One will be hard-pressed to find a sitcom that captures the ups and downs of the early 2000s quite like Malcolm in the Middle. Without a doubt the best and most iconic sitcom of that era, the series consistently relished in its depiction of an average suburban American family who is truly anything but. Not only is it still gut-bustingly hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt from start to finish, but it also helped launch the careers of mainstay stars like Big Fat Liar star Frankie Muniz and Breaking Bad icon Bryan Cranston.
Because of that almost incomparable legacy, fans were overjoyed to hear that Disney and Hulu would be bringing the series back in the form of a four-part revival, reuniting almost the entire cast after 20 years. The result debuted on April 10 with Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, which has Malcom (Muniz), now a father and a successful business owner, trying his best to avoid his family despite his parents’, Lois (Jane Kaczmarek) and Hal (Cranston), wedding anniversary. Even though there was some dubious backlash from a vocal minority who accused the series of being “woke,” the revival was not only well-received by both fans and critics alike, but it’s also still dominating streaming conversations.
In the past week, across both Disney+ and Hulu, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is became among the top five shows on the streaming platforms. An impressive feat considering the four-episode revival debuted exactly one month ago and is still posting big ratings, even overtaking regular streaming chart toppers like ABC‘s mega-hit crime series, High Potential. The series is also holding its own against several notable newcomers, such as the second season of Marvel’s own revival Daredevil: Born Again, the Star Wars villain spin-off Maul – Shadow Lord, and the Handmaid’s Tale sequel series The Testaments.
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Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
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⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
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01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
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02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
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03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
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04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
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05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
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06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
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07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
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08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
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09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
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10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
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Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
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🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
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You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
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You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
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Is ‘Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair’ Getting a Season 2?
One would think that with the clear ongoing success of the series, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair would be a shoe in for a Season 2 renewal, but that may not be the case. Speaking to Collider’s Steve Weintraub on the possibility of more, both Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek made it clear that the revival was not made with the intention of being a “stepping stone” to another season. That being said, Cranston also implied that if the new show was well-received enough and creator Linwood Boomer has a compelling idea for more, he may consider another stint as Hal.
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is streaming now on Disney+ and Hulu. Stay tuned to Collider for more streaming updates.
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