Bryan Cranston Confirms Malcolm in the Middle Virtual Reunion on the Way
Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston confirmed on Instagram that later this [...]
Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston confirmed on Instagram that later this week, the cast of Malcolm will acknowledge the 20th anniversary of its premiere date by doing a live reading of the pilot script on Zoom. Revenues raised by the event will go to benefit Healing California. Malcolm in the Middle joins shows and movies like Community, Ghostbusters, and Back to the Future, which have reunited their casts virtually during the pandemic lockdown in order to lift people's spirits and raise some money for charity. For Cranston and co-star Jane Kaczmarek, it will be their first time back in the roles they created on Malcolm in the Middle since the Breaking Bad home video release in 2013.
At that time, the actors reprised their roles in an "alternate ending" to the series included in the bonus features on the Breaking Bad: The Complete Series Blu-ray. Riffing on a long-running joke among Breaking Bad fans that Walter White, Cranston's cold-blooded drug kingpin, was in fact the end result of Hal from Breaking Bad finally snapping under the pressure of his family life.
In an homage to the series finale of Newhart -- in which series star Bob Newhart woke up in bed next to his wife from a previous project, The Bob Newhart Show, on the set of that series, retroactively making the whole second show a dream by the character in the first -- the Blu-ray bonus feature depicted White waking up in bed next to Lois Wilkerson (Kaczmarek) on a set dressed to look like the couple's bedroom from Malcolm in the Middle.
The rest of the cast, though, haven't revisited their roles since the series ended in 2006.
"Can you imagine how Hal would have gone bonkers on Malcolm in the Middle if he had to stay inside with his five knuckle-headed boys?!" Cranston said in a statement that accompanied his announcement. "Makes me smile to think about that."
You can see the full Instagram message below.
Malcolm in the Middle centered on the Wilkersons, an outwardly normal suburban family, each of whom had their own set of over-the-top sitcom quirks. Frankie Muniz played Malcolm, a mostly-normal teenager who resented having to take "gifted" classes because he tested well above average intelligence. Kaczmarek was Malcolm's mother Lois, the strong and stubborn head of the family, while Cranston played Malcolm's father, Hal, who...well, he meant well. The other brothers were played by Christopher Masterson (Francis), Justin Berfield (Reese), Erik Per Sullivan (Dewey), and eventually James and Lukas Rodriguez, babies who played the youngest brother, Jamie, in later seasons.