AMC announced yesterday that it will renew Breaking Bad for a second season. 

"From critical praise to strong ratings and a devoted audience, Breaking Bad further reinforced AMC as a top producer of high-quality, distinctive television," said Charlie Collier, Executive Vice President and General Manager of AMC. "Breaking Bad is a powerful, intelligent and thought-provoking series that clearly resonated with viewers and critics alike. We're excited for a second season of Breaking Bad with new and provocative storylines that will delve deeper into the next chapter in the life of Walter White." The second season, unlike the first which ran a brief seven episodes due to the writer's strike, will consist of thirteen episodes, the same number as Mad Men's Season 1 and upcoming Season 2. 

Call her Jesse's girl. "Pamala," a Michigan housewife who hosts an enthusiastic Breaking Bad blog, has a soft spot for Walt's meth partner Jesse, a boy she thinks a little maternal affection would turn right around. "I adore Jesse," she confesses. "I'd probably be his mother if I could. I'd get in there and take care of that boy."

A longtime Vince Gilligan fan who hosted live Internet chats about The X-Files in the 1990s, Pamala says she was "immediately floored by Breaking Bad. I just had to start a blog." As is her habit with her favorite TV dramas, Pamala has long conversations with Jesse and other characters. "They never listen," she admits, but that doesn't stop her from offering advice on her blog. "It's therapeutic. I enjoy it immensely."

Continue reading "Site of the Week: Breaking Bad With "Pamala"" »

Are you eager to see more of the characters from Breaking Bad? Well, here's your chance to at least catch up with the actors who portray them. 

Bryan Cranston: Most famous for his role as Hal in Malcolm in the Middle, the versatile character actor has a long resume stretching back to his first role his first small screen role in CHiPS in 1982. His career highlights include a recurring role as a dentist on Seinfeld, a one armed Colonel in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, and as Buzz Aldrin in HBO's From the Earth to the Moon. Cranston is currently filming Love Ranch, Taylor Hackford's drama about the couple that opened the first legal brothel in Nevada. Cranston will be playing a senator who gets entangled in the couple's controversial affairs. Click here to read Bryan Cranston's bio.

Aaron Paul: Breaking Bad's Jesse has been appearing in film and television roles since 1998; his most notable recent appearance prior to Breaking Bad was a recurring part in the second season of HBO's Big Love. You can also catch Paul in two films set for release later this year: John Mallory Asher's horror film Twisted and David VonAllmen's comedy Say Goodnight. Click here to read Aaron Paul's bio.

Continue reading "The Breaking Bad Cast: Before and After" »

Six episodes into it's first season the critics continue to praise Breaking Bad. In an article for the San Francisco Chronicle, critic Tim Goodman focuses on three different series that exemplify great television: AMC's Breaking Bad, ABC's Lost, and HBO's The Wire.

What stands out for Goodman about Breaking Bad is its creative risks. "The innate greatness of Breaking Bad is that it's almost as if two artists and a cable channel simultaneously decided to achieve something brilliant," he says then goes on praise creator Vince Gilligan and star Bryan Cranston in particular.

Keeping the show in the news, Entertainment Weekly put Breaking Bad on it's "Must List" of "Ten Things We Love This Week" and OK Magazine cited AMC as "Hot" with the following comment: "The buzz is justified with Mad Men and Breaking Bad, it's the new HBO."

This Thursday night at 11:30 p.m., Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston is slated to appear as a guest on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno on NBC. His appearance coincidentally (and conveniently) follows the encore presentation of Breaking Bad's Episode 5: "Gray Matter" at 10:30 PM | 9:30C that same evening on AMC. Also scheduled to appear on the Tonight Show are comedian Wanda Sykes and singer Cat Power.

Today's USA Today features an article on Breaking Bad co-star RJ Mitte. The article, "For teen star of Breaking Bad, real-life disability is no obstacle," details the "unique authenticity" that Mitte brings to the role of Walter, Jr. then goes on to detail the events that led to Mitte's being cast in the part.

The article also shows that while RJ shares his character's diagnosis, adjusting to the role still required no small amount of preparation. RJ explains, "Getting used to (Walter's) crutches was really hard because I'd never used them...I had to learn where to put my feet and how to use my weight, and speak with more of a slur." Click here to read the full article.

RJ Mitte is also the focus of an episode of our online video feature "Inside Breaking Bad."

Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston sat down for a chat with Fresh Air's TV critic David Bianculli on NPR this Tuesday. The interview covers everything from the resume that Cranston built up over the course of his career to his first scene on Malcolm in the Middle as well as his experiences working on Breaking Bad.

Cranston talks about how he reacted to reading the script for the pilot and immediately began to envision his character Walt as a man who felt "useless, invisible to the world, to society, even to himself." Listen to the full interview »

Were you one of the 65 million people who tuned in to watch the New York Giants defeat the Green Bay Packers to win the National Football Conference championship two weeks ago? Were you one of the 6.1 million that watched the Screen Actors Guild awards right through to the end last Sunday? If so, you may have missed the series that USA Today calls "riveting and remarkable."

Now you can catch up, and watch the first two episodes of Breaking Bad for free on amctv.com. Then tune in to AMC on Sundays at 10PM | 9C for all new episodes (We're giving you Super Bowl Sunday off, so you don't have to worry about the game running long this time!).

Click here to watch the first two full episodes of Breaking Bad.

In their latest issue, Rolling Stone has featured Breaking Bad in their Top 10 list of "the best in TV, the web, books and beyond."

The article goes on to say, "First there was Mad Men, now there's this edgy new show about a man with no pants who stages a shootout from his RV. What more proof do you need that AMC has the best dramas on cable?"

(There was no link to the article available online at the time of this post.)

The New York Times writes, "Crime does pay in the movies, at least for a while -- the outlaws in Bonnie and Clyde and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have delightful rides until the authorities intervene.

"Breaking Bad, a new seven-part series on AMC about a middle-aged chemistry teacher in Albuquerque who becomes a methamphetamine dealer, wants no part of that Hollywood formula. Walt White's decision to turn to crime -- part midlife crisis, part D.I.Y. estate planning -- almost instantly lands him neck-deep in a morass of trouble without his ever experiencing the slightest shiver of a thrill.

"The series has a slight vein of black humor, but it is very, very dark: Thelma & Louise as seen by Dostoyevsky."

Read the rest of the article.