ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
A cult classic sitcom is back after 20 years.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BOSS OF ME")
THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS: (Singing) Yes, no, maybe - I don't know.
NADWORNY: A lot has changed in the world since "Malcolm In The Middle," the show about a loving but dysfunctional family, last aired. But the same old adventures remain. So what's new? Everyone is grown up and seemingly doing right. That is until the family plans a reunion to celebrate mom and dad's anniversary.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE: LIFE'S STILL UNFAIR")
JANE KACZMAREK: (As Lois) Malcolm, I need you to call me back today about our anniversary. We have to know when you're coming, and we know you're coming because you would never be that monstrously inconsiderate. Love you.
(LAUGHTER)
NADWORNY: Jane Kaczmarek plays Lois, the temperamental but affectionate mother in the family in the new limited series "Malcolm In The Middle: Life's Still Unfair." Hi, Jane. Thank you so much for being with us.
KACZMAREK: Hello. I'm so happy to be speaking with you. You have no idea what NPR has meant to me all of my life.
NADWORNY: Oh, well, we're excited to talk to you. I mean, it's been 20 years.
KACZMAREK: You know, we did that pilot in 1999. Clinton was still president.
NADWORNY: (Laughter).
KACZMAREK: The show went on for seven years. I had two babies during the course of it. I was pregnant the first season. They had, you know, the most ingenious ways to cover it. One of my favorites was they had a laundry basket, and they cut the center of it out. And I'm holding frying pans and purses and all sorts of things to cover the pregnancy. And then two years later, I had another baby, and they wrote that in, so that was a little easier to do. But, you know, those children are all now out of college and gainfully employed. You know, a whole world has gone by. So to come back to this magical time with these characters - oh, my God, we love each other so much - it was a dream come true.
NADWORNY: Are you bringing that lived life into your newer version of Lois?
KACZMAREK: My entire life, I've been in a hurry, and Lois was, too. I think maybe now Lois is just still in a hurry but maybe is slowing down a little bit. However, she's still pretty reckless. You know, that car accident...
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE: LIFE'S STILL UNFAIR")
BRYAN CRANSTON: (As Hal) I had the most amazing breakthrough.
KACZMAREK: (As Lois) Not now. Carl (ph), you still there?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Carl) Yep.
KACZMAREK: (As Lois) You delivered the wrong projector. I want the right projector, Carl.
CRANSTON: (As Hal) Honey, are you worried about that herd of buffalo coming up on your left?
KACZMAREK: (As Lois) Sweetheart, please, I'm busy.
And she's still trying to make sure no one's pulling a fast one on her. She's so determined to make this the party of a lifetime for Hal. And, you know, you mentioned it in the intro, which is something I just - makes me kind of nuts - is that term dysfunctional. We were so functional as a family. We had dinner together every night. That husband and wife were, you know, on the same page about how things should be run, and those boys never got away with anything. We were loud. We were aggressive. We were trying to make ends meet. But this was a highly functional family as far as that they were fed, they weren't in jail, and the parents still had a lot of sex.
NADWORNY: (Laughter).
KACZMAREK: So (laughter) I like to think of them as highly functioning.
NADWORNY: It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun, both then and now.
KACZMAREK: Well, the first day we got back to do this reboot, Bryan said, oh, my God, they're the age we were when we filmed this originally.
NADWORNY: Bryan Cranston, of course, yes.
KACZMAREK: That's a real sobering moment because if they're in their early 40s, what does that make us (laughter)? I was really happy with how much I enjoyed their company with them being grownups. I was really proud of them and what they've done.
NADWORNY: Yeah, what was it like getting that call about...
KACZMAREK: Oh, God.
NADWORNY: ...The reunion?
KACZMAREK: Bryan was the one who was really pushing for this. So when they came up with the idea of the 40th wedding anniversary, Bryan called and said, I think we've got an idea. Bryan was the one who was really keeping in touch with us. And I've had the most wonderful life having a life outside of show business for a while now. So here I am ironing, and the call comes that we're going back. And I thought, this is just something I never expected in a million years.
NADWORNY: Well, I want to talk a little bit about the plot. Malcolm's character has essentially grown apart from his family, trying to avoid them as much as possible until it all kind of comes crashing down.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE: LIFE'S STILL UNFAIR")
KACZMAREK: (As Lois) Malcolm, we are not doing this by email or text or over the phone or by Zoom. We are going to talk about it. No matter what you have to arrange, you are going to be at our anniversary with the rest of the family.
KEELEY KARSTEN: (As Leah) Dad?
KACZMAREK: (As Lois) You have a daughter?
KARSTEN: (As Leah) She's alive?
KACZMAREK: (Laughter) Can you imagine? We haven't seen him for years. He works for a charity, and every time there's going to be any kind of family reunion or holiday, you know, some catastrophe happens somewhere in the world, and he has to go there to help people in need. But he has very successfully kept away from us and kept away the fact that he has this teenage daughter we don't know. And he's told her that his parents are dead, so she never asks about them. So this confrontation, this realization is a real - that's the real surprise.
NADWORNY: Why you think "Malcolm In The Middle" became such a cult classic?
KACZMAREK: Lois is such an eagle eye, and that becomes really fun to see, the lengths these kids are going to go to get away with something with their mother. Also, it was just smart in a way. There was an old lady living next door, and Malcolm would go and drive her car around the block when she was taking a nap. He gets caught.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE")
FLORENCE STANLEY: (As Mrs. Griffin) Where you been, car thief? Come back to steal my jewelry?
FRANKIE MUNIZ: (As Malcolm) I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It was a horrible mistake. Oh, my God, my mom's here. What am I going to do?
KACZMAREK: And I make Malcolm go over to that woman and apologize. But also, his punishment is he has to rub her feet.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE")
STANLEY: (As Mrs. Griffin) Don't be stingy with that lotion. You're going to need a knife when you get to the corns.
KACZMAREK: And they found feet that - they looked like parrot talons.
(LAUGHTER)
KACZMAREK: The punishments were so creative and unusual. But it was a smart show, and it never dealt with sex. You know, the thought of being able to watch things with your family became fewer and far between. And I think "Malcolm" really still hung on to - I mean, it sounds corny, but the whole family could watch together. And it was never topical, either. So even though 20 years have gone on, you can still get a kick out of these storylines because they haven't aged. And people around the world - I mean, we were talking about people who had come up to us, fans who have seen this show around the world. My most unusual was I was at Heathrow Airport changing planes and a family came up to me, and they said, are you Lois? I said, yes, where are you from? Pakistan. I said, you get "Malcolm In The Middle" in Pakistan? People all over the world know this show.
NADWORNY: I want to ask you about reboots in general. I mean, reboots are popular for a reason. I wonder, what do you think the value of a nostalgia show is? Or what's the value of nostalgia in general?
KACZMAREK: Oh, well, nostalgia, the definition is, of course, the idea of going back to something and remembering it in a way that it never happened in the first place. And I think that's why people are so attached to nostalgia - is because you can wipe out all the bad parts of it and just hang on to the gold that was there.
NADWORNY: Jane Kaczmarek plays Lois in the new limited series "Malcolm In The Middle: Life's Still Unfair." All four episodes are now streaming on Hulu. Thank you so much for being with us, Jane.
KACZMAREK: Oh, it was absolutely my pleasure. Thank you. Thank you for setting this up. I really enjoyed talking with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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