Press Release: Breaking Bad

Remember over the summer you kept on hearing about the new show Mad Men but didn’t bother watching because of one of three reasons; 1) you didn’t hear about until it already started and didn’t want to catch up in the middle, 2) you are too young to watch American Movie Classics; 3) you have no clue which of your 5700 channels is AMC or some kind of combination of the three? Well there is already buzz on AMC’s second foray into original scripted series with Breaking Bad starring the dad from Malcolm in the Middle who runs a meth lab that starts up tomorrow (January 20) at 10:00. The main character even has his own blog: Walt’s Wisdom which has the video below on it. And looky, a press release:



BREAKING BAD New Show on AMC...

A mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher unexpectedly adopts a criminal new lifestyle in the highly anticipated new one hour series BREAKING BAD from Sony Pic-tures Television. The provocative drama depicts the extraordinary lengths to which a man will go in order to provide for his family. BREAKING BAD premieres in January 2008 on AMC.

Walter White is a meek high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. Already facing financial hardship, Walter realizes that this news will likely force his family into financial ruin. Concealing the news from everyone, Walter decides to make as much money as possible for his family in the limited time he has left. He convinces his former student to partner with him, and the two turn a beat-up R.V. into a rolling meth lab. However, Walter’s unfamiliarity with the drug world and his partner’s bad choices quickly clash and the duo’s partnership takes a turn for the worse.

Emmy-nominated veteran actor Bryan Cranston (“Malcolm in the Middle,” Little Miss Sunshine) heads the cast of BREAKING BAD portraying Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher whose life is suddenly transformed by a dire medical diagnosis. Aaron Paul (“Big Love”) plays Jesse Pinkman, a street-savvy former student who “teaches” Walter a new trade. Anna Gunn (“Deadwood”) is Walter’s pregnant wife Sky-lar, an enterprising homemaker. Dean Norris (Little Miss Sunshine) is Walter’s boister-ous and crude brother-in-law Hank who happens to be a federal drug enforcement agent. Betsy Brandt (“CSI”) plays Walter’s sister-in-law Marie, and R.J. Mitte (“Hannah Montana,” “Weeds”) is Walter’s son Walter Jr., whose teen angst is further complicated by cerebral palsy.

BREAKING BAD is created by highly acclaimed writer, producer and director Vince Gil-ligan (“The X-Files”), executive produced by Oscar® winner Mark Johnson (The Chroni-cles of Narnia, The Notebook, Donnie Brasco), with the pilot episode photographed by two-time Oscar-winning cinematographer John Toll (Braveheart, Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai).

On BREAKING BAD, producers have created characters of complexity and nuance that live in a world in which traditional views of right and wrong do not apply. This dark and distinctive story of a husband/father fighting to financially care for his family before his death also incorporates moments of laugh-out-loud humor. Vince Gilligan brings his genius for creating compelling characters to this unique series and the talented cast skates the line between comedy and tragedy in each riveting episode.

Filmed on location in New Mexico, BREAKING BAD is executive produced by Johnson and Gilligan; produced by Karen Moore (“The Law and Mr. Lee,” “Threshold”) and Patty Lin (“Desperate Housewives,” “Leap of Faith”); and associate produced by Gina Scheerer (“So Little Time”). Emmy-nominated Reynaldo Villalobos (A Bronx Tale, Bor-dertown, Urban Cowboy) is the director of photography. BREAKING BAD is produced by High Bridge Productions, Inc. and Gran Via Productions in association with Sony Pic-tures Television for AMC.