The last name of the family has only three times been revealed on the show. It is Wilkerson, as revealed in the pilot as the name tag Francis wears on his school uniform. There was also a joke that appeared in 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, and the show's writers subsequently decided never to reveal the family's last name, but it would seem they forgot about Francis's name tag. In the company picnic episode, Hal also refers to them as 'the Wilkersons'. Jennette McCurdy (Daisy Wilkerson [Dewey]) was credited as Wilkerson revealing the last name of the family was Wilkerson.
The episode won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Comedy Series.
In her memoir "I'm Glad My Mom Died", Jennette McCurdy revealed that the producers put hard wax behind her ears as the character of Dewey (her character's counterpart) had big ears.
Francis tries to settle a bet if a Mad Magazine cover was Stagnum PI or Magnum PU. The December 1981 issue of Mad Magazine has a spoof titled "Magnumb PU." This may be the issue in question; however, the cover does not prominently feature the Magnum PI spoof as implied by Francis.
Toran Caudell voiced King Bob on Disney's Recess (1997). Coincidentally, Disney currently holds the rights to Malcolm in the Middle (2000) via their acquisition of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios).