‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’ Cast Talks ‘Magical’ Reunion 25 Years in the Making

Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair — a four-episode revival series based on the seminal sitcom Malcolm in the Middle (2000-2006) — premieres Friday, April 10, on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally, reuniting the cast and creative team behind one of the most popular sitcoms of all time.

Created by Linwood Boomer, Malcolm in the Middle pioneered the single-camera format, with young genius Malcolm trying to navigate life with his chaotic but loving family. Over the course of its seven seasons, the popular comedy received widespread critical acclaim, winning seven Emmy ^® Awards, in addition to a GRAMMY ^® Award and a Peabody Award.

Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair reconnects writer and executive producer Boomer with original cast members Bryan Cranston (Hal), Frankie Muniz (Malcolm), Jane Kaczmarek (Lois), Christopher Kennedy Masterson (Francis), Justin Berfield (Reese), and Emy Coligado (Piama). New to the cast are Keeley Karsten, who plays Leah, Malcolm’s daughter; Vaughan Murrae, who plays Kelly, Malcolm’s youngest sibling; Kiana Madeira, who plays Tristan, Malcolm’s girlfriend; and Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who plays Dewey. In the revival, Malcolm — who distanced himself from his family for over a decade — is pulled back into their orbit when he gets invited to his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary party.

Below, Cranston, Muniz, and Kaczmarek discuss the highly anticipated series:

How did it feel to be back on set and reunited with your TV family after 25 years?

Frankie Muniz: It was surreal. It’s so rare to experience what I experienced 20 years ago — being on a show for seven years, getting to work with everybody, making something that people genuinely loved. I didn’t realize how much people loved it until I’d stepped away from it. It’s been 20 years of people telling me stories of how much the show meant to them, how it got them out of bad times, how it brought their families closer together. To go back and work with the same actors and the same writers, to be on set again in that house… the amount of memories that flooded back in, I’ve never experienced anything like it. Getting to do that was absolutely incredible. I didn’t want it to end, because it was magical.

Bryan Cranston: It’s a gift, really. It’s as if you went up into your attic, and said, ‘I’m gonna clean this out.’ Then you saw a chest, and you opened that chest up, and you saw all these very memorable items… Our reunion was like that, offstage. When we walked in and saw the set, we were having déjà vu. It felt like we didn’t leave — but we did leave, didn’t we?

Jane Kaczmarek: Because the set was a reproduction — it was as close as they could make it, because they never had plans [to preserve] the original— you’d be doing a scene and suddenly say, ‘There used to be a window there.‘ It was familiar, but you would remember these things. I saw a pencil sharpener, and I said, ‘Remember the episode where you kept…’

Bryan Cranston: …sharpening that pencil down to the nub!

Jane Kaczmarek: Yeah! There were so many things that sparked so many memories.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-lXRTya7kE