Four months after finale, ‘Breaking Bad’ bags first Golden Globe for best TV drama

LOS ANGELES | “Breaking Bad” collected its first Golden Globe for best television drama series Sunday, nearly four months after the final episode of the cult crime series was aired.

It also won a best actor Golden Globe for its star Bryan Cranston for his portrayal of Walter White, a chemistry teacher dying of cancer who turns to making meth to bring in money for his family.

“This is such a lovely way to say goodbye to the show that meant so much to me,” Cranston said upon collecting his trophy at the Beverly Hilton.

It was the first-ever Golden Globe for Cranston, who was nominated four consecutive times for his performance in the critically acclaimed show that ran five seasons on the AMC cable channel before its late September finale.

Winning best actress in a TV drama was Robin Wright from “House of Cards” — the first original series on Netflix — for her role as the wife of a cunning US congressman played by Kevin Spacey.

“Breaking Bad” outpaced “House of Cards,” Britain’s “Downton Abbey,” “The Good Wife” on CBS and AMC’s saucy “Masters of Sex” for the best drama series prize.

In the comedy corner, new Fox series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” won the prize for best series, beating established shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” on CBS and “Modern Famiy” on ABC, as well as HBO’s much-hyped “Girls.”

“This is way better than saving a human life,” quipped the show’s writer Dan Goor, who turned down medical school for show business.

“Saturday Night Live” alum Andy Samberg won best TV comedy actor for his starring role in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” which recounts the antics of a team of New York detectives.

Best comedy actress went to Amy Poehler, another “SNL” veteran and Globes co-host with Tina Fey, for her NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”

“I’ve never won anything like this,” said Poehler, who thanked among others “my wonderful children, who are my double-A batteries” — after planting a big kiss on U2 frontman Bono on her way to the stage.

HBO’s Liberace biopic “Behind the Candelabra,” directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, won best mini-series or TV movie, and its star Michael Douglas took best actor in a mini-series or TV movie.

Giving Douglas an approving thumbs-up from the floor of the hotel ballroom was Matt Damon, who had also been nominated in the same category for the same project.

Honored as best supporting actor in a series, mini-series or TV movie was another Hollywood veteran, Jon Voight, who appears in the Showtime crime drama “Ray Donovan.”

Earlier in the evening, Elisabeth Moss — best known for her work in “Mad Men” — won the Golden Globe for best actress in a mini-series or TV movie for “Top of the Lake.”

And Jacqueline Bisset, a five-time nominee, won her first Golden Globe ever, clinching best supporting actress in a series, mini-series or TV movie for “Dancing on the Edge.”

source: interaksyon.com

‘Breaking Bad’ anti-hero Walter White gets obit in Albuquerque newspaper

Fans mourning the loss of the gritty drug drama “Breaking Bad” and its main character, chemistry-teacher-turned-meth-kingpin Walter White, memorialized the fictitious druglord on Friday with a real obituary in an Albuquerque newspaper.

Members of the Facebook page “Unofficial Breaking Bad Fan Tour” and local high school science teacher David Layman, who appeared as an extra in the show’s pilot, purchased advertising space for the 87-word tribute in the Albuquerque Journal, the newspaper reported.

“White, Walter aka ‘Heisenberg,’ 52, of Albuquerque, died Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer, and a gunshot wound,” read the ad, which ran on page A4 on Friday. “He will be greatly missed.”

The ad also urged readers to donate to drug abuse prevention programs.

“Putting the obit in the paper was fitting, because the series was based in Albuquerque and it provides some of us some closure,” Layman told the paper.

The AMC drama, which concluded on Sunday, chronicled the transformation of White from a high school teacher scrambling to secure his family’s finances after a terminal cancer diagnosis to the commander of an illegal methamphetamine empire. It won best drama series for its fifth season at the Emmy awards last month.

Sunday’s 75-minute finale showed White, played by Bryan Cranston, tie up the loose ends of his crumbling drug empire and die just as the police finally catch up with him.

The conclusion drew 10.3 million viewers, the show’s biggest audience for any single episode of its five seasons.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Breaking Bad’ finally makes good with best drama Emmy

LOS ANGELES | Television drama “Breaking Bad” won the top Primetime Emmy award for the first time on Sunday, just as the gritty tale of a chemistry teacher turned meth cook and drug kingpin winds down to widespread acclaim.

Although it won best drama series for its fifth season, AMC’s “Breaking Bad” has just one episode left to air next Sunday in its sixth and final season. Its creators credited a changing television world of binge-watching, video on demand, online streaming and social media buzz for its success Sunday.

“I don’t think our show would have even lasted beyond season two if it wasn’t for video on demand, and also the Internet component of it where folks get to chat,” “Breaking Bad” creator Vince Gilligan said backstage. “It really has held us in good stand. It’s a bold new era.”

If the best drama nod vindicated the gritty power of basic cable, the best comedy series award honored the slick production values of the broadcast networks. ABC’s “Modern Family,” a highly stylized show about unconventional families, won the top comedy award for the fourth consecutive year.

The Emmys are handed out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and in a nod to the changing times, host Neil Patrick Harris made much of the latest trends in television viewing. He opened the ceremony enclosed in a room, binge-watching on multiple screens to catch up on every episode.

“Right now, I am watching an episode of ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’ on my contact lens,” Harris joked with the audience at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The newest player in the television industry, online streaming company Netflix Inc, failed to score wins in best drama and best acting categories for its political thriller “House of Cards.” But it took home an award for directing and was a topic of conversation backstage as competitors lauded its ability to break ground on original programming for online streaming.

Premium cable veteran HBO, which led the field with 108 of the more than 500 nominations, proved its staying power in the increasingly competitive television industry, where basic cable and Netflix have challenged its high-quality production.

Jeff Daniels, who plays a jaded anchorman in HBO’s “The Newsroom,” scored an upset win for the best actor in a drama, while Claire Danes clinched her second consecutive best drama actress Emmy for her role as a bipolar CIA agent in “Homeland.”

Daniels beat front-runner Bryan Cranston, who was looking for this fourth best actor Emmy in his role as unlikely drug kingpin Walt White in “Breaking Bad,” and Kevin Spacey, who made waves as a cutthroat congressman in “House of Cards.”

“I didn’t expect this,” Daniels said. “I usually don’t win anything. The last thing I won was for ‘The Squid and the Whale,’ best actor over 50 from the AARP. With all due respect to the AARP, this is better.”

Danes proved to be the only repeat winner in the major categories for Showtime’s domestic terror thriller “Homeland,” which won the trifecta of best drama series and best actor and actress for drama last year for its freshman season.

Its third season begins next Sunday after a second season that critics said fell short of the high notes in its first year.

BINGE-WATCHING ‘BREAKING BAD’

HBO also won the best miniseries/movie category with its slick Liberace program “Behind the Candelabra.” Veteran actor Michael Douglas won best actor in that category for his portrayal of the pianist, besting his co-star Matt Damon, who played his young lover.

“You deserve half of this,” Douglas told Damon. “Do you want the bottom or the top?”

The lead comedy acting awards were less of a surprise than the drama category.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus won the best comedy actress Emmy for the second year in a row for her role as hapless U.S. Vice President Selina Meyer on HBO’s “Veep.”

Jim Parsons picked up his third lead comedy actor win for his role as the nerdy and neurotic Sheldon Cooper on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory.”

Some of the notable losers of the night were “American Horror Story: Asylum,” the miniseries that led the field with 17 nominations but only picked up two awards, and HBO’s medieval fantasy “Game of Thrones,” which received 16 nominations overall and won two technical awards.

“Breaking Bad” had 10 nominations overall and won three awards. Good timing and a surge in binge-watching seemed to be on its side.

AMC split the final season of “Breaking Bad” in two. It enjoyed a surge in ratings and a crescendo of critical and social media buzz perfectly timed to when Emmy voters were casting their ballots.

The first six episodes of the eight-episode ending to Walter White’s saga, released weekly starting in August, averaged 5.2 million viewers, more than double last year’s audience, according to AMC.

Netflix is credited with helping boost viewership for “Breaking Bad,” giving audiences a chance to binge-watch earlier episodes to quickly catch up – something that Gilligan recognized backstage.

“I think Netflix kept us on the air,” he said.

source: interaksyon.com

'Breaking Bad': What Last Night's Episode Tells Us About The End

Well, that was intense.

We're three-eighths of the way through the final episodes of "Breaking Bad," and it's pretty safe to assume that a good portion of the audience suffered an embolism from the gut-wrenching hour that was "Confessions."

If Vince Gilligan and company are making one thing clear with these final episodes, it's that every minute is going to count in getting us to the finale and learning the fates of Walter, Jesse, and just about everyone else. "Confessions," in particular, gave us a few clues about where we're headed.

The End of Hank?
You thought Walter was going to confess on camera, didn't you? In what has to be considered one of the best "Breaking Bad" twists ever, Walter used his would-be taped confession — another reference to the pilot, by the way — as a platform through which to blackmail his brother-in-law to not proceed with the investigation. The revelation that Marie accepted cash from Walt and Skylar to fund Hank's rehab was "the nail in the coffin" for Hank Schrader, and the only person who could possibly save his crusader to bring Heisenberg to justice just flew off the rails.

Jesse Versus Walter
That's right. Jesse Pinkman. Though he wouldn't cooperate with Hank in the interrogation room, something tells us that he might be a little more willing to testify, but that doesn't appear to be the route Jesse is taking right now. By the end of the episode, it was pretty clear that he has decided on the "Let's burn down the White family house" solution.

The mystery of Brock's poisoning was one of several hanging threats to Walt's safety, and there may not be a worse one to fall squarely on top of him. There is no winning Jesse back now, no matter how much Walt "works" him. Heisenberg's most despicable act is now out in the open for the one person who was hurt the most — besides Brock, of course.

We know from the flash forwards that Jesse doesn't succeed in burning down Walt's house, but that doesn't eliminate the possibility that he's the one who metaphorically reduces the home to ashes. Walt Jr. made it pretty clear that he had no intentions of leaving home. If he's in the house when Jesse bursts in, you can bet that Mr. Pinkman would have no qualms about outing his dad as a poisoner of children.

Todd and Friends
Yeah, they're definitely up to no good. Todd, his uncle Jack, and their buddy now stand as a potential threat to pretty much everyone. They demonstrated their capacity for Old West-style violence in last week's episode, and now they're getting ready to jump back into the meth business. Todd called Walter to give him the heads-up that things didn't go well with Declan, but there may have been another reason behind the call. Walter is still the best cook in the region, and now the pressure is squarely on Todd to deliver. Does Todd doubt his own cooking abilities? Will he turn to Walter out of desperation?

These guys are very much a part of where things are headed. We've just yet to see how they fit in, but it's a safe bet to wager that it won't be pleasant.

source: mtv.com