The 2000s sitcom on Hulu is the perfect binge
Pa Robert Succi
| Published
When I first heard the news about Disney+ Malcolm in the middle revival, I decided with pent-up enthusiasm to re-watch the original series on Hulu. While I have a penchant for binge-watching the sitcoms I grew up on (Nobody Watch Fraser and the golden era The Simpsons more than me), I didn’t want to tune in to the events of the Wilkerson family because I was afraid the show wouldn’t last nearly 20 years after completing seven seasons. Thankfully, it only took a couple of episodes for the memories to come rushing back to me to the point where I was quoting lines I hadn’t heard in decades as if I had just watched the episode last week.
Malcolm at the Center is a timeless family sitcom
Most sitcoms tend to have one or two characters who break through for the entire show, but Malcolm in the middle cut from a different fabric. From the very first episode, when Malcolm Wilkerson (Frankie Muniz) finds out he has an IQ of 165 and is placed in the gifted “Crelboin” class, you’d think he’d be at the center. That is, until you meet Malcolm’s lovable but dangerous family.
At home with Malcolm are his two siblings: his goofy and passionate older brother Reese (Justin Berfield) and his innocent but subtly manic and possibly gifted younger brother Dewey (Eric Peer Sullivan). The trio of troublemakers also have an older brother, Francis (Christopher Masterson), who has been sent to Marlin Academy, a military school for troubled teenagers.
Every brother in Malcolm in the middle means well, but boys will be boys, so their primary means of showing affection is beating each other up, playing elaborate pranks on each other, and regularly getting into trouble with the law.
Enter parents
Despite the differences, the guys at Malcolm in the middle have one common enemy, and that is their mother, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek). Ruling the household with an iron fist, Lois is a tyrant with a heart of gold because she always takes care of her family in the only ways she knows how: yelling, psychological warfare, and humiliation. Although a woman like Lois might seem unbearable in any other context, she is the perfect mother figure Malcolm in the middle due to how unpredictably destructive her children are, making her abrasiveness absolutely necessary to keep the family out of trouble.
You might think that Frances, Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey’s problematic behavior is a product of their upbringing and environment (read: Lois is a bad mom), but when you learn more about their father, Hal (Bryan Cranston), it becomes clear that their short-sighted impulsivity may be genetically transmitted.
Hal Wilkerson is more complicated than Walter White
Living in constant fear of Lois’s brief but completely necessary outbursts of anger, Hal often refers to his bad boy past, which through the stories resembles the current behavior of his four sons. Working as a corporate drone, Hal is a slave to his impulses and has a penchant for gambling, smoking cigars, drinking, walking around the house (or yard) in his tight white panties, and bribing his kids to win whenever he acts like he could be in the doghouse with Lois.
Hal is brash but lives in fear, spontaneous but too short-sighted to avoid trouble, a reckless spendthrift despite living on the edge of poverty, and somehow the most graceful technical roller skater you’ve ever seen in your life life. All are difficult creator Vince Gilligan once described Bryan Cranston’s Walter White performance as “Mr. Chips turns into Scarface,” but Walter knows nothing about Hal Wilkerson Malcolm in the middle if I had to weigh in.
Think about it…Walter White started at A and ended up at B, and it took five seasons to get there. Like a huge fan of everything All are difficult Universe, I can’t help but think that Hal as a character is much deeper than Walt because he’s a living, breathing contradiction of the highest order.
Hal is paternal, but criminally negligent as a father.
Hal gives wise, life-affirming advice to his sons, but doesn’t follow it himself.
Hal is always the first to try to get the boys out of trouble, but almost always makes things worse when he sees the color red, and acts just as erratic as his kids when things get messy.
Hal is disproportionately self-confident when you look at his life situation from the outside, but he’s self-aware enough to know that he’s completely hopeless without Lois pushing him and pushing him to do better.
Technological delicacy
But perhaps one element Malcolm in the middle what makes it a truly timeless series is the time it took place, which I call the “technological sweet spot”. Malcolm in the middle it’s a series that’s old enough to be the perfect resource for nostalgia, but modern enough to stay relevant without causing too much incredulity. Ahead of smartphones and internet culture taking over our daily interactions, the series focuses so aggressively on family dynamics that it feels like it could come out today and be just as effective without seeming dated.
Francis’ payphone calls home from Marlin Academy may sound dated, but these exchanges simply show viewers how a homesick young man wants to stay connected to his family, even though they’ve decided he’s too unstable to live under their roof. More often than not, whatever B-story plays out at the academy affects the behavior of Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey at home as they plot against Lois under the leadership of their favorite older brother, so these phone calls are absolutely necessary, even if it’s one aspect of the show that seems a little dusty.
In other words, the mobile phone wouldn’t have changed the narrative in any significant way, so these interactions still exist.
Drinking with Malcolm Center on Hulu
The Malcolm in the middle reboot is slated for release sometime this year, but no release date has been set as of this writing. If you’re ready to see what Malcolm and company will be up to during the upcoming four-part series, then you’re strongly advised to go back to the year 2000 and binge watch the entire series instead of watching Friends for the 100th time.
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