The Poster Memorabilia blog

The Baddest Show on Television

A tan carpet dressed as the New Mexico desert, two posters, and the showrunner who signed both.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

You know how kids these days use the word “bad” as a compliment? Like when they call a beautiful woman a “baddie” or describe their favorites as the “baddest” ever? If bad means good nowadays, then Breaking Bad is still the baddest show in TV history.

Many amazing series have come and gone, but Breaking Bad still stands the test of time. There was never a more thrilling American drama where the protagonist is the bad guy, and we watch him fall from being a sympathetic everyman to a cold-blooded killer. A villain origin story on an epic scale.

I can never praise showrunner Vince Gilligan enough. He made the most riveting TV series ever broadcast in America and practically started a new trend: bad, morally dubious, or plain unlikable characters as the lead. It made for more complex and fascinating television, and perfectly captures human nature's more complicated side.

Not that I don't like classic storylines where the good guys are the heroes and defeat the bad guys every season. There's still a place for that, for sure. But as I grew older and witnessed more of people's complexities, I came to prefer the intellectual and emotional depth that shows like Breaking Bad provide.

Naturally, the show also owes a lot of its success to its amazing cast. Gilligan couldn't have picked a better Walter White than Bryan Cranston. We literally just watched him as the goofy but likable dad in Malcolm in the Middle, the sort of character White starts out as in the beginning of the series. His long downfall into a criminal life showed human nature at its most vulnerable and tragic.

“I'm more starstruck by writers and filmmakers.”

As big a fan of Cranston as I am, however, I was more devoted to Gilligan. I like celebrities just as much as the next guy, but I'm more starstruck by writers and filmmakers. I just can't believe some people can be that creative, and I can't help but gush at them when I see them in person.

And that's exactly what I did when I met him at the premiere of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie in Westwood, California. It was a Monday night in early October 2019, and the carpet outside the Regency Village Theatre had been dressed to look like the Albuquerque desert, right down to the desert plants.

They'd parked Jesse's El Camino and the bullet-riddled RV right there on the carpet, and actors dressed as DEA agents worked the crowd handing out wanted posters with Jesse Pinkman's face and a five-million-dollar reward. I've been to a lot of premieres, and I've never seen a studio commit to a bit like that.

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I brought two Breaking Bad posters I wanted signed. One was the typical shot of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman, and the other only featured their famous 1986 Fleetwood Bounder, the RV where the whole empire started. I planned to get the first poster signed by the cast, and the second by Vince Gilligan only.

Everything really went my way that day because they all signed my poster. The cast interacted with fans a lot, and all the leads gave me their autograph. To my surprise, Gilligan signed both my posters even though I only intended for him to sign just one.

The movie being so well received was the perfect cherry on top of a great sundae: that awesome movie premiere. After watching the show for years, I never imagined I'd find myself surrounded by its amazing cast and legendary showrunner, much less get their autographs, too.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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