Breaking Bad: Better Call Saul

[nyg]

Man you hit the nail on the head.  Though I think Mad Men and Dexter are definitely past their prime.  Also heard that the Wire is in that upper echelon of great shows.

And 24 is definitely a great show, but sheesh how many times is the guy's daughter going to get kidnapped?  Comparing it to breaking bad is, well, not even close to say the least.

In my opinion, The Wire is the best show ever put on television. 

[brandx]

In my opinion, The Wire is the best show ever put on television. 

I've heard that often. It's next on my list.

[augoman]

the wire was good, but Breaking Bad is great.  Best series to date.  I've watched since the pilot, recorded seasons at a time and re-watched.  I still watch the pilot every so often.  A full-length movie in itself.  The complexity of Walter and Jesse's characters makes the show what it is.

[MU82]

I honestly don't even know what it is.

I've heard the name, but zero idea what it's about / when it's on / where, etc.

I'll take Cheers if forced to watch fiction.

Excellent. Criticize something you know nothing about.

[MU82]

Couldn't keep my interest, gave it a shot

I'm digging Ray Donovan. Jon Voight should win an Emmy. He's absolutely fantastic.

[Jay Bee]

Excellent. Criticize something you know nothing about.

I didn't criticize it. You're making things up.

[MU82]

I like Saul. Always cracks me up. But nowhere near the team picture for best characters of all time.

How about Archie Bunker? Mr. Spock? J.R. Ewing?

How about Kramer and Costanza?

How about Walter White and Dexter Morgan and Tony Soprano?

How about Al Swearengen, Vic Mackey and Andy Sipowicz?

How about (first-season) Fonzie and Frank Burns and Homer Simpson?

How about Larry David and Jack Bauer and Michael Scott?

How about a few dozen -- or hundred -- others I probably have left out because I don't feel like doing this any more?

Saul is a nice, minor character. Glad he existed. Hard to imagine him carrying his own show.

[MU82]

I didn't criticize it. You're making things up.

"I'll take Cheers if forced to watch fiction" implies that you don't think highly enough of Breaking Bad to even check it out once. If I'm wrong about that, I apologize.

[MU82]

Better Call Saul sounds like an awful idea. I love Bob Odenkirk and the between-season shorts with Saul as the main character were awesome, but it's not a show in and of itself.

What has been the toughest bit for me about this is watching Dexter and Breaking Bad both end. Early on, Dexter was in my opinion some of the greatest television in history. It really hit its height with John Lithgow as the Season 4 villain, but started to fall off starkly with Season 6. This season of Dexter has been tough to watch and way too predictable.

At the same time, Breaking Bad gets better every week. I would be hard pressed to name any better show. Firefly had the potential but was poorly marketed and pulled way too soon. I love watching Breaking Bad right now, but wish they would let it go. This show is going out triumphant. It's funny...the more Walter White has transformed to darkness, the better Breaking Bad has become, while Dexter Morgan's efforts to become the good guy have only made Dexter a less watchable show.

Totally loved the premise of Dexter right from the start: Serial killer who also happens to be a blood-spatter expert for the police. Brilliant. Michael C. Hall got nominated for the Emmy just about every year and deservedly so. He was great in Six Feet Under -- another incredible show -- and even better in Dexter. I love Deb Morgan, too. She benefits from some great writing for her character.

But, alas, I do agree that Dexter's last couple of seasons definitely aren't as good as the first several. I'm still watching, of course, because I want to see how it ends. And I will miss it when it's gone because Dexter at 60% of what it was is still better than a lot of the stuff on TV, but yes, brew, it kind of limped to the finish line.

Unlike Breaking Bad, which truly has been a gift from the TV gods from beginning to end.

With the original programming from HBO, Showtime, AMC and FX, those of us who aren't too high-falootin' to say stuff like, "I never watch TV; I only listen to NPR," have been very lucky this last decade-plus.

Without putting them in order, we've been treated to ...

The Wire, Deadwood, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry Sanders, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, Entourage, The Shield, Damages, Justified, Walking Dead, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Rescue Me, Dexter, Shameless, Homeland, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and probably a few I'm missing.

Wow! It's been hard to justify watching network TV for quite some time.

[brandx]

Larry Sanders was a gem. Rome was also great (HBO series - not the idiot on Showtime).

[brandx]

I'm digging Ray Donovan. Jon Voight should win an Emmy. He's absolutely fantastic.

Haven't made up my mind yet on this one - like what I see so far.

Can't stand Voight's politics (a real wingnut; probably right of Ted Nugent), but I agree he deserves the Emmy. Outstanding job.

[ChicosBailBonds]

In my opinion, The Wire is the best show ever put on television. 

Wire is very good.

[ChicosBailBonds]

I'm digging Ray Donovan. Jon Voight should win an Emmy. He's absolutely fantastic.

Guess what I got from Showtime today....an autographed Ray Donovan script by Mr. Voight.  Very awesome.  It's one of the very few shows my wife and I watch together....our tastes are totally different.  She thought that was really cool, and I agree.

Super cast, really well written show. 

[ChicosBailBonds]

Haven't made up my mind yet on this one - like what I see so far.

Can't stand Voight's politics (a real wingnut; probably right of Ted Nugent), but I agree he deserves the Emmy. Outstanding job.

He was a liberal for many years.

Supported McGovern, Kennedy, etc...anti-Vietnam War.  But he got disillusioned by the utopian disconnect from the real world and reality in general.  Many young people do when they realize the unicorns and rainbows aren't there.  

He wrote this in the Times which I think explains things quite well.  A wingnut...hardly, but everyone has a different criteria for nuts.  I'm sure I view some folks to be complete cranks on the left that you feel are mainstream.  That's part of the differences I suppose.

"We were traumatized in the Sixties and all of that behavior — the dancing in circles, the smoking pot and saying "all we need is love" — it was because we couldn't identify evil; we couldn't believe in evil — we didn't want to believe in evil so we just hid from it. It was a very disturbing time ... overwhelmingly, it was a very bizarre, selfish and hedonistic philosophy that wasn't very helpful. It attacked the family — the attack on the family was very severe because not only was there this idea of [indiscriminate love] and that would solve the world's problems, which gave rise to teen pregnancy, but also this idea not to trust anyone over 30. This was from people who were over 30 and bombed out of their minds with every kind of drug they could put into their system. Then there was the romanticization of the drugs — there were people coming out with [pseudo] scientific evidence that [drugs] increase your enlightenment — it was devastating. Today, I find that people look back at that time in a romantic way and that's as dangerous as anything is. It wasn't a romantic time. It was a time of great distortion"

[reinko]

Breaking Bad > The Wire

Breaking Bad < The Wire without season 5

[warriorchick]

Haven't made up my mind yet on this one - like what I see so far.

Can't stand Voight's politics (a real wingnut; probably right of Ted Nugent), but I agree he deserves the Emmy. Outstanding job.

I can't stand Alec Baldwin's politics (or his real-life a-hole personality, for that matter), but he was pretty flippin' funny on "30 Rock".

[Coleman]

Guess what I got from Showtime today....an autographed Ray Donovan script by Mr. Voight.  Very awesome.  It's one of the very few shows my wife and I watch together....our tastes are totally different.  She thought that was really cool, and I agree.

Super cast, really well written show. 

Guess what I got from AMC today...a pair of Walter White's skidmarked whitey tighties. Top that.

[mu-rara]

I can't stand Alec Baldwin's politics (or his real-life a-hole personality, for that matter), but he was pretty flippin' funny on "30 Rock".

I love you WarriorChick....

Sorry Honey. 

[MU82]

I could give a flyin' flip about the politics of Jon Voight or Alec Baldwin. All I want to know is if they entertain me when they appear in shows I watch.

With both, the answer is yes.

When either talks politics, he is just another talking head yammering away.

[MU82]

Breaking Bad > The Wire

Breaking Bad < The Wire without season 5

Yes, as is the case with many shows, they tend to lose a little steam at the end. As great as The Wire was -- and I consider Season 4 is the best season of any TV show I have ever seen -- Season 5 was a bit of a letdown.

[MU82]

Wow ... I've commented a lot in this freakin' thread.

I watch too damn much TV!!!!!

[mr.MUskie]

Guess what I got from AMC today...a pair of Walter White's skidmarked whitey tighties. Top that.

Guess what I got from AMC today - A bag of blue crystals.  Wonder what it is?

[brewcity77]

Totally loved the premise of Dexter right from the start: Serial killer who also happens to be a blood-spatter expert for the police. Brilliant. Michael C. Hall got nominated for the Emmy just about every year and deservedly so. He was great in Six Feet Under -- another incredible show -- and even better in Dexter. I love Deb Morgan, too. She benefits from some great writing for her character.

But, alas, I do agree that Dexter's last couple of seasons definitely aren't as good as the first several. I'm still watching, of course, because I want to see how it ends. And I will miss it when it's gone because Dexter at 60% of what it was is still better than a lot of the stuff on TV, but yes, brew, it kind of limped to the finish line.

Admittedly, maybe it should be a separate topic, but because these shows that have been so good are ending within a week of each other, I can't help but tie them together. The writing in Dexter this season is just ridiculous. Spoilers in white...

For a character so meticulous to be so clumsy galls me. He thinks he can leave on a plane with Hannah when he has a freaking boat docked in the bay? They drive around together in plain sight and hide her at a family member's house when she is wanted? Then trying to draw Saxon in...that was maybe the worst writing of the series, so much so that they avoided the predictable and just went to the stupid. When Dexter reveals the Saxon tape, right after Saxon threatened his family, there is no way Saxon comes after Dexter directly. He would have went after Deb or more likely Harrison. Then Dexter gets him on the table and decides to walk away? Again, a character as meticulous as Dexter would never let Saxon out of his sight before he was apprehended.

Drives me nuts because I love the character and love the acting of Michael C Hall, but this show has just gone in the tank. Still trying to figure out if we're supposed to think Joey is the good guy that will take care of Deb or the dirty cop that dates strippers and just broke things off with Jamie like 5 minutes before he lets it slip that he's ready to marry Deb. It really has become awful television...yeah, I'm just venting, but I think my wife is sick of hearing it (she's just as irritated with the show as I am) so gotta let it go somewhere.

[Coleman]

Plus + 1 to your entire analysis of Dexter this season. Its truly awful. I'm ready for it to be done. Very disappointing as someone who loved the show seasons 1-4.

[augoman]

Hmmm, I'm unfamiliar with Ray Donovan.  Vas is los? (he tried to say in German).