With the Malcolm in the Middle revival, subtitled Life’s Still Unfair, hitting the small screen 20 years after the conclusion of the original show, program creator Linwood Boomer has explained why it took so long to bring the franchise back. In a recent interview, the Canadian-born film and television producer revealed that he himself was the reason behind the revival’s delay.
Linwood Boomer explains why Malcolm in the Middle revival got delayed
The veteran TV executive noted that he initially decided against expanding the Malcolm in the Middle franchise due to the show’s immense success and the lack of a good idea for continuation.
“I had a good idea, which I did not for over a decade,” Linwood Boomer noted while speaking with Parade. He also admitted that series mainstay Bryan Cranston had approached him years ago with a proposition regarding a Malcolm in the Middle revival. However, Boomer outright rejected the idea.
“I had a sort of stupidly self-indulgent amount of reasons not to do it, that needed to be satisfied before I could do it,” the Little House on the Prairie actor remarked. “Thankfully, the original one made me a boatload of money. And I got a lot of critical acclaim, so I didn’t feel any need to be like, ‘I got to keep going with it.’ I realized I was kind of a prima donna, very entitled of me, very overprivileged of me to do.”
However, when Linwood Boomer’s wife pitched him an idea that would see Malcolm play the role of a parent, he decided to move ahead with the Malcolm in the Middle revival.
“I thought it was interesting, the chance for Malcolm, not only to have to deal with that and watch his genetics getting passed on, and to sort of heal himself through having his own kid,” Boomer said. “It felt like there was a lot of room there.”
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, spawning four episodes, premiered in its entirety on Hulu on April 10.
