I’m a little tired of the hoo-ah behind the scenes Sony vs AMC stuff at this point. There is more and more of it clogging up my newsfeeds, but at this point there is very little new information. Until we actually confirm that Darabont left Walking Dead over budget cuts, or Gilligan says something publicly, or a deal is made, this is all sound and fury. I do have one article that I’m linking to over at Reuters and that’s only because it makes a point that I’ve been thinking of a lot, “”They have more trouble than any cable network getting shows signed and back on the air… At a certain point, it hurts the continuity.” AMC is starting to sound like an inept Sports franchise. Every contract negotiation is ugly and public, and now there is potential locker room discord over it.
On a more positive note, two great articles about Breaking Bad from Alibi, a weekly out of the ABQ, dropped yesterday afternoon. One, an overall writeup of the series itself called “Raising Hell in the Land of Enchantment”, and the other, an in depth interview with Bryan Cranston, who now lives there. They talk about his motivations, what he thinks about Walt (“What I love about it is that we’re not trying to keep Walt likable—we’re trying to keep him honest.”), his comfort with being naked on camera, and what he loves about New Mexico.
The piece on shooting in Albuquerque is really interesting, too. Breaking Bad was never intended to be set in New Mexico, but the subsidies the state gives to production companies swayed them. Since New Mexico’s culture and scenery have become so entwined with the show’s look and feel, it has become almost a character in it’s own right, and it’s difficult to imagine what it would look like shot in some generic location.
An exclusive, and to me, hilarious video preview of Episode 404, “Bullet Points”, hosted by the IMDB. I don’t think it spoils anything, and is a more fun look at the relationship of the Whites.
I want to leave you with a few more smiles this week. One, a show hasn’t really arrived until it’s got a D&D style alignment chart, right? You can argue this stuff all day, and I’m sure Jim and I will, but the only critique I have is adding the world “evil” to every description. So Hank would be an “EVIL Lawful Good”. Gus would be an “EVIL Neutral Evil”. Feels a bit more like Breaking Bad, no?
Two, an absolutely BRILLIANT video tribute to the men of Breaking Bad by one of the guys at SlashFilm. This video is incredibly not safe for work, because it edits every swear, punch, gun shot, and “BITCH” the show’s got into eight glorious minutes.
Did I miss something? Let me know! Also, we got Jim’s bounty of 55 iTunes reviews covered, but don’t let that stop you from pouring it on if the spirit motivates you. Follow Jim on twitter @BreakGood, and like us on Facebook to stay up to date with all of our doings, but I’ll warn you this is going to be a light weekend since GENCON is in town AND we’re giant flaming nerds AND they have hot chicks in Stormtrooper armor there AND I’m recently single. You do the math. We’ll swing back into action Sunday Night with our instant takes. See you then!