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'It had never been done on television before': The oral history of "Breaking Bad"
Esquire ^ | 16 Jan 2018 | Emma Dibdin

Posted on 01/20/2018 8:13:06 AM PST by Drew68

Television changed the night of January 20, 2008: Breaking Bad, a bold and singular drama about a downtrodden, dying high school teacher so desperate for cash that he starts cooking crystal meth, would come to define a golden era of television. But nobody knew that on the night the show premiered. In fact, there was every reason to assume the show, debuting on a then-nascent network with no track record in original programming, wouldn’t last past its first season.

Breaking Bad was not a ratings hit, not a household name, not a show that earned a spot in the zeitgeist for several years. Its slow-burn character writing, bleakly stunning visuals, and moral nuance made it niche; its early days brought a series of hurdles that could have killed a lesser show. But it had a passionate fanbase, a growing mass of critical support, and a network that believed in this story of a good man gone bad—or, depending on your take, a bad man finally given the chance to unmask himself.

Turning "Mr Chips into Scarface," as creator Vince Gilligan has famously dubbed Walter White’s transformation from milquetoast to ruthless drug lord, is no small feat. Through Bryan Cranston’s six-time Emmy winning performance, viewers witnessed a modern-day Greek tragedy—a man who claims to be protecting his family but ends up destroying them, along with Jesse (Aaron Paul), his protégé and greatest victim. It was a meticulous, mesmerizing character study that made it impossible to look away once you were in. As the acclaim and the awards piled up, the ratings gradually followed. By the season finale in 2013, viewership had spiked tenfold, with a record 10.3 million viewers tuning in for the final chapter.

(Excerpt) Read more at esquire.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: breakingbad; heisenberg; walterwhite
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To: discostu
Tough crowd huh? Image and video hosting by TinyPic They prolly don't want to hear that Hank kills Tuco AND his charming cousins.
81 posted on 01/20/2018 10:29:14 AM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all white armed conservatives)
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To: tumblindice

Oh man, the cousins.


82 posted on 01/20/2018 10:31:10 AM PST by discostu (Lick here [ ] you might be one of the lucky 25.)
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To: Drew68

My favorite episode was “Face Off” where Walter White takes out Gus in the nursing home with the help of Hector “Tio” Salamanca who blows himself and Gus to kingdom come with a wheelchair bomb. The scene where Gus walks out of the bombed-out room was mind blowing.


83 posted on 01/20/2018 10:35:12 AM PST by WMarshal (John McCain is the turd in America's punch bowl. McLame cannot even fake an injury.)
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To: Drew68

Excellent, satisfying article.

I love the part where Cranston says he knew it was taking off when people started stealing the yellow directional signs for filming. I see them daily and you can’t really tell what show or commercial it’s for with the names on them and I don’t care. But if I had seen BrBa or whatever, I might have been tempted to pull over and grab one... I get it.


84 posted on 01/20/2018 10:36:07 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: WMarshal

“The scene where Gus walks out of the bombed-out room was mind blowing.”

-

You’re not kidding.

.


85 posted on 01/20/2018 10:37:22 AM PST by Mears
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To: Vermont Lt

It wasn’t the best ending because it was the best ending. It was the best SERIES because it was a complete story like no other series ever was, with a legit ending to the whole thing. It was perfect in frame. The acting and scripts and cinematography and everything Vince did made it near perfect on top of the one complete tv story without filler.


86 posted on 01/20/2018 10:39:01 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: lee martell

I don’t think that it glorified meth. I think the show should be a warning to the world of what will happen if you reduce the American middle class to poverty. If you want to see organized criminal activity that will collapse governments, reorder the world, and eventually destroy the establishment then that is one way to do it.


87 posted on 01/20/2018 10:40:23 AM PST by WMarshal (John McCain is the turd in America's punch bowl. McLame cannot even fake an injury.)
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To: discostu

“And really what surprises would there have been?”

Walt shot by his own son. Would that have surprised you?

Jesse hanging himself to stop from being forced to cook. That would have been surprising.


88 posted on 01/20/2018 10:40:42 AM PST by vladimir998 (Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: Drew68

THANKS drew...
I’m in the market for a HD TV.
LIFE is GOOD!


89 posted on 01/20/2018 10:40:45 AM PST by Big Red Badger (UNSCANABLE in an IDIOCRACY!)
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To: WMarshal
My favorite episode was “Face Off” where Walter White takes out Gus in the nursing home

Oh yeah, absolutely!

If Gus' face looks a little familiar, it's because AMC employed the special effects team from one of their up-and-coming hit shows, The Walking Dead, to drop by and showcase their talents.

Breaking Bad - Gustavo Fring death scene

90 posted on 01/20/2018 10:42:06 AM PST by Drew68
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To: Drew68; All
If you want another really great series, try Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad. It covers the transition of sleazy, ambitious, failing young lawyer Jimmy McGill into sleazy, ambitious, successful, and increasingly criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Saul is the lawyer Walter White retains for legal and money laundering advice. The character development in Better Call Saul is even better than in Breaking Bad.
91 posted on 01/20/2018 10:42:30 AM PST by libstripper
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To: Mariner

Seriously it changed that song forever. If I hear it I get chills.

My son turned me on to it when I was pregnant. He swore it “wasn’t That violent.” The episode when the bathtub comes through the ceiling, I’m like ‘get back to me with this in 9 mo.” Couldn’t watch it then. After she was born we all binge watched 4 seasons and then watched both halves of season 5 Live, waiting a week to see the next episode.

What an experience.

It ended right before Halloween so I started immediately making blue meth... out of sugar... and we set up a lab table and my sons got costumes and dry ice and when our town went nuts as usual Halloween night my guys had their breaking bad table that was very popular all night long. Everyone was celebrating / mourning the end of that show.


92 posted on 01/20/2018 10:44:49 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: ichabod1

So you’re a weed dealer on Free Republic?


93 posted on 01/20/2018 10:53:30 AM PST by Blue Highway
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To: libstripper
If you want another really great series, try Better Call Saul, the prequel to Breaking Bad.

I watched parts of the first season and then decided to let it sit on the back burner for a few years so I can binge watch it. I'm doing the same with Fear the Walking Dead.

I'd rather binge a series that has been out a few years than watch a current show week after week. I've found I just enjoy it more this way.

94 posted on 01/20/2018 10:56:39 AM PST by Drew68
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To: Yaelle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYSHFrKkO4g


95 posted on 01/20/2018 11:00:11 AM PST by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
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To: BlueHorseShoe

#30 Gilligan and the other castaways get off the island : )


96 posted on 01/20/2018 11:00:58 AM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: discostu
And let’s not forget the boat sank

Damn, and I was going to start that Love Boat marathon. You just saved me countless hours I would have wasted, thanks.

97 posted on 01/20/2018 11:08:23 AM PST by Blue Highway
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To: vladimir998

How would you have ended the show? I’m pretty sure Walt dies in this but he is not dead at the time the cops find him correct?


98 posted on 01/20/2018 11:11:20 AM PST by Blue Highway
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To: Drew68

Boy many folks simply adore Braking Bad...it’s always been this way

I thought it was decent but not even close to Sopranos or GOT

but that’s fine....

I binge watched it......I wouldn’t have stuck with it


99 posted on 01/20/2018 11:13:05 AM PST by wardaddy (As a southerner I've never trusted the Grand Old Party.....any questions?)
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To: tumblindice

Actually Hank doesnt kill Tuco he was already shot by Walt. I think he died from Walt.


100 posted on 01/20/2018 11:13:40 AM PST by Blue Highway
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