‘Malcolm in the Middle’ returns after 20 years with questions of legacy and its trademark craziness
NEW YORK (AP) — A very grown-up Malcolm turns to the camera at the beginning of the new “Malcolm in the Middle” revival and, weirdly, has nothing to complain about.
“Yeah, I look different, but, hey, everything about me is different. I’m happy. I’m successful,” he says. “My life is fantastic now. You want to know how I did it? All I had to do is stay completely away from my family.”
That’s going to be very hard to do in Hulu’s four-part return to “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair,” which reunites one of the zaniest and chaotic families ever on prime time. The episodes premiere Friday.
Twenty years after the last episode aired, we learn that Malcolm — a nervous, sputtering Frankie Muniz — is now a father of a teen and desperate to shield her from his dysfunctional parents and siblings.
“I cannot go back to the way I was before and I’m not going to risk you,” Malcolm tells her. “You have to think of it like they’re the full moon and we’re werewolves.”
How the revival came about
Original series creator Linwood Boomer and his co-producer-wife, Tracy Katsky Boomer, batted ideas on how to get the gang back together for years. Both weren’t willing to make just anything for a “shameless cash grab.”
Linwood Boomer recalls a light bulb went on when his wife wondered what would it be like if Malcolm had a daughter who was exactly like him. “I was just like, ‘Oh my God, that kid would be miserable,’” he says.
In addition to Muniz, Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek are back as the barely-holding-it-together parents and Christopher Kennedy Masterson and Justin Berfield return as brothers Francis and Reese, respectively.
Newcomers include Keeley Karsten as Leah, Malcolm’s deeply empathic daughter, and Vaughan Murrae, Malcolm’s whip-smart youngest sibling, who we last saw as a baby. Caleb Ellsworth-Clark takes over the role of Dewey.
Director Ken Kwapis, one of the original directors of the show, was tapped to return and was impressed with how the old and new cast members handled the physical and emotional tasks.
“The original cast slipped back into their roles effortlessly. But equally important is they embraced the new members of the cast very quickly,” he says.
“There’s a performance level that some people have described as high octane. And so for the new members of the ensemble, they had to like, ‘OK, I’m going to step up and do it.’ And they all hit it out of the park.”
A comically accurate view of child-rearing
Malcolm may desperately want to keep his distance from his family, but the 40th wedding anniversary of his parents has a gravitational pull, putting everyone on a collision course, albeit a hysterical one.
“It’s hard to do a straight comedy right now because everything’s very serious in the world,” says Katsky Boomer. “It feels nice to just unleash good vibes so people can just take a breather.”
“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair” joins a list of new and upcoming reboots and revivals from the late 1990s and early 2000s, including “Scrubs,” “King of the Hill,” “Prison Break,” “Baywatch” and “Phineas and Ferb.”
The Boomers credit Cranston for keeping the flame of a revival alive, staying in touch with the actors and crew. And he’s jumped back in boldly, despite becoming a huge star in the intervening years. In the first episode back, Cranston stands completely nude as Kaczmarek’s Lois shaves his back and nether regions.
“Malcolm in the Middle” originally aired on Fox and ended its seven-season run in 2006. It won seven Emmy Awards — including one for best writing for a comedy series — and currently streams on Hulu and on Hulu on Disney+, where the revival will also live.
Linwood Boomer based “Malcolm” on his own nutty family, and it struck a chord, depicting childhood as a constant power struggle — with bigger kids, teachers, parents and siblings. There were squabbles with a ferocity rare on TV, and it was funny because it was so grounded in truth. It was TV’s most comically accurate view of child-rearing since “Roseanne.”
“There was a line in the pilot I would say to myself all the time — ‘I want a better family!’ — and it turns out most families aren’t any better,” says Boomer.
Parental legacy
For the revival, the tables are turned. This time it’s about being a parent and the legacy that we extend to our children. Malcolm’s daughter is struggling in life and school, but her father’s genetic toolkit only has belligerence, impulsiveness and thickheadedness, passed on by his on-screen parents.
“So much trauma, unfortunately, is the result of good people literally trying their best,” says Katsky Boomer. “You can understand it as you grow old enough to appreciate that your parents are human beings.”
Kwapis says the revival is painfully — and also hilariously — looking at how sometimes years go by and we’re often in the same groove when it comes to family dynamics.
“You get to explore new things, but you also get to the explore the idea that some things — for better or for worse — just can’t change,” he says.
As for any future revisiting of this family, the husband-and-wife “Malcolm” team are noncommittal. “There are no plans. It was a really lovely experience,” says Linwood Boomer. Might there be more? “I can’t say no, but I also can’t say yeah,” he says.