohen? Unfortunately, he's retired from acting, but not from modeling. (Be careful -- there's another Mathew Cohen wandering around the internet, and Google Image Search may have mixed them up.)
9. Eraserhead, aka Will Jennings, is now a tall, imposing ginger giant.
10. And Stevie, Malcolm's wheezing, wheelchair-bound bff? Craig Lamar Traylor spent his childhood explaining to people that he wasn't really disabled. His acting career hasn't been doing too well, but he certainly presents a striking figure.
See also:
Christopher Masterson in the Middle;
Frankie and Erik in the Middle:
Justin Berfield's Very Special Episode.
I know of a Matt Cohen, who played a hot beard on South of Nowhere. He was a Men's Health cover model one month.
ReplyDeleteHollywood mostly had traumatic experiences in gym. Probably math and science classes too. That's my theory.
I remember Evan Matthew Cohen vividly, I was in love with him.
ReplyDeleteOf the teen hotties mentioned I had a crush on Evan Matthew Cohen and would have given an anything to have dated him, sigh . .
ReplyDelete