This show is incredibly addictive once you start. Which is very fitting considering it's about meth. I enjoyed some seasons more than others, but overall it's impossible to quit watching it, you ALWAYS want to see what happens next.
I don't recall any other show that grabs you like this from the first episode till the last one.
Maybe there are better shows overall out there, I cannot think of any, but I doubt there's anything more addictive than Breaking Bad.
Having never seen an episode, I just binged the five seasons in ten days.
I went into it only knowing Cranston was in it and nothing else about it. Going in I placed The West Wing and The Sopranos as my fave dramas and best dramas of all the shows I watched.
Breaking Bad is now in the discussion. While it’s not my all-time favorite (The West Wing is), but pound-for-pound I can see why so many call Breaking Bad the best ever and their favorite. On IMDB I rated each episode after I watched it and 61 of them were 8, 9 or 10, with just one a 7 (The Fly).
Based on all the episodes I rate my top three of all drama series I have watched.
Top 3 Favorite
1- The West Wing
2- Breaking Bad
3- The Sopranos
Top 3 (best start to finish, fewest sub-par episodes)
1- Breaking Bad
2- The Sopranos
3- The West Wing
The Fly was a 10 episode for sure though.
shareIt definitely is for me. I say Band of Brothers, The Wire, The Sopranos and Batman Animated Series would give it a run for it's money.
True Detective Season 1 would be up there but the following season's were not as strong.
I give the nod to Breaking Bad. Although the Wire and Band of Brothers are just nipping behind it.
1. Breaking Bad
2. The Wire
3. Band of Brothers
4. The Sopranoes
5. Batman Animated Series
6. Peaky Blinders
7. I'm Alan Partridge
8. Hannibal
9. This is England 86.88.90
10. Utopia
Bubbling Under, Twin Peaks (it's later part of the second season let's it down), Black Mirror (it's peaks are high but it has few low points), Inside No 9 (a bit like Black Mirror, but it doesn't have as many weak episodes), Mindhunter, Generation Kill
Good list
shareAs good as this show was, my vote goes to The Sopranos.
shareBetter Call Saul was a little better imo
shareIt's the best show I've ever seen in my 50+ years.
2nd Place = Columbo.
It's the best show ever to me.
Breaking Bad
The Sopranos
Sons of Anarchy
Six Feet Under
True Blood
Oz
The Wire
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I never found the Sopranos to be that great nor original. It could have been that much better, but it was content with some already dated mafia lore. It also does little to create something more than a series of disconnected events.
BB is narrated in a cohesive and addictive structure that elevates it above the tv series status. It's not perfect but it is far above the rest. I guess you are right about it losing its excitement after repeated viewing, but so what? Wanting to know what happens next is at the core of its greatness, of course once you know it some appeal is lost.
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I agree with everything you wrote. BB is more direct and clear, I also could not catch all of the intricacies of the Sopranos. And the latter is more ambiguous and deeper as storytelling goes.
But I also could not connect with most characters, starting with Tony and his family, I despised pretty much everybody (I almost liked Pauly), I think that and the fact that it borrowed heavily from Goodfellas style ruined it for me. BB instead uses an addictive straightforward structure, revealing its nuances with flashbacks, and most characters are relateable and their sidestories interesting, it is easy to enjoy it.