Right at the turning point of the 21st century came the Golden Age of Television, ushered in by The Sopranos, introducing a cinematic quality never before seen in the medium, paired with bold storytelling that challenged prior norms. This wasn’t limited to dramatic or crime genres either, as there was an almost immediate shift for many new comedy shows in that era too, moving from the traditional multi-camera sitcom with a studio audience and laugh track, to neither an audience nor a laugh track, and a single-camera setup usually reserved for movies, exemplified by the likes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, the U.S adaptation of The Office, and of course, Malcolm in the Middle.
Created by Vancouver’s own Linwood Boomer, Malcom in the Middle was one of the earliest adopters of this approach to the sitcom during this period, and became an instant success from the moment its pilot episode aired on January 9th 2000, drawing in 23 million viewers while averaging 15.2 million per episode during its first season, becoming one of the most-watched and critically acclaimed comedy shows on TV at the time.
Its success was the result of its fresh approach to the half-hour family, along with brilliant writing and an outstanding cast led by Jane Kaczmarek, Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Christopher Masterson, Justin Berfield, and Erik Per Sullivan. The show’s influence cannot be overstated to this day, with many shows of a similar tone adopting its style, such as 30 Rock, Community, and The Middle, with the latter show in particular bearing obvious similarities to Malcom in the Middle which extend beyond that of their suspiciously comparable titles.
While the cast each went their separate ways following the show’s conclusion after seven seasons in 2006, there had been rumours swirling of a revival in the years since. Bryan Cranston, of course, found the most success after Malcolm in the Middle, winning multiple Emmy Awards for his iconic performance as Walter White in the all-time great crime drama Breaking Bad, in addition to earning an Academy Award nomination for his leading performance in 2015’s Trumbo. Despite his overt success, Cranston has nonetheless longed to return to the show at some capacity. He and Kaczmarek shot a hilarious alternate ending to Breaking Bad, where he suddenly wakes up as Hal, next to Kaczmarek’s Lois, distraught at having dreamt that he was Walter White. What’s more, Frankie Muniz confirmed in 2021 that Cranston had worked on a script in his own time for a two-hour movie to serve as a reunion.
Then, in December 2024 the news that fans had long been waiting for finally arrived, as Disney officially ordered a revival of Malcolm in the Middle. While it has not been confirmed how much, if any, of Cranston’s ideas from his reported script will be used, they have at least confirmed that instead of a two-hour movie, it would be a limited series consisting of four 30-minute episodes. The story will centre on Hal and Lois’ predictably chaotic 40th wedding anniversary, which Malcolm has little choice but to attend with his daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) and girlfriend Tristan (played by Canadian actress Kiana Madeira) who, incidentally, is not the mother of his daughter, so it will be interesting to see if that somehow ties back to a love interest from the original show.
Series creator Linwood Boomer is also confirmed to be returning, as well as every member of the main cast except for Erik Per Sullivan, who played Malcolm’s younger brother Dewey, as he walked away from acting a few years after the conclusion of the show, and he will be replaced by Calgary actor Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who admittedly bears an uncanny resemblance to Sullivan. Further additions will include Anthony Timpano as Jamie, the youngest boy of the Wilkerson family, who was introduced in season 4 of the show, while yet another Canadian actor, Vaughan Murrae, will portray Kelly, the 16-year-old baby of the family, with whom Lois was revealed to be pregnant in the series finale.
Filming on the revival will begin this week on April 13th, but a release date has yet to be announced.
