Bryan Cranston Trying To Revive His Best Show?

Bryan Cranston is working on a revival of Malcolm in the Middle, according to Frankie Muniz.

By Nathan Kamal | Published

Bryan Cranston is working on a revival of Malcolm in the Middle, the Fox sitcom that launched him into stardom in the early 2000s. According to his former co-star Frankie Muniz (per an interview with Fox News Digital), the Breaking Bad star is taking the lead on getting a screenplay written for the revival and “getting everything rolling.” For his part, Muniz says that he is very much on board whatever revival of the series that Bryan Cranston might be cooking up and is ready to return to the role of boy genius Malcolm. 

bryan cranston

Malcolm in the Middle starred Bryan Cranston as Hal (the family’s surname was not directly referenced in the show and the topic of occasional jokes), the loving, dopey, and extremely hairy patriarch of a family of dysfunctional misfits. Bryan Cranston was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series over the course of the show, but never won. However, the show itself was highly acclaimed, winning Emmys, a Grammy, and the prestigious Peabody Award over the course of seven seasons. 

However, the success and acclaim of Malcolm in the Middle has been somewhat overshadowed by the immense cultural impact of Bryan Cranston’s later series, the AMC crime drama Breaking Bad. As sadsack family man and high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin Walter White, Bryan Cranston became a television icon and one of the prime figures of the boom of prestige dramatic series at the time. However, Bryan Cranston has always been vocal in his appreciation for Malcolm in the Middle and his role as a comedic actor, and hopefully, will be returning to it soon. 

Amusingly, Bryan Cranston already reunited with his Malcolm in the Middle co-star Jane Kaczmarek (who played his on-screen spouse Lois) for a special scene included on a Breaking Bad box set. In the scene, Bryan Cranston reprises the role of Hal waking from a nightmare alongside Lois, explaining fearfully that he had a terrible dream that he was a meth dealer and making a number of references to Breaking Bad. The whole sequence was an homage to a similar scene in the Bob Newhart sitcom Newhart, which revealed the entire show was a dream of the main character from his previous series The Bob Newhart Show.

Since the conclusion of Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston has reprised the role of Walter White in both El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and Better Call Saul, to much fan enthusiasm. However, it seems it is time for him to return to his other most beloved role, pirate radio enthusiast, roller-skating prodigy, and sexual dynamo Hal. 


Frankie Muniz has previously referenced that Bryan Cranston is working on a Malcolm in the Middle revival and that an unnamed party was a hold-out to a full-on reunion. Hopefully, Bryan Cranston will be able to persuade that unnamed individual to give in soon and bring us back one of the weirdest, funniest families on television. For now, we shall just have to remember that one episode in which Bryan Cranston actually did allow himself to be covered in bees, because he’s a professional.