The Emmy Award-winning series Breaking Bad is remembered as one of the best TV shows of all time, but how many seasons did it last on the air?
The AMC original series Breaking Bad revolutionized TV and is generally recognized as one of the best shows ever, but how many seasons are there in total? Debuting in 2008 to rave critical reviews, the show follows Walter White (Bryan Cranston) a mild-mannered science teacher who begins creating methamphetamine in order to support his family in the wake of his cancer diagnosis. Building to a harrowing crescendo over its years on the air, Breaking Bad upped the ante with each successive season and introduced a host of compelling characters that populated Walter White's world of crime.
By the time Breaking Bad went off the air, the show had amassed over 90 major award wins and almost 250 nominations. One of the greatest strengths of the series was that it felt like a complete story told over its seasons, and no moment was out of place or unnecessary. When it did end, the series delivered a divisive but satisfying finale that put a bow on the entire experience. One of the reasons that Breaking Bad has aged so well is that it delivered the perfect mixture of amazing performances, stunning writing, and a total length that made it infinitely rewatchable.
There Were Five Seasons Of Breaking Bad
AMC and series creator Vince Gilligan hit on the perfect length when Breaking Bad finally came to an end after its fifth season in 2013. The network had seen an explosion of success between 2007 and 2012 through shows like Mad Men and The Walking Dead, but Breaking Bad actually left the air sooner than its contemporaries by several years. Breaking Bad's final season not only ratcheted up the tension through an elevation of stakes, but it also found a way to neatly tie up all of its loose ends across season 5's 16 episodes.
Breaking Bad season 5 was the longest of the show by far, and in order to prolong the experience of the finale, the season was actually split up into two parts. Now quite common among AMC's original TV shows, the choice to divide season 5 across two distinct parts was a clever idea to lend gravitas to Walter White's final season. Stretching from July 2012 to September 2013, Breaking Bad season 5 had a mid-season climax that kept viewers invested as the show went away for nearly a year before the second half aired.
Breaking Bad Lived On Through Better Call Saul And El Camino
Despite the show's conservative length and definitive ending, the finale of season 5 of Breaking Bad was not the end of the franchise. Premiering just two years after the conclusion of Breaking Bad, the AMC series Better Call Saul began airing in 2015 and explored the backstory of Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), one of the show's most memorable characters. Becoming a critical hit in its own right, Better Call Saul ran for an impressive six seasons and was nominated for 46 Emmy Awards.
Once again delving back into the Breaking Bad timeline, the 2019 Netflix release El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie followed up with the character of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) after the ending of the original series. Told through a mixture of present-day scenes and flashbacks, the movie was not only a nice piece of fan service that allowed audiences to see some of their favorite characters again, but it also tied up the loose end of Jesse a bit more than the show's finale did. Breaking Bad ended after season 5, but the franchise lived on.
