‘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

Maricel Soriano leaves drama series after berating lead actor Gerald Anderson

Maricel Soriano will need another show — or perhaps another network — on which to launch her television comeback.

The veteran actress is no longer in the cast of the new ABS-CBN drama series “Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin” after she berated the lead actor, Gerald Anderson, on the show’s first taping day last week.

According to an official statement from Bong Osorio, the Kapamilya Network’s head of corporate communications, Soriano’s abrupt departure from the show is a mutual decision  by her and ABS-CBN.

“Due to the unfortunate incident between Gerald Anderson and Maricel Soriano that transpired on the first taping day of ‘Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin,’ the ABS-CBN management and the management of Maricel Soriano have agreed that Maricel will no longer be part of the cast,” Osorio said.

Earlier, entertainment website pep.ph had reported that Soriano scolded Anderson after the latter flubbed his lines during a scene and ordered him to apologize to the crew for causing a delay of the taping.

Anderson tearfully apologized to Soriano but reportedly failed to appease the actress, who is known for her mercurial temper. Initial reports say Soriano will be replaced by Dawn Zulueta.

“Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin” also stars Cristine Reyes, Dina Bonnevie, Tonton Gutierrez, Rayver Cruz, and Diana Zubiri. The show would have marked Soriano’s acting comeback on ABS-CBN after her brief stint with TV5 in 2010.

In June 2011, Soriano hogged headlines after two of her maids sued her for beating them up. The case was settled out of court in March 2012.

source: interaksyon.com