Frankie Muniz, the youngest actor ever to be nominated for Best Actor in a Sitcom by the Emmys, doesn't even try to be blasé about the clutch of nominations his show, "Malcolm in the Middle," just received.

"It's awesome," he says. "Me and my mom had gotten up real early in the morning to watch it. We weren't expecting me to get nominated at all. We didn't even consider it. We were just getting up to see the show, and plus, we couldn't sleep anyway. They said my name and me and my mom went crazy.

"I'm surprised we didn't get the cops called on us for screaming so early in the morning. I really didn't believe it until the phone started ringing off the hook all day. It's hard to believe, but it's cool."

Last year, "Malcolm" won key awards for Best Writing and Best Directing even though the show itself wasn't nominated. This year, it has eight top nominations, including Best Actor (Muniz), Best Actress (Jane Kaczmarek, who was also nominated last year for her harried portrayal of Lois) and Best Sitcom.

The Emmys have a classic pattern of waiting two seasons before giving the nod to a hit series, so this could be "Malcolm's." The 15-year old Muniz, for one, doesn't have any doubts about what will happen.