We’re starting to get used to the sight of Bryan Cranston looking extremely unhinged in his underpants in Breaking Bad, so it’s quite a shock to see him suited and booted in this interview! He talks candidly about life after Malcolm in the Middle, what attracted him to the role of chemistry teacher-turned crystal meth supplier Walter White, and his future career plans.
There were celebrations all round for US comedy 30 Rock and historical drama John Adams, who had bagged 20 awards between them by the culmination of the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, which took place at the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles last night.
30 Rock’s Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin scooped gongs for best Actress and Actor, Comedy Series, while their hit show was voted best Comedy for the second year running.
John Adams - which premieres on More4 next week - took home a total of 13 (yes 13!) trophies including best Miniseries and Miniseries Actor and Actress for Paul Giamatti and co-star Laura Linney.
Other big winners included Damages, which won Glenn Close the Actress, Drama Series award. “It really has been the ride of my career,” she revealed at the ceremony. “This was as good as any part you would find in a feature film.”
Meanwhile, Bryan Cranston won Actor, Drama Series for his role as Walter H. White in Breaking Bad, which debuts on FX on Sunday.
Other major winners included Mad Men which scooped best Drama Series and Jeremy Piven who took home Supporting Actor, Comedy Series for his genius portrayal of slimy agent Ari Gold in Entourage.
Here’s a clip of Tina Fey and actress Amy Poehler presenting the first award of the evening to Piven…
And here are the main winners..
• Drama Series: ‘Mad Men’
• Comedy Series: ‘30 Rock’
• Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, ‘Breaking Bad’
• Actress, Drama Series: Glenn Close, ‘Damages’
• Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, ‘30 Rock’
• Actress, Comedy Series: Tina Fey, ‘30 Rock’
• Reality-Competition Programme: ‘The Amazing Race’
• Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Programme: Jeff Probst - ‘Survivor’
• Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Zeljko Ivanek, ‘Damages’
• Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Dianne Wiest, ‘In Treatment’
• Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, ‘Entourage’
• Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jean Smart, ‘Samantha Who?’
• Miniseries: ‘John Adams’
• Made-for-TV Movie: ‘Recount’
• Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Paul Giamatti, ‘John Adams’
• Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Laura Linney, ‘John Adams’
• Supporting Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Tom Wilkinson, ‘John Adams’
• Supporting Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Eileen Atkins, ‘Cranford’
Starts FX, 28 September
On the surface Walter White, the hero of FX’s deliciously dark new comedy drama Breaking Bad, lives a comfortable, settled life as an ordinary family man who’s able to provide for his disabled son by working as a high-school chemistry teacher and a part-time car-washer.
But Walter’s problems are mounting up. He’s struggling to provide for his disabled son and, the day after his 50th birthday, is diagnosed with lung cancer and given two years to live. With little savings to fall back on, Walter comes up with a solution – he’s going to misuse his chemistry skills and is breaking bad! He cashes in his retirement fund for a motorhome to act as a mobile lab for his entry into the drugs trade.
Bryan Cranston, best known for his comedy roles as hapless dad Hal in Malcolm in the Middle and Jerry’s ‘regifting’ dentist Tim Whatley in Seinfeld, is superb as the stressed-out Walter trying to make his way in this strange, disturbing new world, and gets great support from Aaron Paul as his former student and new partner, Jesse Pinkman.
Breaking Bad is a dark comedy which sees Walter and Jesse as basically decent guys now faced with all sorts of terrible dilemmas. In an early episode, Walter tosses a coin to see who gets to finish off one bad guy and who gets to dissolve the other dead bad guy in a tub of acid. Jesse does the dissolving in his bath tub, but it’s a tub that’s not suitable for filling with acid. The result is as gory as it is funny.
While definitely not one for the easily-offended or those of a squeamish disposition, Breaking Bad is one of the most strikingly original new dramas we’ve seen in ages. Below is a trailer for the first series to give you a taste of what to expect…
• Click here to read other posts on Breaking Bad
• Click here for more great new US shows coming to a screen near you this autumn
You may recall that few weeks ago, Gavin waxed lyrical about FX’s latest US acquisition Breaking Bad. Well, for those of you whose interest was piqued, we thought you might like to know that it now has a confirmed transmission date: Sunday 28 September. You can find out more about the series at FX’s site or, alternatively, watch the first three-minutes-and-a-bit of the first episode below…
‘It’s like how much more black could this be? And the answer is none, none more black.’
© Nigel Tufnel, This Is Spinal Tap
Nigel Tufnel could have unwittingly been describing Breaking Bad, a new comedy drama series created by The X Files co-producer Vince Gilligan that’s coming to FX in September.
Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White (played by former Malcolm in the Middle star Bryan Cranston), a struggling high school chemistry teacher in New Mexico who works extra hours in a car wash to help support his wife Skyler (Anna Gunn) and teenage son Walter Jr (RJ Mitte), who has cerebral palsy.
When the already tense White is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he breaks down and turns to a life of crime, setting up a laboratory to ‘cook’ crystal meth with petty criminal Jesse (Aaron Paul) in order to make enough money to support his family.
Having seen the first three episodes, I can vouch that there is little respite from the grim reality that Walter finds himself in, but Breaking Bad can – just about – call itself a comedy.
While nobody could claim that the show is laugh-out-loud funny, there are situations and set-ups that conspire to wring a wry smile from the meanest of mouths: Jesse being an ex-student of his; Walter’s brother-in-law being a Drug Enforcement Administration agent; Skyler selling things on eBay for a few dollars while Walter’s cooking up meth with a street value of thousands; Walter being caught in the desert with a gun but no trousers.
Think Weeds meets Dexter and you’re in the right ballpark. To see for yourself if Breaking Bad is for you, and for an explanation of the show’s title, check out this trailer…
