Walter Jr. and Jesse in the same place, together!
Breaking Bad is an American neo-Western crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. The show originally aired on AMC for five seasons, from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series tells the story of Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a struggling and depressed high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with stage-3 lung cancer. Together with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), White turns to a life of crime by producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to secure his family's financial future before he dies, while navigating the dangers of the criminal underworld. The title comes from the Southern colloquialism "breaking bad" which means to turn to a life of immorality or crime. Gilligan characterized the series as showing Walter's transformation from a soft-spoken Mr. Chips into Scarface.
Among the show's co-stars are Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte as Walter's wife Skyler and son Walter, Jr., and Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris as Skyler's sister Marie Schrader and her husband Hank, a DEA agent. Others include Bob Odenkirk as the sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman, Jonathan Banks as a private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut, and Giancarlo Esposito as the drug kingpin Gus Fring. The final season introduces Jesse Plemons as the criminally-ambitious Todd Alquist, and Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a business executive secretly managing Walter's global meth sales for her company.
Breaking Bad is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. By the time the series finale aired, it was among the most-watched cable shows on American television. The show received numerous awards, including 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, and four Television Critics Association Awards. For his leading performance, Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times, while Aaron Paul won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series three times; Anna Gunn won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series twice. In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed show of all time.
A spin-off prequel series, Better Call Saul, starring Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks, debuted on February 8, 2015, on AMC. A sequel film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, starring Aaron Paul, was released on Netflix and in select theaters on October 11, 2019.
