“I’m amazed it exists at all”: Vince Gilligan Was Convinced “no one in their right mind” Would Make ‘Breaking Bad’ For 3 Reasons
- Breaking Bad is regarded as one of the best TV shows to have been ever made.
- However, Vince Gilligan was sure that no one would want to make this show when he pitched it.
- Gilligan listed 3 reasons as to why he believed that this crime drama would never work out.
Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad came to an end in 2013 after 5 long seasons, and it was with a heavy heart that everyone bid adieu to the show’s anti-hero, Walter White (portrayed by Bryan Cranston). This show was unlike any other that the world had seen before. It was more or less of a gamble to start it; one that everyone involved won.
The pilot of the show premiered in 2008, and it was hard to tell how it would do with the audience given the themes. It did surprisingly well and even spawned an entire franchise. Cranston occasionally shows up as Walter for cameos, advertisements, and such. However, none of this would have been possible because Gilligan once believed that no sane person would make this show, and he even listed the reasons.
Vince Gilligan Was Once Convinced That No Sane Person Would Touch Breaking Bad
Both Vince Gilligan and Bryan Cranston‘s careers were going well. Gilligan had written, directed, and produced some episodes of the Fox series, The X-Files, and even co-created the spinoff, The Lone Gunmen. He was even nominated for Emmy awards for his work on the former. On the other hand, Cranston made his breakthrough with Malcolm in the Middle, which aired from 2000 to 2006.
2008 turned out to be the turning point in the careers of both of them when Breaking Bad premiered and people were glued to the screens to find out what’s next. More so, in the years since it came to an end when the critics began to regard it as one of the best TV series of all time.
There was no way for Gilligan to foresee all this success so he was rather skeptical about it at first. In an interview with The Daily Beast‘s Andrew Romano, he said that he had no idea why he had pitched it and that “no one in their right mind” would buy it.
There’s no reason this show exists. It’s kind of like in science, the old saw that aerodynamically speaking, bumblebees shouldn’t be able to fly. Clearly they do, but on paper it doesn’t look like they should. It’s the same with Breaking Bad. I’m amazed it exists at all.
The fact that this show not only exists but also happens to be one of the best ones ever must be a miracle for Gilligan. Not to mention the many accolades it has been nominated for and won. So, even if the executives at AMC were not in their right minds when they bought it, they certainly do not regret it.
Vince Gilligan Had 3 Reasons to Believe That Breaking Bad Would Never Work Out
Breaking Bad is undoubtedly an unconventional show with a hero who might as well be considered a villain, thanks to some of his very questionable actions. Fans rooted for Walter throughout the series, and accepted everything that came with it- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Gilligan told The Daily Beast that he had three understandable reasons to believe that this series would not work well. First, a 50-year-old man with a middle-class income might not have sounded very attractive to most network executives because people like to watch younger protagonists. Second, Walter getting the very upsetting news that he has cancer in the first episode itself could have sent viewers running for the hills.
Lastly, the Hancock co-writer believed that people would not appreciate the fact that Walter was a brilliant chemistry teacher and decided to make crystal meth even with all that knowledge instead of making something that could have helped people. Luckily, people believed what they were shown even if some of it was quite unacceptable.
Breaking Bad is available for streaming on Netflix.
