We Finally Have Our First Look at the ‘Malcom in the Middle’ Reboot

My mom loved The Brady Bunch. She grew up with it, and when I was of age, it felt like it was on TV constantly. Something else that would play with it? The television movies. The Bradys kept going with several specials, including one where all the girls got married (which I am shocked to learn was converted from a film to a sequel series). We saw them continue past the show, albeit with the occasionally recast character. In short, the idea of a television reboot has never seemed strange to me, and now, they’re all the rage.

I have no idea which show was the first to continue years after its initial run ended, and I’m not going to look it up (sticks tongue out). Spin-offs have been a thing in TV for a long time, and they would often contain elements we now find in reboots. Select cast members would return. Old stories would be referenced. Callback jokes and bits would run wild. This didn’t even have to happen in a spin-off specific to the characters. TV personalities would appear on other shows and could just be their old characters.

Still, spin-offs would often find a way to differentiate themselves from their original series. That wasn’t always successful, nor would it always be the case. Now, in the time of reboots, the goal is to recreate that feeling you had when you were streaming that show you love a week before. It’s about taking the viewing habits of audiences and creating more of what they’re already watching, but “new.” The best example is the Mad About You reboot made exclusively for people with Spectrum Cable.

I’d like to assume that not all reboots are soulless cash grabs championed by executives more concerned with dollars than art, mainly because I’d be lying if I said they haven’t worked on me. It’s exciting to see characters you love get back together. And, frankly, there’s no reboot I’ve been more excited for than Malcolm in the Middle. It’s a show I’ve loved since I was ten years old, and I’ve always kind of hoped it would continue in some form. That wish gets granted this summer.

A Malcolm in the Middle reboot is on the way from Disney+, and after some casting announcements, we finally have our first look at some of the reunited cast members. Series star Frankie Muniz shared a pic to social media of himself standing appropriately in the middle of his onscreen parents, Jane Kaczmarek and Bryan Cranston. They’ve all got big smiles and look right at home as their reunited TV family. Seeing them gave me a warm, happy feeling, and I hope the reboot does the same.

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