AMC's "Breaking Bad" Discussion (2008-2013)

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

That would be fine if it were true. Budget being "Spread" makes no difference. Three episodes are three episodes and they get the Advertisement dollars regardless of when the episodes air. I am not saying that you are a liar, I am saying that the studio/network pulled a Bait & Switch on us. Look at the chronology of the events.

1. They announce that season 5 will be the final season. We were all fine with that.
2. Later, they announce that season five will contain three extra episodes. We were all happy about that.
3. Much later they announce that they may split season five into two parts.
4. Much later they announce that season five will be split into two parts, but no air dates are given. We hope for Dec-Jan
5. MUCH later they announce that season 5 will be split into two parts, eight episodes each, the second half airing a full season later.

I am not angry, I am just disappointed that they reduced season five from what they originally promised us, added a season six, called it season 5, and made us wait an entire year for it.

The Bait was great, but the Switch hurt.

They are buying time, at our expense.

I'm not really sure what exactly you're getting at, but the only reason there are 3 additional episodes is because of the wait. The budget being spread absolutely makes all the difference.

13x3 - $39 in 2012

8x3 - $24 in 2012
8x-3 - $24 in 2013

At roughly $3 million an episode just to produce the show, AMC would be spending $40 million in one year against $24 million spread over 2 years. Plenty of articles have come out discussing the network and issues with money and all the scandals with Mad Men, Walking Dead, and all the creators wanting more money and blah blah all the behind the scenes drama. AMC is a cable network and gets no where near the kind of money a network like ABC, CBS, etc. get. AMC was able to put aside $15 million this year from Breaking Bad and spread it into another year. And sure, AMC is also going to benefit from getting more awards for the show and I'm sure they are other reasons as to why doing this, but the budget is certainly the biggest of all.

Walking Dead got more episodes because it is one of the biggest cable series of all time. They can have more money in their budget due to the overwhelming success of the show. Sure, Breaking Bad may be winning the awards but it is Walking Dead that is bringing in the big bucks and even though WD is super successful with ratings, they still were having money issues and drama as well. It just seems like with Walking Dead being so successful and having a potentially much longer shelf life than Breaking Bad they wanted to focus on a way to get all of their shows to last on TV as long as possible. They went about it in the best way possible.

[Lemmy Lugosi]

I think I'm already going through blue meth withdrawals. It's Saturday, yet, I keep thinking it's Sunday, followed by one more quick and immediate thought...

OH MY GOD NO MORE BREAKING BAD OH NO OH %$&^!!!!

And then I get hold of myself.

It's going to be a looooong break.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by djgeneral

the only reason there are 3 additional episodes is because of the wait.

False. The 16 episodes were announced as a last SINGLE batch, all to be filmed together.

The budget being spread absolutely makes all the difference.

False again. 16 x 3 = a cost of $48M Period! Airing them spread out doesnt reduce the cost, it INCREASES it. Also, spreading the filming out, as they are now doing, increases costs tremendously.

The delay has nothing to do with budgets.

[djgeneral]

Show me where it says they were going to be filmed all at once. People assumed that. There was never any official AMC press release that said that. And if there was (not from any other tabloid or a random cast member tweet or something), then I will admit I was wrong and move on.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by djgeneral

Show me where it says they were going to be filmed all at once. People assumed that. There was never any official AMC press release that said that. And if there was (not from any other tabloid or a random cast member tweet or something), then I will admit I was wrong and move on.

I dont really need to, but I will.

Your argument is that we were "gifted" three extra episodes and that spreading the final 16 over two years financially allowed us this treat.

As you and I know, it would be much more cost effective to shoot all the New Mexico footage in one trip. The simple fact that they are shooting the final 16 in two separate trips to New Mexico, over the course of two years tells us that the budget wasnt the reason to split it, and it wasnt the reason they could afford three more episodes.

Deadline said...

After tense and public negotiations, AMC just closed a deal with producer Sony Pictures TV to renew dark drama Breaking Bad for a final batch of 16 episodes. The episodes are expected to be filmed together but may be split into two seasons, with a final scheduling decision to be made at a later date.

Which was followed by AMCs official statement...

New York – NY, August, 14, 2011 – AMC announced today that “Breaking Bad,” the Emmy Award-winning and critically lauded drama series from acclaimed writer/producer/director Vince Gilligan has been renewed for a 16 episode order that will conclude the series. Production on all episodes of the final order will commence in early 2012. The roll-out of the episodes and premiere date schedule has yet to be determined by the network. The announcement was made by Charlie Collier, president of AMC.

The full AMC statement is here...

http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/done...-breaking-bad/

[djgeneral]

All it says is that production will start on all episodes in early 2012. And Production did start in early 2012. That sentence could easily mean a number of things. Just because there is a hiatus break doesn't prove anything. Just like with any show.

Just picking a random drama example...let's say CSI. And CBS says

Production on all episodes start in Fall 2012.

Granted they will be filming episodes from August 2012 until April 2013 which is the typical standard for filming a show.

Obviously they aren't going to say "X" episodes will be filmed in 2012 and the remainder will be filmed in 2013.

[budious]

What difference does it make? It's nice to know the show is not going to be stretched into oblivion then suddenly cancelled without a proper ending. Knowing exactly when the show ends and how many episodes remain with a lengthy wait halfway in between is just the sort of tense nail-biting viewer drama the show thrives on.

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by budious

What difference does it make? It's nice to know the show is not going to be stretched into oblivion then suddenly cancelled without a proper ending. Knowing exactly when the show ends and how many episodes remain with a lengthy wait halfway in between is just the sort of tense nail-biting viewer drama the show thrives on.

we have to do something in this thread to pass the time!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by djgeneral

All it says is that production will start on all episodes in early 2012. And Production did start in early 2012.

Not on ALL episodes.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by budious

Knowing exactly when the show ends and how many episodes remain with a lengthy wait halfway in between is just the sort of tense nail-biting viewer drama the show thrives on.

I thrive on the episodes, not the wait.

[MrTwoArms]

Originally Posted by djgeneral

we have to do something in this thread to pass the time!

http://www.hanktakesashit.com

[djgeneral]

Originally Posted by MrTwoArms

http://www.hanktakesashit.com

LOL those are great

[Toptube]

guys, the second half is not done yet. Gilligan says they don't even have the ending written out yet as they are apparently still going over ideas. Which is upsetting to me, especially after the un-established, ill-servicing twist that I was supposed to be impressed with during the mid-season finale.


*this article contains spoilers
http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-wat...r-walter-white

They still don't have the final season finished in writing?!! I cannot believe they don't realize how much better it is to just sit down and write it all out ahead of time. Yeah, small things here or there will change. But If you've got the big things knocked out ahead of time, you won't have to scramble later on and do things that were never setup or tease and then reveal all in the same episode. I mean hell, didn't they watch the final season of LOST??? and in contrast, didn't they watch The Wire? I thought every TV writer ever would have learned some important things about right and wrong writing, from those two shows. SHIIIIiiiiiiiit.



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Originally Posted by MrTwoArms

http://www.hanktakesashit.com

this needs a 2001 variant.

[Barbossa]

I wouldn't worry about it - Gilligan has done it this way throughout seasons 1 to 4 and, by his own admittance, he and his writers have had to write themselves out of a number of corners during those seasons.

When you have excellent writers you find that they thrive on this kind of approach and their output is better as a result.

He may say "oh, we don't have an ending yet" to temporarily avoid the numerous inevitable questions like: "can you give us a hint as to how it ends?". Etc. He has though said that they have the broad brush strokes of the last 8 episodes and that they're now going over the finer details.

[MykeHavoc]

Originally Posted by Toptube

guys, the second half is not done yet. Gilligan says they don't even have the ending written out yet as they are apparently still going over ideas. Which is upsetting to me, especially after the un-established, ill-servicing twist that I was supposed to be impressed with during the mid-season finale.


*this article contains spoilers
http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-wat...r-walter-white

They still don't have the final season finished in writing?!! I cannot believe they don't realize how much better it is to just sit down and write it all out ahead of time. Yeah, small things here or there will change. But If you've got the big things knocked out ahead of time, you won't have to scramble later on and do things that were never setup or tease and then reveal all in the same episode. I mean hell, didn't they watch the final season of LOST??? and in contrast, didn't they watch The Wire? I thought every TV writer ever would have learned some important things about right and wrong writing, from those two shows. SHIIIIiiiiiiiit.



------------------------




this needs a 2001 variant.

They wrote out all of season 2 ahead of time and were unsatisfied with the results. The appeal of TV serials is the ability to allow it to develop over time. The series has been at it's best when it's made up as it goes along. There is no organic growth if everything is predetermined. They have to be just as surprised with the twists and turns as we are. This isn't film. That to me is the fun of TV.

[Barbossa]

Originally Posted by MykeHavoc

They wrote out all of season 2 ahead of time and were unsatisfied with the results. The appeal of TV serials is the ability to allow it to develop over time. The series has been at it's best when it's made up as it goes along. There is no organic growth if everything is predetermined. They have to be just as surprised with the twists and turns as we are. This isn't film. That to me is the fun of TV.

Exactly. However, you do need damn good writers to pull off such an approach (the Lost writers made it up as they went along and failed) - thankfully Breaking Bad's writer's are excellent.

[hpDeskjet600C]

Originally Posted by MrTwoArms

http://www.hanktakesashit.com

omg...

[silversnake]

I started re watching from the beginning. I need my fix.

It's kind of funny going back to season 1 and seeing the characters back then and thinking about them now.

[hpDeskjet600C]

Originally Posted by silversnake

I started re watching from the beginning. I need my fix.

It's kind of funny going back to season 1 and seeing the characters back then and thinking about them now.

Me too! It's nice to see Hank being funny all the time again.

[Jud64209]

I find it very hard to believe that the creator of the show and the writers don't have the final (half) season planned out in advance. I don't believe it for a minute. Vince Gilligan can continue to do his interviews and tell people that "they're not sure about the ending", but it's all baloney

That hank website is pretty funny. But my all time favorite Breaking Bad video is

[Show spoiler]

Yeah B!tch - YouTube

I think it was posted a few pages back, but it's worth bringing up again


Side note: Does anyone else think that

[Show spoiler]Jesse put some sort of recording device in the watch he bought Walt? The ending of that episode was really strange and made me think Jesse might be spying on Walt.