Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the premiere of Breaking Bad. The series lasted sixty-two episodes across five seasons airing from January 20th, 2008 to September 29th, 2013. The story follows high school chemistry teacher Walter White as he teams up with a former student to build a meth empire after he is diagnosed with cancer in order to ensure the financial stability of his family.
The series was developed by The X-Files writer Vince Gilligan, and much of the main cast were guest stars on the Fox series. The concept was for a show to follow a nice guy who becomes the villain, or as Gilligan put it watching Mr. Chips transform into Scarface. Gilligan pitched the show to Sony Pictures Television who shopped it around various cable stations. The series was filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico but was going to be set in Southern California. However, after touring the city they decided to maintain the character of the city, while also noting the difficulties it would present to hide the Sandia Mountains. The show employed several chemists and drug enforcement agents to make the meth making accurate, though clever shot angles and editing make it difficult for viewers to properly recreate.
The show went on to become a major success, though not initially. Viewership was low until the series was available on Netflix but skyrocketed the last two seasons. It was the first ongoing series to have a major boost due to streaming services. Critical praise was always high. In fact, it holds the Guinness World Record for the highest rated television series of all time. All aspects of the show were praised, from the acting to the cinematography to the story. Bryan Cranston's portrayal of Walter White was particularly praised, with even Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins calling it the greatest acting performance he ever saw. It was nominated for hundreds of awards and won many, including sixteen Primetime Emmy Awards. Overall, it won one-hundred ten awards out of the two-hundred sixty-two it was nominated for. The show launched a follow-up series titled El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie and spin-off titled Better Call Saul, both of which were equally praised. The franchise proved very fruitful for the city of Albuquerque as it caused a major spike in tourism from fans. It is often listed amongst the best shows and is sometimes considered the greatest show ever made.
The series featured the talents of Jean-Benoît Blanc as doctor Barry Goodman and Danny Trejo as cartel gangster Tortuga.