by: Chloe Wilson
Culture Editor

Malcolm in the Middle, a popular 2000s show, released a spin-off titled Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair. Streaming on Hulu on Apr. 10, the revival will feature original actors, including Frankie Muniz (Malcolm), Bryan Cranston (Hal), Jane Kaczmarek (Lois), Justin Berfield (Reese), and Christopher Masterson (Francis). The nostalgic show is sure to be a blast from the past as the original writers worked behind the scenes to restore some of the childhood nostalgia the show once brought to its viewers. Malcolm in the Middle ran from January of 2000 to May of 2006, consisting of seven seasons and 151 episodes.

The new show will be a four-part series featuring Malcolm, grown up, living with his daughter, Leah (Keeley Karsten), and girlfriend, Tristan (Kiana Madeira), all while they navigate the same chaotic family with parallels from the original show. The drama in the new series includes Malcolm having to introduce his new family to his widely humiliating old one, who previously traumatized him throughout the original series.

The reunion between actors has clearly shown that their chemistry from filming the original show never wavered. About the filming of Life’s Still Unfair, Cranston explained, “We just keep laughing and laughing.” According to much of the cast, they have not reunited in decades since the original show concluded. Thanks to Cranston, the cast has now rekindled their previous relationships. He added, “I’ve been wanting to do this for years, but it needed to be for a good reason. The story needed to be there, otherwise we’d just be hanging out in someone’s house.”

Since there was no remaining trace of the old set, original crew members on set had to piece together something similar using an original 8×10 sketch of the floor plan and scenes from the original show. Additionally, line producer Jimmy Simons aided in filling in the gaps of the set. Another conflict of creating the revival was Muniz’s schedule, as the actor is now a full-time driver for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Muniz elaborated, “I would film Sunday through Wednesday, fly Thursday, race Friday, and fly back Saturday. 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.”

The only significant character not returning from Malcolm in the Middle is fan-favorite Dewey, played by Erik Per Sullivan, who left acting in 2010. Though the original actor will not be back, Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who resembles the original Dewey actor, will take his place.

(Sources: Deadline, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek)