# Help settle a debate: Which do you think is the better show, The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2014, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075 "2014-12-24T01:01:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/61 "2014-12-24T23:03:09Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Now that this question has been settled, let’s consider another of equal difficulty: > > Which is the better play: _Hamlet_ as performed at The Globe by the Royal Shakespeare Company -_or_- _The Story of the First Thanksgiving_ as performed by Mrs. Johnson’s second-grade class (the one with the paper mache turkey, where little Tommy forgot his lines and little Sally peed herself). I thought Kayla nailed Pocahontas. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/62 "2014-12-24T23:08:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’re _supposed_ to detest Walter White; he goes from a likable enough guy to a horror show, and the transition is done brilliantly. The series has no shortage of abhorrent characters, but he is truly special in his downward spiral. That the writing and acting is so brilliant as to suck you into their characters is what makes the series so amazing. I know that’s the intention, but I’m with Skald on this one. Walter White makes the show 8 seasons (or whatever) of wishing he would either die or man up so we could all move on now. I never connect with him. I have no interest in seeing his transformation. We’ve had threads where I try to analyze why I feel that way. It’s hard to say why. Tony Soprano works for me, but Walter White doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/63 "2014-12-24T23:20:24Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > I know that’s the intention, but I’m with Skald on this one. Same. The closest to a likeable character in the first season is the narc that Walter and Jesse had locked in the basement before killing him. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2014, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/64 "2014-12-24T23:22:46Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Now that this question has been settled, let’s consider another of equal difficulty: > > Which is the better play: _Hamlet_ as performed at The Globe by the Royal Shakespeare Company -_or_- _The Story of the First Thanksgiving_ as performed by Mrs. Johnson’s second-grade class (the one with the paper mache turkey, where little Tommy forgot his lines and little Sally peed herself). Hamlet is tedious and full of characters that are nothing but props. It could easily be boiled down to 22 minutes. And Hamlet is so unlikable, with all his dithering. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/65 "2014-12-25T02:49:50Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’re _supposed_ to detest Walter White; Then Gilligan failed spectacularly. When the show was airing I remember going around to different discussion sites and a common poll would be if you’re still on Team Walt and his support was sky high until near the end. A lot, if not most of the audience loves him and some even worship even, particularly the powerless males who view themselves as better than those around them and feel constrained by society. He’s their patron saint. Personally, I was always rooting for him. Watching him manipulate everyone is quite entertaining. Villains tend to be the most charismatic and interesting character in a work, plus they act instead of react. Protagonist villains are too much fun to hate. People end up hating those trying to stop them, like his wife, or Hank. Plus, it’s not like he was kicking kittens for fun or something. > [@](#): > > he goes from a likable enough guy to a horror show, and the transition is done brilliantly. We’ve had threads on this before, but I don’t think so. Gilligan said he wanted Mr. Chips to Scarface, but the way the actual show unfolded it turns out he was always an egotistical asshole. He didn’t have a slow slide to villainy, it was pretty much complete in a season. None of this should be construed as a critique of the show, mind. The only things I would change in retrospect is some of the s1 Gray Matter stuff, and maybe tweak the family stuff because it got boring at times. Skyler and Junior weren’t that interesting for most of the show’s run, not until the last season or two anyway. That could be said of a lot of shows where the husband is running a criminal enterprise though, e.g. Sopranos, Shield. BB’s was probably better than most on this front. Having the main cop trying to find him be Hank was a great idea, made for some awkward dinner parties. Marie’s shop lifting never went anywhere, but meh. To bring it back to the comparison, TWD wish it had a character dynamic half as interesting as Walter and Jesse. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/66 "2014-12-25T03:43:14Z")
I can understand a person watching one episode of anything and giving up, perhaps the theme is not their thing or they don’t care for one of the main characters of actors. But there is no way those 14 people who voted for The Walking Dead saw every episode of both shows and picked TWD over BB. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/67 "2014-12-25T03:55:58Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > This brings up another problem I have with TWD that a lot of people don’t mention much: it’s not funny. At least, not intentionally. > > All of the other dramas I listed have competent comic relief, even a grim work like Six Feet Under or Game of Thrones. Comedy relieves the tension and helps the emotional pacing by providing a clear contrast between the depths and heights of your emotional investment and makes each side better. Moreover, it helps make the characters more relatable. \ Totally agreed. We watched a panel with Garrett Wong from “Voyager” this fall, and that was his problem with “Voyager,” and he was completely right - there should have been real humour in the show, instead of just drama (and the occasional extremely lame bit of humour). > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > All right, dammit. That was 30 minutes lost. > > On the subject of the poll it’s Breaking Bad. It’s simply brilliantly written and with a character who gets some power for the first time in his life and goes mad. I haven’t finished the series yet, so I haven’t gotten into any discussions of Walter (but I really, really want to), and I have never thought of his…personal arc that way. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/68 "2014-12-25T05:24:13Z")
I tried TWD for the first 4 eps and couldn’t see what people liked about it. You minority voters … does it get better? What is appealing about it? Agreed about the need for humor to break tension and that the humor works well because of the tension as well. Another show that suffered for that lack btw was Battlestar Galactica. Too damn serious all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/69 "2014-12-25T06:13:14Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > Gilligan said he wanted Mr. Chips to Scarface, but the way the actual show unfolded it turns out he was always an egotistical asshole. Yeah, but I still think it is a long, long way from a ( closeted ) egotisical asshole to muderous criminal mastermind. If Walt had gotten rich as a chemist he just would have been an insufferable douche at cocktail parties, practicing false modesty while he fished for compliments and quietly preened to each little tidbit of praise or admiration. It was a trip from someone _pretending_ ( even to himself ) to be Mr Chips to someone _trying_ to be a more cerebral Scarface. I still think it was a real transformation. But as you said we’ve had innumerable threads on the topic ;). ---
**Author:** ![Onyerbike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onyerbike/32/5402_2.png) [@Onyerbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onyerbike)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/70 "2014-12-25T06:34:52Z")
The Walking Dead just stopped making sense, both at the character level and at the dramatic level. The zombies were just completely inconsistent with how much danger they represented - one moment they are being dispatched with simple weapons left, right and center without any problem, much less at times by a petite lady using her hands, and then the next moment they are absolute horror and cannot be fought off even with guns and numbers and experience. Just stopped being compelling after the first season. Breaking Bad had way more legs for me. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/71 "2014-12-25T14:21:21Z")
This is one of those things where I KNOW ‘A’ is supposed to be better than ‘B’. I know BB is supposed to be far, far superior to TWD in every way. However, I have an obstinate streak, being told ‘don’t watch that, watch this’. So I, like millions of other pathetic ignorant morons, watched, and will continue watching TWD for as long as it’s on, I guess. (besides, I thought the premise of BB was pretty repellant. I think druggies and their suppliers are scum. Sue me. Zombies and guts and gore are not the attraction of TWD to me, it’s the end-of-the-world story I enjoy, flawed as the show is.) ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/72 "2014-12-25T14:52:04Z")
I watch and enjoy Walking Dead but it is one of those shows where you have to suspend disbelief and just go with it. Breaking Bad is in the top tier of television dramas. It had some sections that dragged but I was more than willing to wait them out because I never doubted that more good stuff would come along. BB by a mile. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2014, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/73 "2014-12-25T16:04:17Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > (besides, I thought the premise of BB was pretty repellant. I think druggies and their suppliers are scum. Sue me. I get all the opposition to popular things. But this bit - do you think that Breaking Bad portrays meth dealing in a positive light? > [@](#): > > Zombies and guts and gore are not the attraction of TWD to me, it’s the end-of-the-world story I enjoy, flawed as the show is.) I watch TWD religiously. The end of the world stuff is one of the last reasons to watch TWD; they’re terrible at it. The whole second season, for example, where they just hung out on the farm. The extent of the EOTW stuff the writers are interested in is having _every_ character hash out their angst about having to be violent. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/74 "2014-12-26T23:06:20Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > besides, I thought the premise of BB was pretty repellant. I think druggies and their suppliers are scum. Sue me. I could never get into the Fast & Furious series. They just blatantly glamorize breaking the speed limit. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/75 "2014-12-27T02:00:17Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I can understand a person watching one episode of anything and giving up, perhaps the theme is not their thing or they don’t care for one of the main characters of actors. > > But there is no way those 14 people who voted for The Walking Dead saw every episode of both shows and picked TWD over BB. Ah, but you are wrong. I am one of those 14, and I have watched every episode of both. I voted the way I did because I personally enjoy TWD more than BB. I understand that critically, BB is likely the better show, BUT… while I enjoyed BB, I found that I disliked just about every character on it. I did like Hank, and the son, but that was about it. I just plain enjoy TWD more. I’ve watched every episode multiple times. BB, I had to try 3 times to get thru the first episode. I did get caught up in it, but never grew to CARE about any of the characters. And that’s why I voted TWD. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/76 "2014-12-27T02:34:43Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > You’re _supposed_ to detest Walter White; he goes from a likable enough guy to a horror show, and the transition is done brilliantly. The series has no shortage of abhorrent characters, but he is truly special in his downward spiral. That the writing and acting is so brilliant as to suck you into their characters is what makes the series so amazing. > > I watch TWD, but I detest the writing because the writers have the characters doing amazingly stupid things; things that nobody of average intelligence would do in those situations. Case in point: brand new vehicles everywhere, but they continued to have them driving wrecks that kept breaking down at every inopportune moment. At least they’ve changed that particular annoyance. I also just don’t care about the characters. Any one of them could be killed off and I wouldn’t care. I dont think we are supposed to detest Walter White. He does far too many good and noble deeds for most viewers to detest him(at least until near the very end). Sure, he does plenty of bad stuff, but he does a lot of good too; more good than I would expect from an international drug dealer. Im not overly concerned with the reality behind the show. The series started off as something that could have been a gritty drama - WW fighting his cancer, his financial worries and so on. It soon became an all out stylized action drama with comedic moments. I havent watched all of TWD. I cant imagine it has better writing than the scene in BB where WW is giving his post air crash “pep talk” in the school gymnasium. A pep talk that you know he has been brooding on for days now, and which is intented to primarily console himself. ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/77 "2014-12-27T02:42:29Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > besides, I thought the premise of BB was pretty repellant. I think druggies and their suppliers are scum. Sue me. Aside from Jesse, Gale and (initially) Walter, most all the major drug suppliers were clearly shown to be scum in BB, and they always showed blue meth in a negative light. I usually find it hard to get into Ameridramas, but I loved Breaking Bad from the first episode to the last. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/78 "2014-12-27T03:03:05Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > Now that this question has been settled, let’s consider another of equal difficulty: > > Which is the better play: _Hamlet_ as performed at The Globe by the Royal Shakespeare Company -_or_- _The Story of the First Thanksgiving_ as performed by Mrs. Johnson’s second-grade class (the one with the paper mache turkey, where little Tommy forgot his lines and little Sally peed herself). Dear Lord, give me strength. I am so tired of explaining the obvious, but apparently we need to go through this again. When Sally peed she was clearly making a statement. Sally represents our human weakness, she’s peeing on the very ground of her new home. In Sally we see a frightened child, a child we all have within ourselves who can’t begin to understand the gift she’s been given with this new world. Sally’s pee is our own inability to make connections to the things that keep us grounded, her golden stream is her loss of innocence and while it simply trickles away Sally is transformed. This precious child becomes jaded before our eyes. Innocence lost. Mrs. Johnson’s genius is her willingness to challenge the audience. Did you just watch a second grader pee herself, or did you witness proof that your entire life is a lie? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/79 "2014-12-27T03:18:51Z")
I just could not get into The Walking Dead, so I voted Breaking Bad. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2014, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075/80 "2014-12-27T10:03:55Z")
Everyone in the thread (still reading) try this one thought experiment. Vince Gillian - Walking Dead. can you imagine how many orders of magnitude better that show would be with him and his crew behind it? I like TWD but I honestly am not sure why at least 70% of the time. The writing on that show is fucking terrible, as in [Axe Cop](http://axecop.com/) has more intelligent moments in several episodes in than Some Seasons of TWD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-settle-a-debate-which-do-you-think-is-the-better-show-the-walking-dead-or-breaking-bad/708075.md?page=5)