Malcolm in the Middle may be getting the revival treatment, a highly anticipated four-part installment from Disney+/Hulu, but its team isn’t necessarily ruling out a full-fledged reboot.
In the limited series, premiering April 10, everyone’s favorite dysfunctional family — first introduced in Fox’s beloved aughts-era single-cam comedy — reunites, much to the chagrin of Frankie Muniz’s title character. Now estranged from his loud-mouthed clan, happily partnered and with a similarly neurotic daughter, Malcolm is forced to enter the fore amid Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois’ (Jane Kaczmarek) 40th wedding anniversary celebration.
With many original cast members returning (except Erik Per Sullivan’s Dewey, now recast with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark), Kiana Madeira joins as Malcolm’s girlfriend Tristan, while Keeley Karsten plays his daughter Leah.
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When asked by Entertainment Weekly for the publication’s cover story if a reboot — potentially a gender-swapped spinoff now centering on Leah — could be next, Kaczmarek replied: “It’s a whole new set of characters and circumstances that are ripe.”
Meanwhile, revival executive producer Tracy Katsky Boomer noted, “She could absolutely hold a show.”
Original show creator Linwood Boomer, who also serves as EP on Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, added: “Keeley is an undiscovered star. As a performer, she has this crazy potential that would be silly for show business not to use.”
Additionally, while Muniz is now focused on being a full-time NASCAR driver, he told EW that he would be open to further acting projects down the line.
Winning seven Emmys, a Grammy and Peabody when it aired from 2000 to 2006, the influential Malcolm in the Middle was a hit for Fox and admired by critics and audiences alike.
