He had asked Ms. Minnelli to join the series in a recurring role that would be her first venture into network comedy.

Rarely has so venal a clan clawed its way into network comedy.

"Malcolm" went on the air in January and was an immediate hit, the only new network comedy of the season to reach that status.

It also broke into the wider cultural dialogue (the cover of Newsweek, among other places), something only network comedies had done.

Of course almost identical statements were being made in the early 1980's when network comedy was in a dreadful slump.

Mainly because of her, but it's quite a good network comedy.

It will be the only network comedy on at that hour - for now.

This episode aired with a warning that it contained adult content and subject matter, which is rare for a network comedy.

A typical fee for a network comedy is about $500,000 an episode, though hits always command much more money.

The switch from college humor magazine to network comedy show entailed some adjustment.