Breaking Bad is a neo-western criminal drama television series produced in the United States.¹⁾

Vince Gilligan created and produced it.²⁾

The program first aired on AMC for five seasons.³⁾

Albuquerque, New Mexico was the setting and location for this show.⁴⁾

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) is a poor and despondent high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with stage-3 lung cancer. White, together with his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), turns to a life of crime to protect his family's financial future before he dies, making and distributing crystalline methamphetamine.⁵⁾

The term is derived from the Southern slang phrase “breaking bad”. It implies to “raise hell” or to pursue a criminal career.⁶⁾

The series, according to Gilligan, depicted Walter's transition from a soft-spoken Mr. Chips into Scarface.⁷⁾

Anna Gunn and RJ Mitte play Walter's wife Skyler and son Walter, Jr., respectively, and Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris play Skyler's sister Marie Schrader and her husband Hank, a DEA agent.⁸⁾

Other cast members include Bob Odenkirk as sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman, Jonathan Banks as private investigator and fixer Mike Ehrmantraut, and Giancarlo Esposito as drug lord Gus Fring. Jesse Plemons plays the criminally ambitious Todd Alquist in the last season, while Laura Fraser plays Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a corporate professional who discreetly manages Walter's global meth sales for her firm.⁹⁾

Breaking Bad is widely considered to be one of the best television shows of all time. It was one of the most-watched cable shows on American television by the time the series finale aired.¹⁰⁾

The show won multiple awards. 16 Primetime Emmy Awards, eight Satellite Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, two Peabody Awards, two Critics' Choice Awards, and four Television Critics Association Awards are among the honors.¹¹⁾

For his leading performance, Cranston won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times.¹²⁾