Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, and Jane Kaczmarek preview what to expect from the revival.

Malcolm is still in the middle: Behind the scenes of the most chaotic family reunion on the planet

Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, and Jane Kaczmarek preview what to expect from the revival.

By Amy Wilkinson

Amy Wilkinson

Amy Wilkinson is a former senior editor at **. She left EW in 2018.

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March 24, 2026 12:00 p.m. ET

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Frankie Muniz is fuming — in two languages.

"For crying out loud, I speak fluent Spanish!" the increasingly red-faced actor shouts, pushing away from his place at the dinner table. "I know how to say quesadilla!"

His fictional family isn't convinced.

"I don't know — it sounded like you said koo-sa-dil-la," Bryan Cranston counters, enunciating each syllable before stuffing a cheese-filled tortilla into his mouth.

"No, like quee-sa-dil-la!" Jane Kaczmarek chimes in.

The ridiculous scene playing out could be any one of the approximately 43,687 scenes from *Malcolm in the Middle*'s seven-season run, during which Muniz's titular boy genius was forced to defend himself from his dysfunctional family's taunts.

But this isn't a scene from the Fox sitcom.

Look closely and you may just spot the tells — the brunette wig obscuring Kaczmarek's now-silver locks, the fresh pink paint job coating the living room walls, the sixth kid tucking into a plate of Mexican food. No, this is a flashback from Hulu's four-episode revival, *Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair* (premiering April 10), being shot on a soundstage in Vancouver, Canada. And this scene — while absurd — is anything but trivial. It illustrates one of the million tiny nicks that have led Malcolm to sever ties. Yep, he's finally cut off his overbearing family.

They just don't know it yet. **

'Malcolm in the Middle' stars Jane Kaczmarek, Frankie Muniz, and Bryan Cranston photographed exclusively for EW.

It’s a family reunion!

Despite high tensions at the dinner table, the mood on set this May afternoon is light, joyful.

"We just keep laughing and laughing," Cranston says during a break from filming.

Most of the cast wraps today, but Cranston will remain to film a handful of solo scenes (no spoilers, but they're a real trip!), so there's a nostalgic, last-day-before-graduation vibe in the air too. Kaczmarek brought her cast yearbook from 2006 to set, and she, Muniz, and Christopher Masterson, who plays eldest son Francis, are huddled in the kitchen flipping through the pages.

Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, and Jane Kaczmarek photographed exclusively for EW.

"I wrote in there, 'Come over for dinner parties!'" Muniz says. "Never happened. I’m going to write that again."

Twenty years have passed since the show wrapped in 2006, and many of the actors have stayed in loose contact over the years — Cranston catching up with Muniz over the occasional dinner; he and Kaczmarek teaming up to film an alternate ending for Cranston's hit AMC drama *Breaking Bad*, which found his Walter White waking up in bed as Hal beside Kaczmarek's Lois in an it-was-all-just-a-dream sequence à la Newhart. But for some cast and crew, this revival is the first time they've seen each other in two decades, and they have Cranston largely to thank for the reunion.

"I've been wanting to do this for years, but it needed to be for a good reason," Cranston says. "The story needed to be there — otherwise we'd just be hanging out in someone's house."

Bryan Cranston as Hal and Jane Kaczmarek as Lois in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

Cranston first expressed interest in reviving the show to Emmy-winning creator and executive producer Linwood Boomer about a decade ago. Boomer wasn't interested.

"It started out as nudging," Boomer explains during a recent Zoom call from his home in Los Angeles, the affection for Cranston clear in his voice. "Then built into pestering, and then finally tipped over into bullying."

Cranston doesn't deny the allegations.

"I was like that water torture test, dripping on [his] forehead," he says. "Eventually, he just wanted the torture to stop."

It didn't help matters that Boomer's wife, Tracy Katsky Boomer, whom he met on the set of the original series and who serves as an executive producer on the revival, took Cranston's side.

"She was like, 'Why don't you at least give your friend the courtesy of thinking about it seriously?' I was just like, 'Goddamnit,'" Boomer says.

Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, and Jane Kaczmarek photographed exclusively for EW.

So he thought. And he thought. And he thought some more. But Boomer couldn't come up with a story idea that felt worthy of getting the gang back together. It was Katsky Boomer who saved him from his obsessive spiraling. Her idea? Malcolm raises a daughter who's just like him.

"I was like, 'Oh s---, that's really good,'" Boomer says.

Christopher Masterson as Francis and Frankie Muniz as Malcolm in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

The notion intrigued him from two perspectives: 1) What would it be like to deal with Malcolm's neuroses, but as a teenage girl seeking acceptance and validation from her peers? 2) What would it be like for Malcolm as a father watching history repeat itself and not knowing how to change it?

Boomer set about answering these questions against the backdrop of Hal and Lois' 40th wedding anniversary — an event that would necessitate the couple's brood, including estranged Malcolm, returning to the nest. Pulling off this chaotic family reunion would require grit, determination, and the sort of military-level precision that would make Commandant Spangler weep tears of joy.

0:22 Digital Cover Broll: Malcolm in the Middle

Rebuilding the foundation

Instead of its original home on Stage 20 of the Radford Studio Center in Studio City, Calif., the *Malcolm* revival shot in Vancouver — a decision driven almost entirely by the numbers. (Boomer estimates the cost savings of shooting in British Columbia versus California was about 35 percent, though he fought for the latter so that as many original crew members as possible could return. Alas, the Disney suits won out.)

Right away there was a problem: No blueprints of the original set survived.

Jane Kaczmarek, Frankie Muniz, and Bryan Cranston photographed exclusively for EW.

By happenstance, costume designer Heidi Kaczenski's husband had saved an 8x10 sketch of the floor plan — sans measurements, but it gave the crew a reference from which to work, along with screengrabs from the original episodes. Line producer Jimmy Simons further helped fill in gaps.

"He knew every inch of that set," Boomer says.

Because the production, helmed by returning director Ken Kwapis, was shot on a much bigger soundstage, the team recreated the set at a slightly larger scale to give the cameras a wider berth. (The crew could also move more freely now that they no longer had to sidestep the clutter of five growing boys — no decapitated G.I. Joes, no half-full squirt guns, no tomato sauce-stained pizza boxes getting caught underfoot.)

Bryan Cranston as Hal in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

The overall effect of the recreated set, says Kaczmarek, was surreal, likening it to driving through your childhood neighborhood years later as an adult.

"You've seen it a million times and you just know something's different," she says.

Complicating production even further was the task of finding a six-week window during which all the stars were available to shoot. Perhaps surprisingly, it was Muniz's schedule — not the prolific Cranston's — that was the hardest to coordinate, says Boomer, as the 40-year-old is now a full-time race car driver on the NASCAR circuit. (For all you gearheads, he drives a Ford F-150 for Reaume Brothers Racing in the Craftsman Truck Series.) To accommodate Muniz's schedule, shooting took place Sunday through Thursday, rather than the typical Monday through Friday.

"I would film Sunday through Wednesday, fly Thursday, race Friday, and fly back Saturday," Muniz says. "It was exhausting, but I also know how cool it is to have the opportunity to get to do this again, so I wasn't going to complain at all. I am so thankful to everybody on the production for working around my NASCAR schedule."

Frankie Muniz photographed exclusively for EW.

While nearly every cast member was keen to participate, there was one holdout: Erik Per Sullivan, who played oddball brother Dewey. Boomer made multiple attempts to get him to sign on — even crafting a narrative arc in which Dewey would appear only via Zoom calls with his family, so that Per Sullivan could film his part from home in less than a day — but the 34-year-old couldn't be persuaded to step back into the public eye. (Cranston noted last year on the *Fly on the Wall* podcast that Per Sullivan was busy earning a master's degree at Harvard University. Malcolm would be proud.) The role of Dewey was recast with Wynonna Earp alum Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who looks pretty much exactly how you would imagine a grown-up version of the character to look.

Other new additions include Anthony Timpano as the adult version of youngest brother Jamie (who was born in the season 4 finale and played by two sets of twins in the original series), Vaughan Murrae as the family's nonbinary teen Kelly (an unexpected sixth sibling, hinted at in the series finale with Lois' positive pregnancy test), Kiana Madeira as Malcolm's girlfriend Tristan, and Keeley Karsten as Malcolm's daughter Leah.

Bryan Cranston as Hal in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

Looking back

Returning to the *Malcolm* set — albeit, the new and improved one — stirred years of emotions and memories for the cast, which makes the realization that these moments almost didn't happen all the more profound.

*Malcolm* was an underdog from the very start. The original series, inspired by Boomer's upbringing as one of four brothers, was rejected by nearly every network before UPN finally took pity on it… only to abandon it in development.

"People had said that the family sitcom was dead, so they didn't want to touch it," Al Higgins, co-executive producer on the original series, told ** in 2000.

Jane Kaczmarek photographed exclusively for EW.

He wasn’t wrong: By the turn of the millennium, the genre was most certainly on the decline — '90s stalwarts like *Full House* and *Family Matters* had signed off years before; *Modern Family* wouldn't debut for another nine. *Everybody Loves Raymond* was still holding strong, but the ratings charts in 2000 showed an affinity for dramas like *ER*, *Law & Order,* and *The Practice*, plus one inescapable game show: *Who Wants to Be a Millionaire*.

Higgins credited then-president of Fox Broadcasting Entertainment Doug Herzog with recognizing the potential in *Malcolm* and rescuing it from the trash heap. But in what could be viewed as just one more slight, the series wound up slotted as a mid-season arrival, rather than a bouncing September baby. Ultimately, that timing didn't seem to matter too much — fans soon found the show and couldn't get enough of the hijinks of brothers Malcolm, Francis, Reese (Justin Berfield), and Dewey.

Justin Berfield as Reese, Emy Coligado as Piama, Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, and Christopher Masterson as Francis in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

Perhaps part of the show's success was due to the fact that it was a family sitcom, at a time when there weren't many options. (What the suits would call a "gap in the market.") But the show also offered something that felt fresh, with its single-camera format, fourth-wall breaking narration, and eschewing of the tired old laugh track. The writing, verging on almost too adult, was good too. That's what struck Cranston, a journeyman actor who'd worked steadily for two decades, mostly as a guest star on series like *Seinfeld* and *Murder, She Wrote*, and had yet to truly break through with a leading role.

:When I read the script for *Malcolm in the Middle*, I laughed out loud," Cranston recalls. "It was so well-constructed, so well-written that I knew if I could be on that show, I would be proud of it. It didn't mean that it would be successful, because success in television ratings or box office takes a lot of luck. [But] what I've learned from that is, the best thing to do is to follow the well-written word."

Bryan Cranston photographed exclusively for EW.

Like Cranston, Kaczmarek had been guest-starring since the early '80s, with turns on *Hill Street Blues*, *Cybill*, and *Frasier*, before the career-defining role of Malcolm's cantankerous matriarch came along. Her sheer excitement over the part wasn't quite matched by the folks back home in her native Wisconsin.

"My mother — God rest her soul — never liked *Malcolm*, because she said she didn't think children should be spitting pizza on television," Kaczmarek says with an amused glint in her eye. "Someone in her bridge club wrote me a note saying, 'Oh, you know, good luck. Keep at it.'"

The cast of 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

Now, there's a reason the bridge clubs of Wisconsin have yet to produce a celebrated television critic (as far as we know): They were dead wrong. *Malcolm in the Middle* wasn't just adored by fans — critics liked it too. From 2000 to 2006, the series notched seven Emmy wins (including two for guest star Cloris Leachman), with Kaczmarek nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress each of the series' seven seasons.

"It became a bigger hit than I ever imagined," Kaczmarek says. "It was incredible."

Thanks to syndication and streaming, *Malcolm* is not only charming a new generation of viewers, but he's also doing the hard and unenviable work of international relations on behalf of the U.S.

Says Kaczmarek: "I was transferring planes at Heathrow and this couple came up to me and asked, 'Could we have a picture with you?' I said, 'Where are you from?' They said, 'Pakistan.'"

Jane Kaczmarek, Frankie Muniz, and Bryan Cranston photographed exclusively for EW.

Looking ahead

"Did you see a doctor? How are you feeling? Does it hurt?"

It's now September, and Cranston, Kaczmarek, and Muniz have arrived to set for their EW photo shoot, with Muniz nursing a broken wrist. Kaczmarek, ever the concerned mother, gives him a big hug and kiss before peppering him with questions.

(As it turns out, Muniz injured himself falling off of a ladder while changing the batteries in his video doorbell system.)

Keeley Karsten as Leah, Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, and Kiana Madeira as Tristan in 'Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair'.

David Bukach/Disney

Later, when Muniz receives a note from the photographer, his reply is pure, self-deprecating Malcolm: "No one told you? I'm not really a good actor."

He may have been joking in the moment, but when Muniz reflects on those six weeks filming in Vancouver, he's less dismissive of his abilities, and says the experience actually unlocked something for him.

"It was the first time in my career as an actor that I was happy to have the label 'actor,'" Muniz says. "When I was a kid, I just showed up and said the words and it all worked out. Now, I'm making a plan going into the scene. Doing the prep makes the process really, really fun."

Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek photographed exclusively for EW.

Does that mean he'd be interested in taking on a fuller slate of roles? Muniz doesn't dismiss the idea, but he's also clear that racing is a priority, and he needs to balance both, for now.

Given the level of interest in the four-episode revival — and the pure delight its cast took in making it — the next obvious question becomes: Could a full-fledged reboot be next? After all, with Malcolm's daughter Leah a chip off the old block, a Gen Alpha, gender-swapped spinoff practically writes itself.

"It's a whole new set of characters and circumstances that are ripe," Kaczmarek says.

Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, and Jane Kaczmarek photographed exclusively for EW.

For their part, the show's executive producers believe 16-year-old Karsten has the chops for it.

"She could absolutely hold a show," Katsky Boomer says.

"Keeley is an undiscovered star," Boomer agrees. "As a performer, she has this crazy potential that would be silly for show business not to use."

While *Leah in the Middle* may be nothing more than a pipe dream, it might just behoove Muniz to brush up on his Spanish. Because this family clearly loves their quesadillas.

*Directed by Kristen Harding + Alison Wild*

*Photography by Nicol Biesek*

***Motion - ****DP: Kayla Hoff; 1st AC: Jacob Laureanti; Gaffer: Dimitri Christoforidis; Best Electric: Hayden Klemes; Key Grip: Kevin Paniagua; Best Grip: Philip Woolridge; Swing: Sam Needham*

***Set Design - ****Set Designer: Isaac Aaron/This Represents; Lead Man/Fabricator: Matt Banister; Set Dresser: Charlotte Cahill; Runner: Thomas Castillo; Build Assistant: Phillip Bowen*

***Photo - ****1st Assistant: Kendall Conner Pack; 2nd Assistant: Kalilah Pianta; Digital Tech: Joe Mitchell*

***Production - ****Styling: Alvin Stillwell/Celestine Agency; Styling Assistant: Lisa Terliksky; Bryan Grooming: Daniele Piersons/Atelier Management; Frankie Grooming: Chelsea Milburn; Jane Glam: Nicole Bizer; PA: Colton Delaney*

***Post-Production - ****Color Correction: Nate Seymour/TRAFIK; VFX: Derek Viramontes; Score: Campfire; Design: Alex Sandoval***

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Comedy”