Bryan Cranston (Hal on Malcolm in the Middle) stars in this AMC original series, which premieres Jan. 20. From the web site:



A more detailed description from The Futon Critic explains the premise further -- the main character has a child with cerebal palsy, and is driven to his life of crime by a cancer diagnosis.

I'm going to be blunt. This is the most jaw-droppingly dark premise for a TV series I've ever seen. There's some parallels to Weeds, but meth is a lot darker and more destructive than reefer, and the main character is in a much more hopeless situation.

Cranston is an incredibly likable actor (and the pilot appears to employ his talent for running around in his underwear), but the show is going to have to walk a tricky line to keep the audience's sympathy. Curious to see how this goes...

I was watching a repeat of Mad Men's season finale on Thursday and AMC ran a fifteen minute preview of this show which included clips and cast interviews. It's a very dark premise but if it's done well, it looks like it'll be very funny as well.


Me too. I'm actually really looking forward to it now. If the show is quality, I don't think it'll have much trouble keeping an audience's sympathy. Audiences have embraced quite a few dark central characters in recent years. I think the fact that the main character acknowledges he's doing a bad thing but doesn't give a fuck because he's dying will actually make it easier. Self awareness tends to help.

I read a bit in a recent issue of Newsweek about this series. The kicker was a quote from Cranston:"You put me in a pair of tighty-whities, you're giving the people what they want."

I'm not sure I can wait.

The more I see of this show the more interesting it looks. Anna Gunn (who played Mrs. Bullock on Deadwood) plays Bryan's wife and she's a great actress. Also the clips of the show on AMC's website look very promising.

AMC had a real find with Mad Men, maybe they're becoming a network with a quality original voice.

Surprised to not see more posts on this show, which premiers tomorrow. I'm hoping it can fill the hole left by Dexter, guess that's the darkness hole. I'm particularly attracted to a show that deals with middle class security melting away, cause I feel surrounded by that.

I love AMC for giving us Mad Men. I'm hoping that the quality of Breaking Bad is half as good. Also, I liked the preview clips I saw at AMC.com. And I am also a fan of Dexter and the dark-edged theme that this show appears to contain.

The Tivo is set! The reviewer on NPR -- not sure if it was Bianculli or someone else -- liked it.

I'm really looking forward to watching the first episode, AMC already has Mad Men and I'm hoping this will be another good show from them. The preview clip was interesting, but I'm hoping that isn't the end of the story and that they're doing a rewind and "tell it from the beginning", I generally don't like episodes structured like that, let alone whole shows.

I recently got hooked on Malcolm in the Middle. I enjoy Bryan's work on that show so I decided to tune in and see if I liked this show. I thought it was rather interesting and I think it's a keeper. It's worth tuning in and watching next week imo. I hope the quality stays as good as the pilot episode. Imo I think they have a hit on their hands.

I really liked the first episode. Anyone know how many episodes will air and if the season was completed pre-strike?

I liked th show too. I want to see how Walt is going to change over the course of the season. How is the cancer going to affect him. How will thwarting the law affect him? These are the things I am most interested in seeing happen to him.

He doesnt seem as hapless as Nancy Botwin does in Weeds. He knows what the hell he is doing in the lab, he knows quality product. It seems like his partner is going to be the hapless one here. Going to the brother of his former partner whom he thought was still in jail? What did he fail Economics in high school as well?

I'm interested in the show if not yet hooked. Have it set up as a series on the ole DVR so I won't miss it at least.

I was pleased with the first episode. It proves that you can have a little action and adventure in a pilot without being brain dead! BC and AP have great chemistry together (no pun intended!). It took me a while for it to sink in, but I think I will probably get hooked on this show.

Never watched Malcolm in the Middle, so Bryan Cranston is a revelation for me in BB. I recently saw the movie "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and this reminded me of that a little: the terrors of middle class life leading to crime. Pilot was very well done, but I wonder if this show is really going to deal with the reallity of the hell that is the meth world. I finally lost interest in Weeds because it seemed to refuse to take seriously the complexities of the main character's world. For me, to be funny, dark comedy has to live in this real, painful, scary world. Terminal lung cancer may help with that!!

Will all the episodes be commercial-free, or is it just for the premiere?
I liked it & plan to add it to my regular viewing schedule. Fingers crossed for Frankie Muniz in a cameo as a meth head.

I really liked it, too, and I have to say, I didn't even notice the lack of commercials! Whoever paid for that is probably sad that I didn't turn it on early enough to see who did it (or leave it on long enough at the end?).

I'm a big Cranston fan, and I think he's great here. Aaron Paul (who I had to look up to find that I remember him from Big Love was really good too. I'm looking forward to watching more.

I am a little bit freaked out thinking that the writers did research and found that it's somehow possible to faint one day and find out you have inoperable cancer. OK really freaked out. I'm calling my doctor on Tuesday.

I think it's just for the premiere. The subsequent airings had small commercial breaks. IIRC, Mad Men also debuted without commercials and definitely ended with a commercial-free episode.

I liked it too although I expected a bit more comedy. Yes comedy despite the very dark subject matter.



Bryan Cranston refers to Breaking Bad as an "edgier Weeds" in this TV Guide interview. I've never seen Weeds but I wouldn't be surprised if they deal with how ugly meth is.


IMDb lists eight episodes and I think that's about right.

Bryan Cranston is the Man, y'all. Seriously, I can think of few actors who are that consistently willing to totally "commit to the bit". He's really gifted at physical expression and comedy, and seems without even the slightest hint of self-consciousness.

Uh, I'm a fan, if you couldn't tell.

Also, can i mention that i totally loved the scene where he fucking owns the bully that was mocking his son?

Thank you for that info, Irlandesa!

Breaking Bad could be a very dangerous show to have on TV during a post-SiCKO, recessionary presidential election year.

Remember that SiCKO was about the underinsured, not the uninsured as evidenced by Walter's ambulance ride (which was curiously cut out of the second showing). It's one thing for a MILF-y Jewish widow to get into the weed game but we CANNOT have middle class, erectile dysfunctional white men moonlighting at minimum wage jobs being pushed to the edge and going off the grid. (And what does it say about America when a teacher's salary and benefits can't sustain a family?) It only took three weeks for Walter to go from veggie bacon to standing in the middle of the desert in his underwear with a gun.

Walter really could be your kid's chemistry teacher--or your neighbor. How many Walters are out there who are perilously close to foreclosure or defaulting on credit cards? Or just one serious illness or accident away from financial ruin? Like Walter's brother-in-law said, meth is easy money until you get caught. And after seeing what meth is made of, why the HELL would anyone ingest that sh*t into their body?

Oh, and Bryan Cranston is excellent.

I can't wait to see what AMC will come up with next after Breaking Bad and Mad Men.

AMC is two for two. The pilot for Breaking Bad was really good and kept me guessing for the entire hour. I thought it was going to be a Damages like show where the first scene sets up the entire premise for the season, but I was dead wrong. Walter's cancer scare makes the show more interesting because you want to know how and when the story is going to end. Also, how many seasons they can have before it becomes to farfetched. Or will they keep the story of each season within a few months or weeks. I also thought Anna Gunn was wonderful in her role as the wife and I really felt for the son with cerebral palsy.

No matter what, I'm pretty fascinated by the show and hope it continues to deliver some good television. I feel we have been very deprived lately because of the strike, and I'm really sick of having to resort to Idol for my TV fix.

Heh. Reason enough to keep watching.

I really enjoyed the show, and for me, most of that is because of Bryan Cranston. He really sold this for me, through his subtle and powerful acting. I wonder what middle-aged chemistry teachers around the country are thinking.

AMC is three for three with me with original series. I really like Shootout (which I think nobody watches), adore Mad Men, and now this.

Part of me, the stupid part that can't just get into it and forget about the 'business' of cable, was already wondering, after one episode, what could they do for a second season? But then again, I thought the same thing about Damages.

I liked it a lot. But I'm a sucker for these "American dream in tatters" shows -- this and Weeds and the Riches. Maybe even Mad Men.

I'm intrigued that we're not really getting much of Walt's point of view spelled out for us. I mean, we see what he's doing, and we can kind of put the pieces together, but it's not all out there, in conversation or voiceover or flashback, etc.

Edited to add: Re: a second season, I'd speculate that it'll turn out that he might live longer -- that'd put him in a real pickle, no?

Quick question for yall. Does anybody know the name of the song playing at the very end of the episode? Just wondering.\

Nevermind. Just found it. It's called Out of Time Man by Mickey Harvey.

I tried to expect little from the premiere but that wasn't necessary. I think I'm officially hooked. Cranston is amazing and unflinchingly delivers a great performance. Can I just say it took me some time to figure out where I had seen Anna before, despite my utter loyalty to Deadwood?

You might be interested in this piece in The New York Times this past Sunday. Hopefully you can log in and view it immediately. Drugs, a Dad and his Midlife Crisis. Cranston gives a great quote about being asked to play the role of Hal.

What stuck me funny was that the first two or three minutes of the episode (Bryan Cranston speeding down the freeway in an RV, wearing only his underwear and a gas mask while sirens blare in the distance) could've easily been a scene from Malcolm in the Middle. Until the dead bodies, that is. All in all, it looks like a great show.

I was so intrigued by the show that I didn't even notice the lack of commercials until my husband pointed it out at the end. Definitely a keeper. I'm very glad that I happened to catch an article about in TV Guide; otherwise I never would have known it was on.

I too was wondering just how badly US teachers were compensated? Is it realistic that he would need to work a second job just to make ends meet, or is this just a situation of living beyond your means coming back to bite you in the ass?

Did anyone else notice that they muted the F-word and blurred some breasts? I wonder why they would film those things if they weren't going to show them? Are they really planning that far ahead to the DVD releases?

What I really like about Mad Men and now Breaking Bad as well is that AMC is taking the chance that there are adult viewers out there. These shows are about grown-ups dealing with grown-up issues. They give us credit for being complex, thinking human beings, and are presenting shows with characters that are the same. I hope the other networks pick up on this trend.

Ammit, I wondered why the words were bleeped also. Years ago, AMC presented movies uncut and uncensored, but not for some time. If this is an original series, then why didn't they just use what they consider acceptable words? Mad Men didn't do any bleeping, did it?

It depends on where you teach. I knew a lot of beginning teachers who would have a second job or summer job to supplement their income as well as take on coaching/advising responsibilities to earn a little bit more. Some worked to be able to afford to do more things. Others worked to earn money so they could pursue a Masters which allows them to go up the pay ladder. And after they get their Masters, many states require that teachers routinely take professional development classes to keep renewing their licenses. Some school districts cover a teacher's cost for these classes while others do not.

Since it looks like his wife is pretty much a stay at home mother, my guess is the three of them, soon to be four, are living off of what he makes. If that's the case, I find it very realistic that he'd have a second job. The only thing I thought was a bit unrealistic is that it'd be at a car wash. Most teachers I knew either worked in bars, restaurants or in retail stores that offered employee discounts. (Hey, why not get double benefits from a second job?)


I wonder if they shopped this to one of the other cable networks first.


That was a great quote. I love Cranston in the role but no doubt, William H. Macy would've rocked it as well.

Having mentioned Shootout above, I forgot to mention that part of the show focused on Breaking Bad, and interviewed Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston.

There's a clip of some sorts on the website, here.

I always catch 'Shootout,' so I saw the last one about 'Breaking Bad.' A little self-promotion couldn't hurt.

Good article, but I didn't find any quote from BC re the role of Hal. Did you mean the role of Walter?

I really liked the premiere. I noticed that it was commercial-free, but I didn't catch who the sponsor was. And, yes, I noticed the bleeped words and blurred boobs. I'm pretty sure the producers knew this was going to AMC before they shot the pilot, so I figure they just must be looking forward to the DVD release.

One little thing I liked was the opening credits, where one or two letters of people's names are a different color and stand for an element or chemical. Very cool.

BC is fantastic. I look forward to seeing how his personality changes as he gets deeper into drug production. I'm curious about his wife, too. SHE definitely noticed a difference with him (in the last scene). BTW, the scene where she is giving him his birthday present was hilarious! Both she and BC were great. (I guess she was watching one of her eBay listings sell.)

I've never watched Weeds, Big Love, or Deadwood (except for the premiere), so I'm not familiar with the other actors. Everyone is terrific.

I'm not sure how Walter plans on using the money. He can't just deposit it in the bank. If he pays off bills, what will he tell his wife? (I think the preview of next week's ep was misleading.) If he just puts it away for his family to have after his death, won't questions be asked? Maybe all this will be addressed in future eps.

As soon as it was over, my friend looked at me and said "I think we found our new Dexter." I really enjoyed this episode and can't wait to see where they take it from here.

Thanks jezebelandworse! I came to this thread to ask exactly that. Great song.

Also, my husband and I really enjoyed the first episode. I'll definitely be watching this for as long as it's on...which will probably be seven episodes like everything else this season, right?

I really like Bryan Cranston; I'd watch him in anything but I especially love him in this, so far.

ITA! I finally watched the pilot last night, and I was impressed how they used the medium to show and not tell. The whole cast was great, Cranston was incredible...I'm a happy camper.

It took me 24 hours to digest. I liked it fine while watching it. But I knew I REALLY liked it when I was thinking about it the next day.

Does anyone else wonder why network television doesn't produce t.v. like this and Mad Men?

That pilot was great, but I'm kicking myself for not catching the longer, commercial-free showing at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). I watched the 11 p.m. (ET/PT) showing. Maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention, but I didn't see any blurred breasts. I presume that scene was cut for commercial time, along with the ambulance scene, and probably more. ARRRRGH. Does iTunes have the uncut version?
This is odd. Usually TV makes two different versions -- one for TV, and one for DVD and foreign broadcast in markets where that's permitted. Also, in the 11 p.m. (ET/PT) showing, they also muted the word "shit," which is strange, because FX permits that word after 10 p.m. in its original programs. There's nothing illegal about it -- the FCC has no jurisdiction over cable. Basic cable hasn't ventured as far as "fuck" though, because they're afraid of pissing off the advertisers (with the exception of Comedy Central after 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights). Did AMC mute "shit" at 10 too? They also muted another word (in a scene in the RV) and the closed captioning also censored it, showing it as "h---". Say what? At age 32, I thought I knew all the four-letter words.

I notice this show was created by Vince Gilligan of "X-Files." I didn't like that show much, but Gilligan wrote some decent, funny episodes. I sure hope he can plan long-term storylines better than Chris Carter (et al.) did on that show. They were making everything up as they went along and just vaguely hoping it would all turn out to make sense in the end. I suspect Carter spent most of his time surfing instead of planning out the so-called "mythology," which was wildly convoluted and nonsensical. "Closure? Who needs closure?" Yeah, f--- you, Carter, you h--- (whatever that is). Come on, Gilligan, you can do better, right?

Unfortunately, Sunday was probably the wrong night to premiere this program. 50 million people were watching football on Fox, crushing the ratings on the other broadcast nets. Hopefully that's not true of the cable channels too (I haven't seen any ratings posted anywhere yet).

Maybe because they're obsessed with ratings. Networks like AMC and FX care about ratings too, but they have nowhere to go but up, so they'll take risks.

I was happy with the premiere too, and like some of you, I was thinking it would be structured like Damages. I'm glad it isn't.

Spoilery review (Heather Havrilesky) in Salon.com.

What I really like about the Sunday night showing (aside from football conflicts) is that it's right after The Wire. Nice (dark) timing.

Love the show but hate that Hal had to resort to be a meth cooker 'til whatever months he had left. Meth is such a hard core drug vs weeds, so I wouldn't root for characters like I do for Weeds.

You're welcome! Glad I could help. :)

Ratings are in. Given the competition, these numbers are pretty good, although I'm sure AMC would've preferred it to beat the premiere of "Mad Men."

The article notes ratings gains at the half-hour mark. As I understand it, that's fairly unusual for a 10 p.m. (ET/PT) show, at least on broadcast TV anyway (maybe cable is different), because lots of people are falling asleep and going to bed. Also, at the end of the article, the writer editorializes a bit about the show's high quality. I don't think I've seen that in Mediaweek often before.

The real test is next week. The ratings will almost certainly fall, but if they fall by 15% or less, then that's a positive sign. Even if it falls more, maybe AMC will be patient. IIRC, "Mad Men" fell significantly over the course of its first season but AMC renewed it anyway, somewhat surprisingly.

Well, it aired opposite a pretty big football game, which may explain the late surge.

See, I liked the bleeps and blurs, I'm glad there's just one version. It had a sort of authenticity, like they were filming a real story even if they couldn't air it all. (Kind of like Arrested Development, where characters would often be bleeped out, or Reno 911 where drunks are running around half naked.) And, with the topless woman sticking her head out the window, I prefer the decision to show her blurred. It makes me crazy on tv shows that people are always dragging their bed sheets around with them after sex, who does that??

Love the show! I'm not in to Mad Men so i wasn't expecting much from AMC but it was pretty interesting! Loved Hal and i don't think anyone expect Bryan Cranston could've pulled off that character. Cant wait to see whats next! Hopefully the show will get a lot respect from critics and award shows like Mad Men did.

True, it does add a bit of authenticity, so maybe it was a creative decision by Vince Gilligan.

I downloaded the pilot from iTunes so that I could see the unedited version (58 minutes). Annoyingly, the word "fuck" is still muted out, not to mention that the breasts are still blurred. ("Shit" is heard intact, though, as if it were airing on FX.) I guess if it were completely unedited, they'd have to mark it "explicit" on iTunes (as South Park is), whatever that entails. Why would this be a problem? It would mean minors couldn't download it? Should they be allowed to download it without adult supervision anyway? Come on, it's a dark, dark adult drama. (Not that I care about the welfare of kids. I hate kids.)

Ugh -- X-Files shout-out: Walter mentions he's got an Erlenmeyer flask when he shows off his equipment to Pinkman. The first-season finale of that show was entited "The Erlenmeyer Flask." (This did not deserve a shout-out! Ugh, dropped plot threads everywhere! A meth-head could've written something with better continuity!)

I don't think that was a shout-out. That's what those are actually called.
Erlenmeyer Flask

I really like this show. It's so dark, but intriguing. I'm trying to get some friends to watch it but they're turned off by the whole meth angle. I'm hoping that doesn't hurt it since I'd like to see multiple seasons.

Looks like a promising start, and perhaps I'll have to take a look at Mad Men. (I watched this for Bryan and the chemistry aspect. Nitpick: no way would a real chemist have left any of that powder in the mortar.)

The only thing that bothers me so far is the casting of the wife and her sister. I get that the sister's character is supposed to be a bitch (with that hair, it's hard not to be), so that's more of a writing thing, but I'm not a fan of Anna Gunn's performance as the wife. IMDB tells me she was in Six Feet Under's "Parallel Play," and I assume it's as the annoying mother that was horny for Nate and boned him while the maid was watching their kids or something. She was successfully annoying in that role, but here in BB, her line delivery just so boring.

And I did not even realize that Pinkman was creepy Scott from Big Love until someone referenced it upthread.

I liked the pilot, but now that you bring this up, I have to disagree with your premise here. He was JUST DIAGNOSED with an inoperable tumor and as of right now we don't even know that he will pursue treatment of his lung cancer, so assuming he is doing this because he is in debt from medical bills is presumptious. Further, while I agree teacher pay is too low, it is my impression that teachers are not underinsured. Teachers have one of the largest and strongest unions in the country and while the take him pay may not be great, the fringe benefits, including health insurance, I think are generally quite good in comparison to the average job. I think viewing this as doing it for the money, as he claims, is probably a bit too easy of an answer right now.
We also see him not only start the meth job but attack the guy that makes fun of his kid, so its about more than money.

So the obvious description is a bad guy Macgyver meets American Beauty. Its only the pilot so far, but I don't like this quite as much as mad men. However, it is better than any drama or reality show reruns we are going to catch on TV right now. I have seen a few episodes of Weeds as well and thus far I like Breaking Bad better.



Luckily this is an uncommon scenario, but not out of the question. A friend's mom had a syncopal spell, was taken to the hospital and found had she had an inoperable late stage maligant brain tumor. It happens.

Again, it all depends on where you live and how strong your local union is. While there is a national union, things like benefits and salary are negotiated at a local level. When I taught, I had good insurance as did my mother who also taught. (We were in different districts.) My father was also a teacher but he used my mother's insurance because what his school district offered was paltry.


I agree with this. I've heard BC mention often that this is a guy who more or less played by the rules and life fucked him over anyway. I do think money is a motivating factor but the unjustness of it all helps him get over any conscience.