Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and
produced by
Vince Gilligan. The series is broadcast in the United States and Canada on the cable channel
AMC, and is a production of
Sony Pictures Television. It premiered on January 20, 2008. The series was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on July 17, 2011.
[1][2][3] On August 14, 2011, AMC announced that
Breaking Bad had been renewed for a fifth and final season consisting of 16 episodes that may be split over two seasons.
[4]
Set and produced in
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Breaking Bad is the story of
Walter White (
Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series. He turns to a life of crime, producing and selling
methamphetamine with a former student,
Jesse Pinkman (
Aaron Paul), with the aim of securing his family's financial future before he dies.
[5]
Breaking Bad has received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and
cinematography as well as for Cranston's and Paul's performances. It has won six
Emmy Awards—including three consecutive wins for
Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Cranston—in addition to numerous other awards and nominations.
Production
The series is set and filmed in and around
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[6] It is shot in
35 mm film.
[7]
The network originally ordered nine episodes for the first season (including the pilot), but the
2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike limited the production to seven episodes.
[8]
Lead actor
Bryan Cranston stated in an interview: "The term 'breaking bad' is a southern
colloquialism and it means when someone who has taken a turn off the path of the straight and narrow, when they've gone wrong. And that could be for that day or for a lifetime."
[9] Writer and creator
Vince Gilligan defines the term as "to raise hell".
[10] Cast member
Betsy Brandt admits that when she first read the script she wasn't sure if it was meant to be a drama or a dark comedy.
[11]
Breaking Bad reportedly costs $3 million per episode to produce, higher than the average cost for a basic cable program.
[12]
Series creator Vince Gilligan has indicated that he intends to conclude
Breaking Bad with the fifth season.
[13] In early August 2011, negotiations began over a deal regarding the fifth and possible final season between the network
AMC and
Sony Pictures Television, the production company of the series. AMC proposed a shortened fifth season (six to eight episodes, instead of 13) to cut costs, but the producers declined. Sony then approached other cable networks about possibly picking up the show if a deal can not be made.
[14] On August 14, 2011, a deal was made where AMC renewed the series for a final season consisting of 16 episodes.
[4]
Crew
Along with series creator
Vince Gilligan the show's other executive producer is
Mark Johnson.
Michelle MacLaren initially joined the crew as an episodic director for the second season and rose to the position of executive producer for the fourth season. Melissa Bernstein and
Sam Catlin are co-executive producers for the show.
John Shiban was a writer for the second season and a consulting producer for the third season but then left the crew. Writers
George Mastras and
Peter Gould began working on the series as story editors for the first season and became supervising producers for the fourth season. Thomas Schnauz joined the crew as a writer and co-producer for the third season and was also promoted to supervising producer for the fourth season.
Karen Moore was the series on set producer for the first two seasons. She left the crew after the second season and was replaced by Stewart A. Lyons. Star
Bryan Cranston has become increasingly involved behind the camera as the series has progressed. He began directing episodes as of the second season and became a producer for the fourth season.
