I figured it out, why Breaking Bad IS The Greatest Television Show in The History of The Universe, what that “thing” is, that extra something that allowed this particular group of outstanding writers, actors, directors, and other wonderfully talented people to rise above all the other outstanding teams who created terrific television (Sopranos, Wire, Six Feet Under, etc. etc.) and create a show that is probably as close to flawless as we’re ever likely to see.
It’s because, unlike any other TV series that lasted longer than a single season, this is the only one that, over many years and seasons, was always and only about one very particular, specific story. A story with a very clear, uncluttered beginning, middle, and end. For all intents and purposes, Breaking Bad was really the world’s longest movie.
No other show has ever done that. There are always side stories, detours, filler, shifts in focus. And because of that, even great shows have some sucktastic moments, episodes, even whole seasons. (I’m looking at you, Wire Season 5) But Breaking Bad was excellent throughout. Rather than stumbling, its footing got firmer all the time.
The amazing team was able to capture the lightening in the bottle because they were able to totally focus on this one story of one man’s spectacular journey. And as a result, we got something amazing.
It’s a matter of preference. Personally, I loved that The Wire started “fresh” every year. For one thing, it means that if you aren’t in love with one season, you can start over again with the next one. It also adds depth to the characters and the problem they face. Without season 4 and 5, we wouldn’t really understand how any of the characters in the preceding seasons became the people they are. Bubbles suddenly becomes a fully 3-D character when you meet Deshawn. He stops being just a crack head. As BB has progressed, I’ve become more familiar with Walter White. But he hasn’t gotten more complex as a character, in my opinion. The moment he shaved his head and started wearing that hat, I knew where the show was taking me.
Also, even the most exciting stories have the lulls. And I get tired of the same character hogging the screen. I’m midway in season 5 and it’s almost like Skyler doesn’t exist anymore, except to repeat the same tired “I’m afraid for the children!” lines. She’s always been a weak character, but at least in the previous seasons she had her own drama to follow. Jesse is the same way. Used to be that we’d get to see him hanging out with Skinny Pete and Badger (for comic effect). Now he has no independent screen time (maybe this will change soon? I hope so.) All BB seems to be about is the evolution of a mild-mannered nerd into a bad guy. Entertaining, yes. But best TV show in the universe? A show should have more depth to earn that title.
I agree about “specific story” focus. It never tried to “expand” the story for the sake of prolonging the series which anyone can see through.
Development of character, ours getting to know a person was another key element. While it may look like a pace slowdown, to me, it looked like - to use a cliche - a calm before the storm. And if you miss clues during calm, you don’t get emotional impact of a storm.
Another thing is the concept of “cliffhanger”, the same way cliffhangers were used for serialized fiction in the mid to late 1800’s - same concept, different medium. It was done in such a sublime way that every rush to a resolution only led to another cliffhanger.
The problem with shows like Breaking Bad is that if you miss one episode, you might as well give up.
I don’t see how this show got so popular. You HAVE to start from the very beginning or else NOTHING makes sense. The numbers of viewers should decrease from episode to episode because it can’t gain the casual viewer, and if a longtime viewer misses an episode then he/she can’t watch the next episode anymore without being lost. Yes, you can hunt down the missed episode online or wait for the rerun at some unknown hour, but that takes a lot of effort that I’m sure people are not going to expend for casual entertainment.
I tried watching a random episode and I had no clue at all what was going on at all. It was like turning to a random page in a 1000 page novel and starting from there, and expecting me to know every minor character, storyline, and history without any explanation.
The only way a show like this makes sense to the casual fan is to release it all at once on dvd, which is then essentially a long movie like the OP says.
In the era of Netflix, podcasts, and Internet reviews/synopses of each episode, a problem like that doesn’t matter anymore.
I actually started watching on TV partway through the first season and had no problem picking up what was happening. I can see a problem trying to pick it up in season four or five, but again, Netflix or online synopses to the rescue. I watched the episodes I had never seen prior to season five, and while they added to my understanding they were not mandatory to enjoy or understand the show.
I think the answer to this is that the method of watching TV you describe—“tune in at 9:00 (8:00 Central) on Sundays for Breaking Bad!”—is quickly falling by the wayside. I started watching Breaking Bad on Netflix, and once I was hooked, I signed up for Amazon Instant Video season passes so I could watch the episodes at my leisure (usually the day after they came out). I ended up having watched every episode of Breaking Bad, not a one out of order. And no, it was not “a lot of effort”.
Of course, having things like (gasp!) character development and a lack of a reset button isn’t precisely a new invention in television. But technology, from VCRs to DVRs to Internet streaming, have made it progressively easier to keep up.
With a show that is very much serialized, and has never made any bones about it, why would you do this?
I didn’t start watching it until this year and caught up only in time for the start of the second half of this season. And started on the recommendation of my oldest son.
Netflix allows shows like this, whose long term arcs need to be started at the beginning, to have audiences that grow along the way. And a regular viewer does not miss an episode, they DVR it. It’s just set to do that.
I don’t think it’s a problem in this day an age. Breaking Bad could not have been successful if it had been broadcast fifteen years ago, but times have changed. Between Netflix, iTunes, and DVDs (and torrents, if we’re being upfront) it’s not hard for a fan to stay up to date on a show. New viewers drawn in by critical acclaim and word of mouth don’t have to start in the middle, they have plenty of ways to catch up from the beginning. By most accounts viewership only increased during its run.
Designing shows to appeal to drop in viewership was essential back when people for the most part had to depend on broadcasts to keep up, but that is no longer the case. There’s still a place for that kind of show, but Breaking Bad has proven that a tightly serialized show can be both critically and financially successful nowadays.
Without this (or another similar) outlet, you’d be right - viewership would decrease. However, many, many netflix subscribers started watching from the pilot, while season 3-4-5 was airing. They then caught up and watched live as soon as they could. I did this - caught up for the beginning of season 4. I don’t have cable, so I watched each new episode the next day (after legally buying it on Itunes and streaming it to my TV). The next day business was a pain - I had to avoid whole swaths of the internet on Mondays, but that’s life without cable…
There’s also the DVR option - if the episode is sitting on your DVR, there’s no chance of “missing” it if you want to see it.
I’ve never understood the whole “jump in and watch from the middle” of any TV show. I sort of get it with some simple sitcoms, but I’ve always watched every episode or none at all. I was a master at programming the VCR back in the day. These things tell stories, or at least feature characters who might change from episode to episode. You miss so much without that background.
You nailed it. That is exactly what I thought even before the final season.
Yep. Which is exactly what happened when I saw the teasers for the final season. I couldn’t follow or understand most of the final season, much less care. So I watched the entire series first.
Yes, and if you have the luxury of it being on DVD or DVR, you can fast forward through the boring parts (and trust me, if you are watching a 50 hour movie to catch up so you can watch the last 10 episodes, a 50 hour Breaking Bad movie with out fast forward is awful. Unbearable actually.)
I’m currently watching the entire series, but with out fast forward, and the slow parts are horrible at times. Certainly if I had to wait a week, or a year, for the next episode, and was watching for the first time, it would be better.
But you could edit the entire series down to a 9 hour movie and it would be fantastic. Release it as 3 movies (LOTR) each about three hours long, it would be the greatest movie ever.
Unless you already watched the series. Which a lot of people have not, and never will.
You’re probably right. I’m just a completist and don’t enjoy a show unless I have a good sense of the plot trajectory and what the characters have done. I also have a personal preference for shows with continuity, long running jokes, and continuing arcs. My favorite sitcom currently on is How I Met Your Mother, which yeah you can jump in and find it funny, but all the callbacks and such are what makes it better than average (and great ay certain moments). Arrested Development is the same way x1000.
I think it was last year that Game of Thrones was the most torrented show. I have to imagine BB was in the top 10 for the last couple years. In the era of cheap hard drives and widespread high speed internet downloading a bunch of series is trivial.
As for BB, they didn’t exactly plan it all out. Listen to the podcasts and they often talk about just making it up as they go along, getting painted into corners, and changing the plot depending on how much they liked the actors (e.g. Jesse, Saul). Tuco was supposed to stick around longer but his actor found it too demanding and wanted out. Gilligan had only the vaguest sense of how it would end before the last season.
The Sopranos is mostly about Tony. There are diversions, but BB had them too. Lots of episodes where you follow around Hank, Skyler, Jesse, etc. It’s not always just Walt.
Everything that happened to everyone was a result of Walt’s decision to break bad. Without that, the only thing in the show that’s unaffected is marie’s theft of the tiara.
And yes, they wrote as the they went, letting the story evolve organically, which is why it was so great, they didn’t force it to fit so,ething they pre-determined. (Mike was completely unplanned, I think they wrote him because Odenkirk wasn’t going to be available…what a great gift that turned out to be!)
Also, the fact that the Sopranos was about Tony isn’t unusual, lots of shows have a clear star. BB had a clear story. Just one.
Yep. If you don’t like some of the characters – or even the main character (McNulty is an ass and his personal life was a bore) – there are other characters and stories to tune in for. McNulty is barely present in S4 and that season was the favorite of many viewers.
BB worked for me in spite of the limited story, not because of it.
Yes, the strength of “Breaking Bad” is the focus on the character arc of Walter White. I don’t know of any other show which depicts such a gradual, significant change in a character. There is a great deal of depth in the show; it’s just focused almost entirely on one character and his actions. When people complain about (for example) Walt Jr not getting much screen time, I think they’re missing the point of the show.
Contrast this with another great show, “The Wire”. They are very different shows. “The Wire” doesn’t focus on one character. We do get character arcs for individual characters, and they do have some depth. But no individual character is drawn as well as Walter White. How could they be? They get a tiny amount of screen time compared to him. But this isn’t a problem for the show, since it is more than made up for by the breadth of storylines and characters. It’s a show where the individual threads weave a wonderful pattern. It’s the pattern that’s the beautiful part of the show. Any individual thread of the story would make for an OK-to-pretty-good show on its own, but wouldn’t be anywhere near the greatness of the whole. (For example, imagine if the entire show were focused on McNulty the way “Breaking Bad” focused on Walter White. It might still be an above-average crime drama, but would not reach greatness.)
Other than each having an overall high level of quality in many areas (acting, production values, plotting, etc.) the shows have almost nothing in common.
Binged watched it this summer and there wasn’t a single moment I felt like fast forwarding through. It was a series that felt very complete and fleshed out. I liked that the focus stayed tight on the one story. As much as I’d like to know about tangential story lines, I’m glad it wasn’t a distraction.