Breaking Bad = Recommended TV Show

Today I finished watching Season 1 of the AMC series Breaking Bad.

I rate the show as an instant classic in the realm of artistically challenging and entertaining television.

I know Mad Men, also on AMC, has gotten a lot of accolades of late. If you like Mad Men, you should try and catch this show.

Watch out for March 2010, when Season 3 of Breaking Bad starts. Catch it before everyone else does, if you want to be hip like me! Or at least to support intelligent television.

More fans + high ratings = the continuation of great TV.

Brian Cranston (above), won a best actor Emmy for his role as a chemistry teacher who learns he has lung cancer and decides to cook crystal meth to save up some cash for his family if/when he dies. It's hard to believe he's the same person who starred as Hal in Malcolm in the Middle.

The show makes Weeds, another dark comedy about selling drugs in America suburbia, look like a glorified porno. And I like that show. (Worth noting: Weeds has a lot of nudity and is very much over-the-top).

The acting, writing, and camera work in Breaking Bad are all top notch.

The storyline is fresh without being outrageous, heartfelt without being overly-sentimental, and dramatic without being slow-motion boring.

The Soprano's is one show that is a very close companion to Breaking Bad: in the most basic summary, it's a fascinating drama about families dealing with the difficulties of the real world.

And Cranston does steal the show. He acts his ass off and is dominant on all levels, but especially on his concentration on humanistic details. Facial expressions, body language, and voice levels aid the overall quality of Cranston's bad-ass role.

If you're bored and want to start watching a new show, try to hunt down the pilot of Breaking Bad. It sucked me right in, right off the bat, in the first scene, of the first episode, and if your a fan of high quality television, you won't be disappointed.

Note: Season 2 of Breaking Bad will be released on January 5. Try to watch Season 1 first, it is the type of show you want to see in the correct order.