Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Just Started Watching Breaking Bad...Help, Please.
Homeland has been very good, although if you do watch it you can stop after the 2nd to last episode of Season 3. You're welcome.
LOL. So true (and sad).
rectumdamnnearkilledem
A lot of this is seconding The Wire-starts kinda slow but many people say it is the best show ever The Sopranos-Probably also in the running for best show ever Game of Thrones-Really really good, slow moving at times though. MORE DRAGONS PLEASE! Justified-really entertaining. Sons of Anarchy-Really entertaining, kind of absurd at times. Dr Who-the newer seasons if you are into sci-fi Sherlock-the one with Benedict Cumberbatch Mad Men-I find this hard to binge watch like Breaking bad, but still a great show The bad thing about HBO shows, unless you have HBO on cable, is that they don't come streaming on netflix only with HBO GO
A lot of this is seconding
The Wire-starts kinda slow but many people say it is the best show ever
The Sopranos-Probably also in the running for best show ever
Game of Thrones-Really really good, slow moving at times though. MORE DRAGONS PLEASE!
Justified-really entertaining.
Sons of Anarchy-Really entertaining, kind of absurd at times.
Dr Who-the newer seasons if you are into sci-fi
Sherlock-the one with Benedict Cumberbatch
Mad Men-I find this hard to binge watch like Breaking bad, but still a great show
The bad thing about HBO shows, unless you have HBO on cable, is that they don't come streaming on netflix only with HBO GO
Yeah, we don't even have cable TV anymore…we have Netflix and Hulu+ and buy stuff here and there on iTunes (of course, we paid for the last 8 episodes of BB a few days ago…and they just showed up on Netflix like yesterday. For realz. Jeez). So HBO shows we have to really think long and hard about, since we'd most likely end up buying DVD/Blu-ray.
HUGE Doctor Who fans. We went to the Day of the Doctor 3D theater screening. DH has been watching Sherlock and is really excited about the new season. Mad Men…we both want to watch it, but have heard so many people say that it goes downhill after a couple of seasons. Not sure we want to invest in a show that we know will leave us bummed by the end.
Looking forward to the next season of Hell on Wheels. Really like that show, too. If we could subscribe to just one cable network it would be AMC, for certain.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
I've got a fever...
For me, watching Breaking Bad was a compelling argument both for and against binge watching.
The "for" is pretty obvious -- I was able to watch nearly the entire run of the series over the summer, and it was every bit addictive as Walt's product. It was awesome to be able to blast through everything I had missed, and I caught up to the series when there were 5 or 6 episodes to go.
But as nice as it was to binge and catch up, watching those last few episodes in real-time (or DVR'd a day after) was great. I enjoyed watching, and then reading the reactions the next day on the the watercooler known as the internet. It was fun to experience a show that was part of the zeitgeist, as opposed to seeing it months or years later, especially that last trio of episodes: Ozymandias (one of the best hours of television I've very seen), Granite State, and Felina. In fact, I think of all three of those episodes as being chapters of a three-part finale.
But despite all of that, binge watching is here to stay, and maybe BB is a special case -- most television shows don't finish their run being such a huge part of the national conversation. In any case, it was great to see the series end so strongly and never come close to jumping the shark; in fact, I'd say Breaking Bad made the shark its bitch.
One more BB tidbit -- only watch if you've seen the series through to the end. Here's a funny spoof about Hank. I was also going to post a link to the very funny BB spoof ending that combines Newhart with Malcom in the Middle, but the clip got pulled (Up yours, Sony Pictures).
As far as what to watch next, I'd go with:
On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office. But you will wish that you'd spent more time running. Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.
I just started Season 5 and I am most definitely going to finish it before the final season comes out on Netflix (2/24). Hell, I'll probably finish it this weekend.
I have thirty something dollars in Google Play credit and I'm pretty sure I'll be buying the final season for $22 in HD. No way I could wait until 2/24 at this point.
Runners run
especially that last trio of episodes: Ozymandias (one of the best hours of television I've very seen), Granite State, and Felina. In fact, I think of all three of those episodes as being chapters of a three-part finale. But despite all of that, binge watching is here to stay, and maybe BB is a special case -- most television shows don't finish their run being such a huge part of the national conversation. In any case, it was great to see the series end so strongly and never come close to jumping the shark; in fact, I'd say Breaking Bad made the shark its bitch. One more BB tidbit -- only watch if you've seen the series through to the end. Here's a funny spoof about Hank.
especially that last trio of episodes: Ozymandias (one of the best hours of television I've very seen), Granite State, and Felina. In fact, I think of all three of those episodes as being chapters of a three-part finale.
One more BB tidbit -- only watch if you've seen the series through to the end. Here's a funny spoof about Hank.
Yes. And that spoof is funny shit!! The video that rolls after that is also good. Dean Norris is a riot!
I just started Season 5 and I am most definitely going to finish it before the final season comes out on Netflix (2/24). Hell, I'll probably finish it this weekend. I have thirty something dollars in Google Play credit and I'm pretty sure I'll be buying the final season for $22 in HD. No way I could wait until 2/24 at this point.
It's like the blue meth...
Yeah. I bought the last episodes on Amazon Prime. Actually I had Tivoed them all when AMC had a Breaking Bad marathon over New Years. But they got overwritten by the Twilight Zone marathon. I was pissed when I sat down to watch them a week later.
For me, watching Breaking Bad was a compelling argument both for and against binge watching. The "for" is pretty obvious -- I was able to watch nearly the entire run of the series over the summer, and it was every bit addictive as Walt's product. It was awesome to be able to blast through everything I had missed, and I caught up to the series when there were 5 or 6 episodes to go. But as nice as it was to binge and catch up, watching those last few episodes in real-time (or DVR'd a day after) was great. I enjoyed watching, and then reading the reactions the next day on the the watercooler known as the internet. It was fun to experience a show that was part of the zeitgeist, as opposed to seeing it months or years later, especially that last trio of episodes: Ozymandias (one of the best hours of television I've very seen), Granite State, and Felina. In fact, I think of all three of those episodes as being chapters of a three-part finale. But despite all of that, binge watching is here to stay, and maybe BB is a special case -- most television shows don't finish their run being such a huge part of the national conversation. In any case, it was great to see the series end so strongly and never come close to jumping the shark; in fact, I'd say Breaking Bad made the shark its bitch.
+1 to all this, especially the part in bold.
Certainly having the opportunity to binge watch, how can you stop yourself? But sometimes with the really good episodes you need time for them to sink in, and kind of absorb it all. It's a bit like cramming for a test - worked out well at the time, but I am finding a few months later I don't remember so much of it.
One more comment on Cranston. Anyone see him on Colbert, around the time the series ended? One of the best guest appearances on that show ever. One of the very few guests who really stood toe to toe with Colbert on the witty repartee during the interview, as opposed to the usual total Colbert domiNation.
Dave
I don't think so... I thought I remembered him on The Daily Show, but I hadn't started watching Breaking Bad at that point, so most of it was lost on me. Was I hallucinating, or was he on both?
Done...wow. Now what to watch?!??
In my case, it's "Done... now, whew, I can get my life back!". I don't need another distraction like that. The last series I watched was Battlestar Galactica. Which I mostly liked, but I was pretty unhappy with how it wrapped up, unlike Breaking Bad. I felt like throughout, they strung us along with, effectively, the promise that "trust us, all this mysterious stuff will get explained in the end". And... nope. In retrospect it was clear that they were just making it all up as they went along. Painted themselves into a big corner, threw their hands up. So in that sense the entire series was a waste.
I guess I did watch some of the newer Doctor Who as well (loved the Tom Baker episodes as a kid), most of the Eccleston and Tennant ones. But I couldn't be bothered to keep up after that.
But... before leaving the Breaking Bad universe entirely, Amazon Prime does have a couple of extras; I'm not sure where else they might have aired or now be available: "The Transformation of Walt to Heisenberg" (3 minutes) and "Bad Memories" (7 minutes). Nothing really essential or insightful there, but worth the 10 minutes if you have them available.
I guess I did watch some of the newer Doctor Who as well (loved the Tom Baker episodes as a kid), most of the Eccleston and Tennant ones. But I couldn't be bothered to keep up after that. But... before leaving the Breaking Bad universe entirely, Amazon Prime does have a couple of extras; I'm not sure where else they might have aired or now be available: "The Transformation of Walt to Heisenberg" (3 minutes) and "Bad Memories" (7 minutes). Nothing really essential or insightful there, but worth the 10 minutes if you have them available.
I also grew up with the Tom Baker Doctor. Eccleston and Tennant are awesome, but Matt Smith might be my fave. I'm really looking forward to #12.
I think those BB extras were on our iTunes download, too. I know the transformation one is. I kind of want to rewatch some of those last episodes with the commentary track, too.
Half Fanatic 12680
If you need an antidote, I recommend "Foyle's War" and "Call the Midwife" (on Netflix). Both historical British dramas, very good acting, interesting stories, and you learn some history, too. Not so dramatic as many HBO series, and much more slowly paced, but worth the time. I actually watched many of these while watching BB. After a wrenching BB episode, these were calming and still interesting. I also like Downton Abbey.
IDK, don't specifically remember him on Stewart. We also saw him on Colbert before we started watching the show, and he was so engaging it was one of the things that inspired us to record the marathon (he was on just in the nick of time for that).
One thing that is automatic for me whenever I watch a movie is to look at the trivia section on IMDB. Usually some interesting tidbits there. Works the same for a TV show; for example a few nuggets on BB:
- Vince Gilligan revealed that Jesse was originally going to die by the end of season one. However, they changed their minds after seeing Aaron Paul's performance.
- Vince Gilligan revealed that AMC allowed only one use of the term 'fuck' per season. Gilligan took this opportunity and used it with effect at all times.
- Sony and AMC were initially reluctant to cast Bryan Cranston because of his previous comedic roles and considered both John Cusack and Matthew Broderick for Walter White. When they both declined, Vince Gilligan got to cast Cranston.
If you need an antidote, I recommend "Foyle's War" and "Call the Midwife" (on Netflix).
I've heard really great things about the latter. Might have to start watching that.