Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | April 7, 2026
I’m so friggin’ excited for the return of Malcom in the Middle. It was one of my absolute favorite shows growing up, and I’m happy to report that it has aged incredibly well! The show’s hilarious look at the struggles of a lower-class family could now be applied to most middle-class families, but still! That just makes the show even more poignant, which feels insane to say about something that was initially pitched as a live-action version of The Simpsons.
But I’d argue that the characters have the same kind of staying power as America’s favorite yellow family. While they may not be as well-known, the potential is there. They are a group of lovable yet earnestly flawed individuals, which also helps the show work. Malcom and Reese become kind of unlikable as the show goes on, and instead of running from that, the show leans into it. Hal and Lois are arguably irresponsible people, but that comes from the fact that they’re so madly in love (and lust) with each other.
Then, there’s Dewey. His storyline was arguably the funniest because instead of being blessed with incredible math and engineering skills like Malcom, Dewey is an incredible, Mozart-like musician. Tucked away in this story about a family that can’t stop having kids, lives in deep debt, and has a house that is crumbling, is another weird little boy who is insanely talented and sweet. He became my favorite character in the show, and that was thanks in no small part to Eric Per Sullivan.
Per Sullivan was nine years old when he started working on Malcom, and not only is he great when the show starts, he only gets better with age (all of the kids do). His timing is great, he can seem legitimately scared(usually of his older brothers) at a moment’s notice, and his high-pitched exclamations live rent-free in my head. The kid was hilarious, pursued some projects after the show ended, and then just… stopped acting. I respect the hell out of that choice, and the fact that he’s stuck to it.
Much has been said about the former child actor’s decision not to appear in an upcoming reboot of the show, but Jane Kaczmarek recently revealed that it was not without attempts to lure him back in. She explained to the Guardian that Per Sullivan is “studying Dickens and is an incredible student. They offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said, ‘No thank you.’” Good for you, Eric. Let your incredible performance remain as is, and keep brushing up on your Dickens like Commodore Schmidlapp.
