Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair; The Miniature Wife; Big Mistakes

“Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is so much more fun than it has any right to be. We live in an age where sitcoms of old have a habit of coming back either tired (the new Scrubs) or lazy (the Friends reunion), but that particular memo didn’t reach the target here. Everything about the new Malcolm in the Middle is cranked all the way up. It’s faster and funnier than before, its emotional beats hitting harder and its story hanging together as a cohesive whole. Quite honestly, it’s miraculous how well it works.”
Stuart Heritage, The Guardian

“The cast is fine. The former child actors, [Frankie] Muniz included, can still do their bit, though none have blossomed into world-beaters. The show, however, was always anchored by the strength of [Jane- Kaczmarek and [Bryan] Cranston, and both flex their comic and dramatic muscles, though to little positive effect. Lois is painted as a cold, nagging harridan, Hal as a putz. [Linwood] Boomer gives them a huge, emotional crescendo that feels earned by the seven excellent series earlier in the millennium, but not by these four doleful add-ons.”
Chris Bennion, Telegraph

“Old sitcoms tend to age on a scale of milk to deli meat, but Malcolm was different in that, despite its unmistakably early Noughties setting, the show felt timeless in a way – an oddball tale of true blue weirdos that is as watchable now as it was then. That the reboot failed to recapture its bizarre charisma is unfortunate, but unsurprising. Luckily, all six seasons of the original are also available on Disney+. Watch that again instead.”
Annabel Nugent, Independent

“Whatever miracle tech Matthew Macfadyen is using, he has to divulge it to the world. His rejuvenation secret is going to make fat jabs seem as trivial as aspirin. I’m not talking about the cell-shrinking chemical spray in his ten-part comedy drama The Miniature Wife, which is frankly a load of badly constructed, stodgy nonsense. I mean his anti-ageing ray-gun/wrinkle-lotion/regeneration-zapper/however-he-does-it magic. At 51, Macfadyen looks no older than he did 20 years ago as Mr Darcy in Pride & Prejudice. He’s far more youthful than he appeared in Succession or Ripper Street. It can’t just be a good hair-cut. He looks practically boyish. Everything else about The Miniature Wife, though, shuffles along like an octogenarian in need of a hip replacement. It creaks, it groans, and it moves so slowly that I found myself shouting at the screen, ‘For goodness’ sake, just get on with it.’”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“There are a lot of set pieces – especially involving Lindy’s escapes from various vertiginous locations and vegetables exploding in Les’s lab as he attempts to find the successful restoration formula, which is always fun. But long before the end of its nearly 10-hour run you begin to feel the limitations. Ames and Turner adapted The Miniature Wife from a short story of the same name by Manuel Gonzales, but they needed to bring a lot more to the table to justify this kind of run time. Lindy might not agree, but quite often shorter is better.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“While part of me thinks the outstanding actor who played one of Succession’s finest characters, if not the finest character, deserves better than a knockabout average drama-comedy, he is the best thing in it. As the series progresses he gets better and funnier lines, and we see the slight sadist in him (at one point he is about to flush his teeny wife down the lavatory, and later there is a very mean episode involving the budgie and another colleague, but I won’t spoil it by elaborating).”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“There is some tension to be had in waiting to see whether Lindy will be brought back to full size, some enjoyment in watching Macfadyen’s giant eye gawping through the doll’s house window, but not enough for 10 hours of your valuable time. Ironically, then, The Miniature Wife is a nice, small story about being made to feel little. It’s just that the show itself has been made too big.”
Benji Wilson, Telegraph

“The cast are all brilliant. Metcalf swings masterfully between steely authority and papery fragility, Levy is predictably charming and Ortega is downright hilarious (the duo also have enviable personal style: Nicky dresses like an Instagram-friendly Seinfeld; Morgan has a great line in gothic boho chic). The domestic cringe comedy at its heart means Big Mistakes is far from a major error, but it isn’t quite a triumph either. Perhaps that’s inevitable. They may seem like a safer bet for a risk-averse TV industry, but shows made by stars can rarely compete with the ones that make them.”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian

“It’s been six years since Schitt’s Creek, the comedy that defined lockdown for many of us, came to an end. Almost immediately, it was announced that its star and co-creator Dan Levy was working on a new show for Netflix and then… nothing. This is not normally a good sign in television. Big Mistakes, however, was worth the wait. It’s a cracking crime caper that takes the family comedy of Schitt’s Creek and whips it into a wicked, pitch-black thriller.”
Benji Wilson, Telegraph