The critically acclaimed series Malcolm in the Middle might undergo a reboot – but there is one thing standing in its way, Frankie Muniz has said.
Former child star Muniz, 38, said he would be keen to reunite with his co-stars, but added that the idea would “have to make sense”.
In a new interview with Big Bang Theory actor Mayim Bialik on her podcast Bialik Breakdown, Muniz said he would “love to see where Malcolm and his family are now,” adding that he now has a “greater appreciation of the show” 20 years on.
The award-winning US TV series, which ran from 2000 to 2006, was a dark-humoured comedy about a dysfunctional family, with Muniz playing the titular character – a troubled middle child in his teens.
“When the show was on, I never watched it,” said Muniz. But after finding it on a streaming platform, the star said he binged the entire series for the “first time ever”.
“It was really interesting to watch because I got to watch it as a viewer,” he said. “I didn’t necessarily remember what was going to happen in the episodes.”
Muniz added that his perspective on the series had changed from what he thought it was to “what it actually was”. He said: “Even characters – when we were filming the show, I was like ‘Argh, I don’t really like that character’ – they became my favourite characters, as a viewer.”
Frankie Muniz photographed in December— (Getty Images)
Muniz said that when he suggested the possibility of a new series on X/Twitter 10 years ago, the idea was met with excitement from fans.
“And then Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek – all the cast started sending emails together and everybody was like ‘We’ve got to do this!’”
Revealing an obstacle to any reboot, Munix continued: “The only – I don’t want to call it a hiccup because it’s not a hiccup... Linwood Boomer, the creator of the show, he was like ‘I think it would be amazing, but I don’t want to do it’.”
Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bryan Cranston in ‘Malcolm In the Middle’— (Photo by Saeed Adyani/20th Century Fox Tv/Kobal/REX)
Accordinf to Muniz, Boomer is currently focused on his charity work, and said it would take some work to convince him to write new episodes.
However, Boomer is said to have told them, with the right team of writers, “it will have my blessing... if what they [the writers] come up with is good”.
Caveating his enthusiasm, though, Muniz said: “So many shows have been rebooted. And so many shows shouldn’t have been rebooted...I don’t want it to be one of those shows, so it has to make sense.”
