2000s Sitcom On Hulu Is The Perfect Binge Watch

By Robert Scucci
| Published 28 seconds ago

When I heard the news about Disney + for the first time Malcolm in the Middle revival, I decided to revisit the original series on Hulu with guarded enthusiasm. Although I have a penchant for watching the sitcoms I was brought up over and over again (no one watches Frasier and a golden age Simpsons more than me), I was reluctant to tune into the goings-on of the Wilkerson family because I was afraid the series wouldn’t hold up nearly 20 years after finishing its seven-season run. Fortunately, 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 haven’t heard in decades as if I had just watched the series the last week.

Malcolm In The Middle is a Timely Family Discount Comedy

Most sitcoms tend to have one or two standout characters who carry the whole show, but Malcolm in the Middle is cut from a different cloth. From the first episode when Malcolm Wilkerson (Frankie Muniz) discovers he has an IQ of 165 and is placed in the gifted class “Krelboyne”, you’d think he’d be front and center. That is, until you meet Malcolm’s lovable but dysfunctional family.

Living at home with Malcom are his two siblings: his pale and hot-headed older brother, Reese (Justin Berfield), and his innocent but subtle and possibly gifted younger brother, Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan). The trio of troublemakers also have an older brother called Francis (Christopher Masterson) who was taken to Marlin Academy, a military school for troubled youths.

All siblings in Malcolm in the Middle good intentions, but boys will be boys, so their main means of showing affection is by beating each other up, pulling elaborate pranks on each other, and regularly getting into trouble with the law.

Enter the Parents

Despite their differences, the boys are Malcolm in the Middle one common enemy, and this is their mother, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek). Ruling the household with an iron fist, Lois is a tyrant with a heart of gold, as she always looks out for her family the only ways she knows how: yelling, psychological warfare, and humiliation. Although a woman like Lois may seem insufferable in any other context, she is the perfect mother in Malcolm in the Middle because of how unpredictably destructive her children are, making her abrasiveness absolutely necessary to keep her family out of trouble.

You might think that Francis, Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey’s problematic behavior is a product of their upbringing and environment (read: Lois is a bad mother), but when you learn more about their father, Hal (Bryan Cranston), it becomes clear that their short-sighted impulsiveness may be genetically inherited.

Hal Wilkerson Is More Complicated Than Walter White

Living in constant fear of Lois’ brief but absolutely necessary outbursts, Hal often refers to his past as a bad boy, which through stories resembles the behavior of his four sons today. 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 his front yard) in his tight whiteness, and bribing his children to take the plunge. whenever he engages in behavior that could put him in the doghouse with Lois.

Hal is arrogant but lives in fear, spontaneous but too short-sighted to keep himself out of trouble, a reckless spender despite living on the brink of poverty, and, somehow, the most graceful technical skateboarder you’ve ever seen in your life. . Bad Break creator Vince Gilligan once described Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of Walter White as “Mr. Chips turns into Scarface,” but Walter ain’t got nothing on Hal Wilkerson Malcolm in the Middle if I had to weigh in.

Think about it… Walter White started at point A, and ended at point B, and it took five seasons to get there. Like a huge fan of it all Bad Break universe, I can’t help but think that Hal as a character goes much deeper than Walt because he’s a living, breathing contradiction of the highest order.

Hal is fatherly but criminally negligent as a parent.

Hal offers wise and positive advice to his sons​​​​​​​​​​but he fails to follow it himself.

Hal is always the first person to try and bail the boys out of trouble, but he almost always makes things worse when he sees red and acts just as recklessly as his offspring when things are getting messy.

Hal is disproportionately confident when you look at his living situation from the outside, but he is self-aware enough to know that he is completely hopeless without Lois reeling him in and pushing him to be his best self.

The Technological Sweet Spot

But maybe the same element of Malcolm in the Middle what makes it a truly timeless series is the time it took place, which I refer to as the “technological sweet spot.” Malcolm in the Middle is a series old enough to be perfectly worthy nostalgia fodder in fits and starts, but modern enough to remain relevant without too much suspension of disbelief. Predating smartphones and internet culture taking over our day-to-day interactions, the series focuses so aggressively on family dynamics that it feels like something that could come out today and be just as effective without seeming old fashioned.

Francis’ pay phone calls to his home from Marlin Academy may seem old hat, but these exchanges show the audience how a young adult longs to stay in touch with his family despite their decision to being too volatile to live under their roof. More often than not, whatever B’s story at the academy influences the behavior of Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey back home as they plot against Lois with the guidance of their beloved older brother, so these phone calls are absolutely necessary, even if this happens. one aspect of the show seems a bit dusty.

In other words, a mobile phone wouldn’t change the narrative in any significant way, so these interactions still exist.

Binge Malcolm In The Middle On Hulu

The Malcolm in the Middle A reboot is expected to come out sometime this year, but as of this writing there is no set release date. If you’re ready to see what Malcolm and company will be up to over the next four episodes, then it’s highly recommended that you go back to the year 2000 and go through the whole series instead of watching. Friends for the 100th time.