A TV Middle Child Legend Gets the Re-boot!

          It was a little more than 19 years ago, May 14, 2006 to be exact, when we saw legendary TV Middle Child and boy genius Malcolm Wilkerson  (Frankie Muniz) for the last time, running off into the proverbial TV sunset - in this case his calculus class at Harvard University - in the “Malcolm in the Middle” series finale. 

          One could argue that with the possible exception of Jan Brady, no TV Middle Child was more iconic than Malcolm. To refresh your memory, when the series started Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) Wilkerson had four sons. With first-born Francis already away at military school, Malcolm was in the middle of older brother Reese and younger brother Dewey. At the end of Season 4 Jamie joined the family, and in the series finale it was revealed Lois was pregnant with a sixth child. But even though Malcolm was never really the only Middle Child in the family, he was always the focal point of the series. 

          The show was critically acclaimed over its seven season run, winning multiple awards including seven Emmy’s and pulling in ratings that were anything but in the middle. Fans have

been clamoring for a revival for years and got their wish with the news that a reboot was in the offing. And now we know that filming has wrapped on a limited four-episode series. 

          We’ll get to meet Hal and Lois’ sixth child, a daughter named Kelly (Vaughan Murrae), Malcolm’s girlfriend Tristan (Kiana Madeira), and his daughter Leah (Keeley Karsten).  There was talk that none of the brothers would be returning for the reboot. (You’d think that would be a Middle Child’s dream come true! Then again, when you’re the namesake of a hit TV show, you’re certainly getting more attention than your average Middle Child.) But alas Francis (Christopher Masterson)  and Reese (Justin Berfield) are reprising their roles, while Jamie (Lukas and James Rodriguez) and Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan) have been recast with Anthony Timpano and Caleb Ellsworth-Clark respectively.

          The new episodes will follow a now middle-aged Malcolm and his daughter as they deal with some familiar familial friction when Hal and Lois insist that Malcolm attends their 40th wedding anniversary party. The long awaited reunion is scheduled to air on Disney+ in December 2025.

          Too bad they couldn’t premiere on August 12. Then maybe people would actually remember it’s Middle Child’s Day. 

CLICK HERE for even more details from TVLine.

 

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