Has Breaking Bad changed the TV landscape for some years to come?

IvaBigWun

It is of a standard not seen in many years.

It can be watched legally in Ireland 9 hours after it airs.

Its story is a once off with blurred lines between the good/bad guys (and girls).

On September 30th when we've all watched the finale and celebrated one of the top 3 TV shows of all time, two questions alot of us will be asking is:

"How the FCUK can we top that?"

"What will I watch now thats as good?"

I think there'll be a long thoughtful silence to both.

Vince Gilligan, take a long bow. And then keep bowing.

Dman001

If the US networks were clever, they'd see what AMC has done with their partnership with Netflix and replicate it with more TV Shows. I firmly believe that a serivce that shows a new episode from a show mere hours after it has aired in the US, will combat piracy effectively. I'd love too see the viewing figures for the this series of BB on Netflix in the UK and Ireland - mainly just to see if it justifies the ludicrousy of no UK channel picking up the series beyond Season 2. But Netflix did pay a huge part over here in popularising BB. I know many who have binged-watched their way to catch up to the latest episode - me included.

But, as a series overall, it is up there with The Sopranos of being my all time favourite. Not since Lost have I speculated as much as to what may happen in the next coming episode. And usually I end up so, so wrong. Such a fantstic cast, Cranston, Paul and Odenkirk in particular, with fantastic writing.

brian_t

IvaBigWun wrote: »

"What will I watch now thats as good?"

There's speculation that RTE is bringing forward the premiere of Love/Hate series 4 to cater for this.

brian_t

They are suggesting now that piracy websites do netflix a service by showing them what programmes are popular.

Netflix has revealed that it tracks piracy sites to help decide which TV series and films it should add to its online streaming service.

"Piracy is certainly a double-edged sword," Vince Gilligan told entertainment news site Digital Spy.
"It does disincentivise companies from making their products if they feel they can't earn an honest living off of them, but on the other hand there was an upside to the piracy, because it got the word out in regards to Breaking Bad."

The chief executive of US media firm Time Warner also recently signalled that piracy may have worked in the favour of its HBO show, Game of Thrones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24108673

April O Neill

I dunno, I love BB but I'm not sad it's ending. Another good show will come along - IMO there has been a good stream of excellent series periodically since the 80s.

I won't name all the ones I think are quality here because I will be absolutely ripped apart from some of them, but suffice to say I'm not at all worried about the state of television.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Its story is a once off with blurred lines between the good/bad guys (and girls).

deadwood

On September 30th when we've all watched the finale and celebrated one of the top 3 TV shows of all time, two questions alot of us will be asking is:

"How the FCUK can we top that?"

deadwood

"What will I watch now thats as good?"

deadwood

Rjd2

Think Rectify might fill that spot, amazing television, although probably won't as popular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvACn9-3Evg

IvaBigWun

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

deadwood



deadwood



deadwood

So what you're saying is, Deadwood is good? As good as Breaking Bad?

IvaBigWun

Rjd2 wrote: »

Think Rectify might fill that spot, amazing television, although probably won't as popular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvACn9-3Evg

Cheers, some great reviews online. Going to try episode one now.

Nervous Wreck

Breaking Bad is very good. But hugely overrated. Hasn't changed the landscape of TV. It's just a very good show.

Rovi

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Breaking Bad is very good. But hugely overrated. Hasn't changed the landscape of TV. It's just a very good show.

BEHOLD THE BLASPHEMER!!!

expectationlost

i think breaking bad is getting a mite over rated, because the wire is best thing on tv in the last tens years, had alot more to say.

don ramo

BB took a while to gain some traction, but once it got it it has gripped anyone who invested in at least 2 seasons,

i do find it weird that im not to bothered about it ending, it just seems right to end it here, when its on top form and the story is coming to a head, walt rose to to the top over the last 4.5 season and his decent has been fast and epic, and its just right for it to end now, credit to the creative team behind the show, and the showrunner for knowing they've reached the top and not continue on for 2 more season and letting the quality suffer,

as for other great shows, i dunno if you watch it, but Game of Thrones is just as good as BB, and its 3 season in and only getting better, and will be around for at least 4-5 more seasons, also Homeland is a great show, it suffering a bit of a crisis i think with key characters and attachment issues, but its still a solid show,

you have to remember some shows have to lay good ground work to get going, so a show airing now may not grab our attention for another year or two, hell you may be watching already and the next season could push it from a good to a great show, weve all seen it happen loads of times before,

don ramo

expectationlost wrote: »

i think breaking bad is getting a mite over rated, because the wire is best thing on tv in the last tens years, had alot more to say.

more of a west wing head myself:)

FloatingVoter

The Wire is incoherent crap. I'd rate The Sopranos and some of West Wing alongside BB. Boardwalk Empire is a work in progress and time will tell how it ranks.
Twin Peaks wasn't on long enough and got lost in the second season but that deserves an honourable mention.
I haven't seen all of Deadwood yet but plan on rectifying that soon.

Tipsy McSwagger

expectationlost wrote: »

i think breaking bad is getting a mite over rated, because the wire is best thing on tv in the last tens years, had alot more to say.

Awful second season rules it out as the best tv show in the last 10 years.

fryup

how come none of the main uk channels show it??

IvaBigWun

fryup wrote: »

how come none of the main uk channels show it??

Because most TV buyers want shows that can be encapsulated into one sentence and "the Dad from Malcolm In The Middle gets cancer and decides to cook Meth" wont really get them there

expectationlost

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Awful second season rules it out as the best tv show in the last 10 years.

but the fourth season (schools) ensures that its the best TV show in the past 10 years and probably ever

fryup

fryup wrote: »

how come none of the main uk channels show it??

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Because most TV buyers want shows that can be encapsulated into one sentence and "the Dad from Malcolm In The Middle gets cancer and decides to cook Meth" wont really get them there

bizzare explanation

But as i mentioned in another thread i thought this would be perfect channel 4 material...i think its tragic that there isn't a bigger audience for this show on this side of the atlantic, it should be promoted like the sopranos was.

don ramo

Tipsy McSwagger wrote: »

Awful second season rules it out as the best tv show in the last 10 years.

season 5 of the wire rules that out, season 6 of the west wing rules that out ETC ETC ETC

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

there's always the shield, not a weak season and (not knowing how breaking bad is going to end just yet) is imo the best beginning to end tv show that got a full run. it has a beginning, a middle and an ending. an honest to goodness ending that ties things up and leaves you satisfied about the last seven seasons.

expectationlost

what is it breaking bad do that mad men _and_ the walking dead didn't do?

mad men created amc tv and walking dead got big ratings, what of breaking bad?

TommiesTank

IvaBigWun wrote: »

On September 30th when we've all watched the finale and celebrated one of the top 3 TV shows of all time, two questions alot of us will be asking is:

"How the FCUK can we top that?

Am I missing something, you are a viewer, you are not part of it, there is nothing for you to 'top', unless you were involved in making it. Were you?

rockbeast

Rjd2 wrote: »

Think Rectify might fill that spot, amazing television, although probably won't as popular.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvACn9-3Evg

Thanks, man. Watched first 2 tonight - great stuff...Got a weird Terence Malick vibe off it, in pace, tone and cinematography. Will watch next 4 tomorrow!

Don't know how I hadn't heard of this. cheers

Rjd2

rockbeast wrote: »

Thanks, man. Watched first 2 tonight - great stuff...Got a weird Terence Malick vibe off it, in pace, tone and cinematography. Will watch next 4 tomorrow!

Don't know how I hadn't heard of this. cheers

Yep, same here, its really good and will stick with you. Probably something you need to really focus on, plot is not to intricate but to truly appreciate it.

Lead actor is also fantastic.

Not sure if it will ever become massive like BB. but it has the potential to be very special.

Also wrote by this guy who Deadwood and Sons Of Anarchy fans should know:D

rockbeast

Rjd2 wrote: »

Yep, same here, its really good and will stick with you. Probably something you need to really focus on, plot is not to intricate but to truly appreciate it.

Lead actor is also fantastic.

Not sure if it will ever become massive like BB. but it has the potential to be very special.

Also wrote by this guy who Deadwood and Sons Of Anarchy fans should know:D

Watched other episodes - awesome! Just the type of series large screen TVs are made for. Can't wait for season 2.

I see Top of the Lake is mentioned in conjunction with this a lot so will try that at weekend.

Skerries

the last 2 episodes are going to be 75 minutes long, not sure if that includes ads
http://www.joe.ie/entertainment/television/good-news-yo-breaking-bad-set-to-finish-up-with-two-extra-long-extended-episodes/

trashcan

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The Wire is incoherent crap.

:eek: See blasphemer post above. Just don't understand how anyone could watch the Wire and genuinely form that view. It's spoiled all other TV shows for me it was so good. BB is the only thing I've seen since which comes close (albeit in a very different way)

ThunbergsAreGo

Everyone has different tastes, I have tried and found it difficult to get into Breaking Bad. Into Season 4 now, and havent felt that "must watch one more" feeling yet. Its grand but i havent enjoyed or been gripped by it in the way many other shows have gripped me.

Started on Fringe at the weekend and find myself going back to that over BB.

IvaBigWun

fryup wrote: »

bizzare explanation

Far from it. People who greenlight shows want the synopsis kept as simple as possible. Breaking Bad isn't easily summed up

IvaBigWun

TommiesTank wrote: »

Am I missing something, you are a viewer, you are not part of it, there is nothing for you to 'top', unless you were involved in making it. Were you?

IvaBigWun

Good article http://www.forbes.com/sites/allenstjohn/2013/09/16/why-breaking-bad-is-the-best-show-ever-and-why-that-matters/

ScumLord

expectationlost wrote: »

i think breaking bad is getting a mite over rated, because the wire is best thing on tv in the last tens years, had alot more to say.

Breaking bad is, in my opinion, the best TV show ever. I never got into the Wire, Sopranos was good but not as all round great as Breaking bad.

IvaBigWun

IvaBigWun wrote: »

It is of a standard not seen in many years.

The Wire, Generation Kill, Game of Thrones, Treme, Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men, Deadwood, The Shield, Battlestar Galactica, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, Dexter (early series), Eastbound & Down, Southland, etc, etc are all right up there with Breaking Bad.

Then you have shows such as banshee, The Americans, Orange is the New Black, Borgen, The Bridge, Broadchurch, Elementary, Hannibal, Person of Interest, Rectify, Top of the Lake, Vikings and a dozen more that have the potential to be just as good as Breaking Bad.

I love Breaking Bad and have been raving about it's brilliance since the day it's first episode aired but there's so much great TV on atm that if you honestly can't find something just as great to watch, then you're not looking hard enough.

IvaBigWun wrote: »

It can be watched legally in Ireland 9 hours after it airs.

Not the first show to do that.

IvaBigWun wrote: »

Its story is a once off with blurred lines between the good/bad guys (and girls).

There are a dozen shows with a story that blurs the lines between the good and bad guys. Breaking Bad is hardly the first show to do such and most definitely won't be the last.

IvaBigWun wrote: »

0n September 30th when we've all watched the finale and celebrated one of the top 3 TV shows of all time, two questions alot of us will be asking is:

"How the FCUK can we top that?"

"What will I watch now thats as good?"

I think there'll be a long thoughtful silence to both.

See my first reply.

FloatingVoter

I'm watching Hell on Wheels at the moment. That's good and getting better. Given that its heroic figure is running up a body count close to Walt and just putting it down to the moral weather - there goes the good guy as hero thing. It needs to get a whole lot better to pick up where Deadwood left off but it has potential.

Boardwalk Empire has five seasons to go potentially (one per year until the Depression and nine until the final repeal of Prohibition). It is still a work in progress and whether it sticks to flogging under the counter drink (fail) or be brave enough to lose its current leads and document the rise of organised crime in the US will decide its legacy.

Vikings definitely has potential...but I'd rather a proper show on their descendants - The Normans - invasions, butchery, betrayal, genocide and getting a nice portrait painted afterwards. I'm laying money thats this is in development somewhere - first season is just pencilled William.

Seriously, BB is a once a decade thing. I'm sure there are old Sopranos / West Wing threads along these same lines. It hasn't changed the landscape - just reminded us, the viewers and us, the potential writers of what can and should be achieved with a TV show.

Effects

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The Wire is incoherent crap.

I find it's generally dumb people who have that opinion.

FloatingVoter

Effects wrote: »

I find it's generally dumb people who have that opinion.

The Wire is a TV show. I wouldn't use it as an IQ test if you want to be taken seriously.

briany

Breaking Bad is just a really compelling TV series. That's all there is to it, but I respect people who say that it's not for them as long as they're not trollish about it. I would never get that evangelical about a TV show where I feel like insulting it is insulting me.

mickyboy

As compelling and brilliant as Breaking Bad is. If you want to see an acting masterclass watch Kelsey Grammer in Boss tonight on tg4. Best performance I've seen in the last few years

don ramo

there is simply no end to good/great TV shows, i consider Lost a great show, pure fantasy entertainment and i loved getting lost in the show each week for 6 seasons, that is a show that is pure marmite if ive ever seen it,

i always make a point to note that there are currently hundreds of TV shows currently in production all around the world, simply because there are 6 billion people out there to entertain, so there has to be a massive variety of shows to keep so many people entertained, if you cant find a show that you will love you simply arent looking hard enough, as has already be stated,

Vision of Disorder

I think Breaking Bad is good, very good even but MASSIVELY overhyped.

I think the first two seasons of Lost were amazing Don Ramo (you a Cobh Ramblers fan?) but it drifted a lot in places after that and I LOATHED the ending.

Firefly was near perfect for the one season it lasted.

Oz is hands down my favourite show.

don ramo

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

I think Breaking Bad is good, very good even but MASSIVELY overhyped.

I think the first two seasons of Lost were amazing Don Ramo (you a Cobh Ramblers fan?) but it drifted a lot in places after that and I LOATHED the ending.

Firefly was near perfect for the one season it lasted.

Oz is hands down my favourite show.

i am, how did ya guess that:pac::pac::pac:

yeah a lot of people liked lost till it went a little to sci-fi, when ben

turned that donkey wheel and moved the island

a lot of people just seemed to loose interest in the show, i loved it myself,

i would probably agree with you that BB is currently at an overhyped level, but thats simply because its about to finish up, it is a will always be considered a great show, it will be on people recommendations lists for the next 10-20 year,

like this trailer says BB is the show that finally made people shut up about the wire:P:P

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

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

sometimes it's really hard to be a deadwood hipster. trying to spread the word and ****ing no one's interested.

The Black Oil

Tbh, I can't say I'm enjoying the online discussion of the show as much this time around. Now we are at the end the internet is a bit crazy (I am not above playing my part), more so than any other show I have followed for a while. Huge expectations. Inevitable, but I preferred the more laid back banter of earlier seasons.

I tend to hang back when evaluating where a show fits as I can't really be arsed with top 10 lists and all that lark. Like a lot of shows with huge online buzz it's very easy to like when it's current. That said, whether the show has the changed the landscape - in terms of its specific content, I suspect not and it's probably too early to tell. Stunning cinematography at times, though! What I do hope is that content creators and providers keep taking risks (this seems to be increasingly or at least partly determined by the shift in how people watch) to bring us good and interesting stuff.

Dman001

The thing with Breaking Bad compared to the vast majority of other shows, is that it isn't afraid to push the envelope to move the story along. When I was binge watching it last summer to catch up before the Season 5 premier, I was half way through Season 2 and just getting into it. I made the prediction that the show will end with all of Walt's family and friends finding out he sells meth, he goes to prison, everyone has a bit of a cry but everyone ends up forgiving him because his heart was in the right place, etc. Half way through Season 3, Skylar finds out Walt's secret. If this was any other show a network channel, my theory would more than likely have been correct. Characters are introduced, characters are killed off just as quick. But not done in a manner "Just for the hell of it". We see the consequence of killing off a character, sometimes stemming over a number of seasons. We see the development of those characters as they proceed with their actions. We witness the chain reaction of such actions. I actually came across this pic earlier in the week which sums it up nicely: http://imgur.com/gU8bv3r

At the end of many episodes, you are left with your jaw hanging on the ground, so explosive that it could be a season finale. But your actually on episode two of the season. This season especially, you wonder how will they top the last episode, and the next one exceeds your expectations.

The effort and genius that goes into writing each episode is quite outstanding.

don ramo

The Black Oil wrote: »

Tbh, I can't say I'm enjoying the online discussion of the show as much this time around. Now we are at the end the internet is a bit crazy (I am not above playing my part), more so than any other show I have followed for a while. Huge expectations. Inevitable, but I preferred the more laid back banter of earlier seasons.

for some reason unbeknownst to myself i dont tend to read about this show here at all, same with game of thrones, i just watch the show and talk about it amongst friends, and just ignore the BB subforum, i go there every so often but i generally tend to watch it and not have it influenced by other opinions about it here,

i avoid GOT forum because a number of things were spoiled for me there:mad:

sometimes i think this place is a curse, and i think a lot of people here love to HATE WATCH tv shows,

don ramo

don ramo wrote: »

for some reason unbeknownst to myself i dont tend to read about this show here at all, same with game of thrones, i just watch the show and talk about it amongst friends, and just ignore the BB subforum, i go there every so often but i generally tend to watch it and not have it influenced by other opinions about it here,

i avoid GOT forum because a number of things were spoiled for me there:mad:

sometimes i think this place is a curse, and i think a lot of people here love to HATE WATCH tv shows,

One of the biggest problem with this forum and spoilers is that a lot of people seem to post nothing but news stories and major spoilers simply to watch their post count grow. They don't engage in any discussion or debate and will just link to articles about a show or post crap like "omg can't believe that "insert main character" dies".

Vision of Disorder

don ramo wrote: »

i am, how did ya guess that:pac::pac::pac

foot.ie veteran here (different username there though). I'm still playing catch up with Breaking Bad to be fair, watched the first two seasons in bed with a then girlfriend, took me a loooooong time to get back into it after it all went very sour. Watched the third season recently, still enjoying it (never watched all of Battlestar for the same reason actually though I was kinda bored of that anyway to be honest).

Footoo

FloatingVoter wrote: »

The Wire is a TV show. I wouldn't use it as an IQ test if you want to be taken seriously.

It's not incoherent crap though and anyone thst has that opinion is either stupid or a troll.

A person can not r like The Wire. That is their choice and is something the should be respected but to say it's crap is just plain wrong.

It's widely regarded as the greatest TV show of all time. It's the very opposite of crap. That doesn't mean that everyone should love it either.

Saying The beatles were crap or The Godfather is crap or that that fella Shakepeare was ****e is just wrong. It's the same with The wire.

don ramo

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

foot.ie veteran here (different username there though). I'm still playing catch up with Breaking Bad to be fair, watched the first two seasons in bed with a then girlfriend, took me a loooooong time to get back into it after it all went very sour. Watched the third season recently, still enjoying it (never watched all of Battlestar for the same reason actually though I was kinda bored of that anyway to be honest).

battlestar did become a bit drivel around the end of season 3 and 4, but i thought it came together nicely in the end,