‘Malcolm in the Middle’ reboot with Bryan Cranston is coming

Okay, but where’s Dewey?
Photo: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

The Hollywood nostalgia machine has been spinning. But if there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about spinning wheels, it’s NASCAR driver Frankie Muniz, who just signed on to star in a limited series of four new episodes of Malcolm in the middleDisney+ announced today. Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek will also reprise their roles, with original series creator Linwood Boomer returning as writer and executive producer. The new series of episodes will follow a middle-aged Malcolm and his daughter who are drawn back into the family dysfunction at Hal and Lois’ 40th wedding anniversary party. No premiere date has been set yet.

There has been some speculation as to whether the Wilkerson family would grace our screens again, with Muniz revealing in 2022 that Cranston had been working on a script. But the better question is, should they? Malcolm led the single-camera sitcom charge when it debuted nearly 25 years ago, and much of its humor and core pathos relied on a scrappy optimism that feels dated in today’s political climate (not to mention, its series finale saw Malcolm on a trajectory to become the people’s president – as opposed to, you know, another multi-millionaire demagogue taking office…). There’s also no word on whether any of the other brothers will appear. Who will Malcolm be in the middle of?

But maybe we don’t need to worry at all, and the years have given the show’s creators plenty of great ideas for material. For example, a plotline about a cat flooding the family home could be comedy gold.