The Malcolm in the Middle revival series, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, is now streaming on Hulu, and both fans and critics are weighing in on it. An official Rotten Tomatoes score for Malcolm in the Middle‘s revival has been revealed, and no one will be able to call it an unfair ranking.
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Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair holds a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 82% (with 33 reviews and counting), and an audience score of 75% (with more than 50 ratings and counting). That’s a pretty strong start for any revival series, as those types of shows are trying to recapture the magic and feeling of the original series years (if not decades) after it ended. A lot of them never seem to get the formula right again; Malcolm in the Middle is joining a trend of revival shows that actually seem to be getting it right.
What Critics Are Saying
“The new season, which is full of callbacks, is probably best enjoyed having watched the original,” writes Robert Lloyd of LA Times. “Apart from its serial nature and arc, the new season/series doesn’t do anything new, doesn’t attempt to update its year 2000 operating system to 2026 standards. It’s true to itself. It gets a little sentimental and a little serious in the clutch; there will be closure, self-realization, and ego death. And, as if embarrassed by the whole business, the show will do something crazy to blast the tear from your eye.”
That’s a pretty level-headed endorsement, but Dave Nemetz of TV Line doesn’t seem to agree, writing, “Four half-hour episodes seem like a curiously short run for Hulu’s Malcolm in the Middle revival… but midway through it, you might start to feel like it’s actually too long.” Despite loving the original series, Nemetz came to the “bottom line” that the revival “can’t recreate the anarchic thrill of the original,” even with most of the original cast returning, and some new characters being introduced.
What Fans Are Saying
The general consensus from the fan scores on Rotten Tomatoes is that Life is Still Unfair is a nice update for the current times, with the main cast still able to create their familiar banter and chemistry. The contrarian opinions range from the revival being a lesser copy of the original to the familiar (and exhausting) socio-political rants about certain changes made to characters or lore since the 2000s. Still, other 2000s hits like Scrubs and King of the Hill are now doing revivals that mix both old and new (read: more progressive) flavors, and have won over the overwhelming majority of fans; Malcolm in the Middle has a very real chance to do the same.
There was no way that Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair was ever going to please everyone, so the criticisms are understandable. That said, it must be pointed out that the cast has come back together to play this family for the first time in 20 years, with certain cast members not really pursuing professional acting anymore. Other cast members (Bryan Cranston) have risen above and beyond that zany old show; seeing Walter White getting his back shaved just doesn’t hit the same.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair picks up 19 years after the original show wrapped its seven-season run. Now a father, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz) has shielded himself and his daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten) from his family’s crazy antics – that is, until he is dragged back into the family dynamic for his parents’ 40th anniversary party, where chaos ensues.
Returning characters include Malcolm’s parents Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek), as well as his older brothers, Francis (Christopher Masterson), and Reese (Justin Berfield). Malcom’s younger brother, Dewey, has been recast for the revival, with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark taking over the role from actor Erik Per Sullivan. Kiana Madeira (Fear Street) plays Tristan, Malcom’s girlfriend, while Vaughan Murrae plays Kelly, Hal and Lois’s daughter (aka, the pregnancy teased at the end of the original series). Emy Coligado returns as Piama, Fracnis’s wife, Anthony Timpano plays, Jamie, Hal and Lois’s fifth and youngest child, while David Anthony Higgins and Garty Anthony Williams both return as Lois’s co-worker Craig Feldspar and Abe Kenarban, father of Malcom’s friend Stevie. Craig Lamar Traylor will also return as Stevie, Merrin Dungey will return as Stevie’s mother Kitty, with several other recurring or guest characters from the original series also popping up for appearances in the revival.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is now streaming on Hulu – Disney+. Let us know what you think of the revival over on the ComicBook Forum!
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Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
