‘Malcolm in the Middle’ revival series is happening!

What made Malcolm in the Middle such a great show was the realistic portrayal of a working class family. Not the character storylines - a continuation is a mistake. The show started getting worse quickly after Francis left the military school.

It will only be a 4 episode special

That's actually something I'll watch

[quote]“Malcolm in the Middle” originally aired on Fox for seven seasons and 151 episodes

20 years ago, they did 20+ episodes per season.

These days, they barely do 18 for some shows and 10 for streaming shows.

I'm kinda dreading seeing Cranston in his underwear again.

What ever happened to Erik Per Sullivan?

R6, I read a few minutes ago that he retired from acting in 2010.

I was wondering why Cranston would even consider a sitcom. But since it's a special only, I guess that may make it acceptable for him. Also glad they gave Jane Kaczmarek. I was wondering if she got herself black-listed by going on strike for a better salary during MitM.

MITM was funny the first 3 seasons or so and then dragged on for another 4 years. Can't imagine they could come up with any story that would make revisiting the characters worthwhile. I'd rather see a Friends-style reunion where they just get the cast back together to talk about the show.

Malcolm Middle Aged?

Muniz incurred a terrible head injury years ago and suffers severe memory loss. He's stated that the the only memory he has of his time on MITM is due to conversations he's had with former cast members.

Bryan Cranston checks in on him every few days r11.

Please stop relying on your memory without updating your information, R11.

He did not have a "terrible head injury." He had concussions (number never defined) in youth and he has some small memory issues (undefined) from them. For years he said he was diagnosed with "mini-strokes" but since then has said that he was misdiagnosed, and that he was having migraine auras, which a large proportion of all migraineurs experience (including me). He said that the media misunderstood a throw-away align that he didn't remember anything from 2000, and that his memory is fine.

If Mr. Cranston is calling him it's not so remind him that it's Wednesday, for fuck's sake.

I watched the show when it was on and really related to the family. I was the same age as Malcom and my family was the same level of working class but comfortable.

I also had a scary and overbearing mom.

If the brothers aren't returning also then this is pointless.

Maybe the 4-episodes arc will be for some special event, like a family wedding or a wacky crisis. I’ll miss Cloris Leachman no longer being with us to make an appearance, though.

^Oops, duh, it is wedding anniversary-themed reunion and sorry for not having read the link through to see that before I’d posted.

This show wore thin so fast. Ugh.

This sounds unnecessary.

The original creator Linwood Boomer won’t be involved, he gave them his blessing but he’s retired from TV

Scratch that, the article says he will be back. Must have changed his mind

I have a feeling this will be a guaranteed flop.

I’ll give it a watch. I’d love if Cloris Leachman was still alive for it. But she’d be like 97.

Wow, I did not have this on my Bingo card.

I’m all for seeing more Cranston as Hal, but the brothers are going to be missed.

[Quote] This sounds unnecessary.

Isn’t tv in general delightfully unnecessary?

It’s nice to see a return, even if it’s short-lived. However, I don’t have high hopes when only 3 of of the 6 member cast is back.

This reminds me of That 70’s Show revival that only had Red and Kitty return. The new characters sucked and only reminded me of how good the original show was.

Malcolm, show us your cock!

Gross, r27. No one wants to see that.

Now Reese on the other hand…

I had the biggest crush on Justin Berfield and was for certain he was gay in real life. Once I discovered he got married and had a kid, all of my lust completely evaporated.

The one with the ears was ugly as sin, he must have been switched at birth

[quote]The original creator Linwood Boomer won’t be involved, he gave them his blessing but he’s retired from TV.

He's opening a school for the blind.

Justin Berfield grown up.

R32 I remember when he was on Unhappily Ever After

Poor Bryan.

Wasn’t Linwood Boomer’s Young and Restless character connected to Traci?

Justin Berfield is straight. Don’t care.

Cast revealed.

[quote]Variety has learned that Christopher Masterson and Justin Berfield are returning for the Disney+ update of the classic sitcom, reprising the roles of Francis and Reese, respectively.

Caleb Ellsworth-Clark is a cute fucking twink.

Is this Masterson a Scieno too?

R5, I LOVED THAT.

R2, say it isn't so!

Reese was my type to a tee

R31. But he regained his site! Hallelujah!

From the Variety article at r37:

[quote]In addition, Anthony Timpano (“Riverdale,” “Nancy Drew”), Vaughan Murrae (“Before I Change My Mind,” “The Way Home”), and Keeley Karsten (“The Fabelmans,” “Hunters”) will also star. Timpano will play Malcolm’s youngest brother, Jamie, while Murrae will play Malcolm’s youngest sibling, Kelly. Karsten will play Malcolm’s daughter, Leah.

I watched the whole original series and don't remember them having another kid after Jamie. Admittedly I don't remember much about the later seasons or how the show ended. Did Lois and Hal have a daughter or is this being added for the revival?

They should give Berfield a boyfriend.

R38 He is. The Masterson kids were born into Scientology.

Malcolm's girlfriend is black. I was worried that the show would be accused of racism.

Question: why do people shorten it to "Scieno"? It doesn't make sense to me. How is that pronounced?

R41 The series finale had a gag showing Lois was pregnant again. Both she and Hal acted in horror at the pregnancy test. It was their final scene.

R37 I’m glad the original Francis and Reese will be back. And the new Dewey looks similar enough to Erik Per Sullivan that I think it’ll be okay. He was young enough when the original show ended that someone else taking over the role shouldn’t be too detrimental.

I thought the show was hilarious. So I’ll probably be watching this.

I'm curious why Sullivan didn't sign on. He's pretty much disappeared since the show ended and there's very little about him online aside from his child acting career. He hasn't appeared in any other MITM cast reunions over the years. I assume he just lost interest in acting as he got older or maybe he was forced into it by stage parents. His final imdb credit was from 2010, a year after he turned 18.

I never really believed it but there was that reddit AMA allegedly from a former child actor who claimed he was sexually abused on set as were the actors who played his brothers. The poster claimed to now be dealing with a serious heroin habit stemming from the abuse and his parents stealing all his money. The most popular guess was Sullivan from Malcolm in the Middle. He claims in the responses that none of the kid actors would ever be interested in a reunion due to the abuse and that he's not in contact with anyone from the show. At the time I took the post with a grain of salt but when I saw Sullivan wasn't coming back it did make me wonder

[quote] The original creator Linwood Boomer won’t be involved, he gave them his blessing but he’s retired from TV

When he said no, they said "Ok, Boomer"

I'm sure Erik Per Sullivan quit acting because he saw there was no future in it for him. He was a strange looking child, and probably grew up to be a very homely adult.

Reese: "Dude, you play a fairy?"

Lois: "Not just any fairy, Reese: he's the biggest fairy in the whole play!"

R20 Linwood Boomer, aka Mary's husband Adam from Little House on the Prairie.

Malcolm in the Middle was based on his childhood.

Linwood Boomer was really hot in the 1970s.

r45 It's pronounced like Sienna Miller's name, but with an O at the end. And it makes perfect sense.

CEE-EN-AH-OH

I was disappointed to find out that Justin was not gay.

[quote]Linwod Boomer created the original series and returns as writer and executive producer on the revival.

I loved this as a kid when it was first on and wanted to suck Francis off. I was dead curious about what colour of pubes he'd have.

Frankie Muniz is MAGA.

R59, I wanted Francis and his friend Eric to have a sword fight in my mouth.

[quote][R45] It's pronounced like Sienna Miller's name, but with an O at the end. And it makes perfect sense.

None of that makes any sense. "Si-ENN-oh"? How is that short for "Sigh-en-TO-lo-gy"?

I've never heard Scieno spoken. I've only seen it online. I always assumed it's pronounced "Sigh-NO."

I've always assumed it's pronounced "fucking nuts".

Kudos to Bryan for visiting with Frankie occasionally to remind Frankie of his Malcolm years. I can't imagine how sad it is to forget significant parts of your life especially when you were popular, Bryan owes a lot to the series and it's good to see him try to pay it back.

I watched some clips of the show the other day and I forgot how happy this show made me as a kid. I had the biggest crush on Francis.

I eventually would later watch, "The Middle" another show about a normal family that wasn't rich.

As for Dewey.

[quote]...and that he's not in contact with anyone from the show

Jane talked about him last year. They are still in contact with him. He just doesn't want to be in the spotlight in any way, shape or form. He didn't want to act anymore and wanted nothing to do with show business. She said...

"He goes to school at a very prestigious American university that he’s asked us all to be quiet about and he loves Charles Dickens. He’s doing graduate work in Victorian literature. I admire it because so many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world, it’s not for everyone.”

People have run into him and have said he seems like a nice, normal guy, but even the Malcolm reddit banned talk about him because he just wants to go about his business.

I loved this show as a kid but have zero desire to watch the reboot/sequel. I think it pulled off a rare perfect ending when Malcom addresses the camera for the last time as a Harvard student. They should leave it alone.

Thanks for that info, r67. Glad to hear he's happy and doing well on his path outside show business.