Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

How the 2007 writers’ strike saved ‘Breaking Bad’

Here's how Breaking Bad almost looked a lot different!

Shawn Laib
By

The WGA writers’ strike could last well into late summer, according to CBS News. Plenty of TV shows — from late-night talk shows to scripted series like Billions, Severance, and Stranger Things are already being affected — and a lengthy strike would mean a dramatically different television landscape in the coming months. The outcome of this strike is undoubtedly important, but there might be a little part of you that’s wondering how your favorite show could be affected — after all, plenty of us remember the shows that were canceled as a result of the 2007 writers’ strike. Well, if your favorite show is anything like Breaking Bad, the strike might actually be a good thing.

Breaking Bad is undoubtedly one of the greatest antihero dramas in the history of television. Charting the moral descent of a meek man, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), into a ruthless and ego-maniacal drug kingpin, the AMC show was a daring and beautifully acted spectacle. Part of the reason the program was able to separate itself from the competition was due to its patience and willingness to let storylines breathe and develop across many seasons. The payoff after the lead-up was always a climactic explosion with many different parts coming together in unison. But what if I told you that the only reason Breaking Bad was successful was because of the 2007 writers’ strike held by the WGA (Writers Guild of America)?

Recommended Videos

The first season of Breaking Bad was supposed to run for nine episodes. Creator Vince Gilligan had massive plans during the ninth episode of the season, plans that would have ruined the future of the show as we know it. Gilligan knew that the margins for success were thin for his little cable drama about meth and a cancer-ridden teacher. He originally thought that a season one finale that featured huge plot turning points would convince audiences and his bosses to give the show a longer leash. Ironically, this would have backfired with catastrophic results.

Two of the most important supporting characters in Breaking Bad are Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) and Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). Jesse was Walter’s second-in-command in the drug trade, a former student of Walter’s who gradually fell into depression and drug addiction in the face of adversity. Hank was Walter’s DEA agent father-in-law who attempted to track Walter’s drug empire without knowing his family member was the criminal behind the enterprise.

Gilligan planned on writing one or both of these characters out of the first season finale as a way of creating a wake-up call for Walter. While the idea was sound in nature, it would have dramatically changed the way the ensuing seasons of the show panned out. Jesse and Hank are arguably as important to Walter’s journey as any other characters on the show. Without them, the slow-burn character development and the relationships that formed the backbone of the drama in the series would have never existed.

Fortunately, the writers’ strike gave Gilligan a lot more time to stew on potential plot points, and he decided it would be better to force the audience to be patient and wait for the story to gain more steam, keeping Jesse and Hank in the process. This is potentially the greatest instance of negative intervention (the writers’ strike), symbolizing a blessing in disguise in TV history. The heartbreaking way Jesse’s character took shape and the juxtaposition of Walter and Hank’s morals throughout seasons two through five would have never happened, and Breaking Bad would have simply been a decent show rather than a GOAT one.

With the current 2023 writer’s strike still going on right now, we have to wonder what shows will be forever changed due to the work stoppage. Some lucky show might just become the next Breaking Bad due to the time off that will allow creators to rethink their entire stories!

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Shawn Laib
Shawn Laib
Contributor
Shawn Laib is a freelance writer with publications such as Den of Geek, Quote.com, Edge Media Network, diaTribe, SUPERJUMP…
These are the best shows you can watch on Hulu now
From Lost to The Great, these are the best shows you can stream on Hulu right now.
best shows on hulu arresteddevelopment

There was a time when great TV was hard to come by. While not every TV show is great, these days, it can sometimes feel like viewers have the opposite problem. There are simply too many shows, and too many streaming services, to choose from. Thankfully, the best shows on Hulu are also among the best shows you can watch anywhere. From new originals to legacy series from decades past, it has tons of shows that will fill the hours of your day.
You're probably aware that, while Hulu has plenty of great stuff, it's far from the only streaming service with plenty of TV to offer. So whether you’re looking for the best Amazon Prime shows, the best Disney+ shows, or the best Netflix shows, we've got you covered. Below, we'll dig into the best shows on Hulu that you can watch now.

Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)

Read more
The 10 best Woody Harrelson movies and shows, ranked
Woody Harrelson can make you laugh and cry in these career-best performances!
Woody Harrelson

Woody Harrelson is the type of actor you've probably seen multiple times throughout his career no matter what type of shows or movies you enjoy taking in. From being a goofy bartender to a psychotic killer, Harrelson has the range to portray just about any role in any genre. This is a task that not many actors can achieve successfully, especially as both a lead and a supporting actor. Harrelson may not possess the star power of Tom Cruise, but he makes up for that with chameleon-like versatility and willingness to change depending on the project he's involved in. We're here to celebrate the Texas native by ranking the 10 best Woody Harrelson movies and TV shows.

10. Champions (2023)

Read more
Sling TV just added these 6 new channels to its Freestream service
From reruns of classics to travel shows sure to make you jealous, these new channels have something for everyone
watching movie couple popcorn

Although the streaming era initially seemed like it was going to liberate us from the tyranny of a cable subscription, it hasn't had that effect. Instead, we just pay monthly subscription fees for a wide array of services instead of just one thing. Sling TV offers another path, though, through its Freestream service. Sling TV itself offers a variety of different channel bundles that you can subscribe to, but Freestream is a service that is totally free, and it has well over 370 different channels to peruse.

Sling TV recently announced that it was adding more than 15 new channels to its Freestream offering, and now, it's announcing that it's added six additional channels on top of those. These new channels include one entirely devoted to The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as another devoted to British TV and a travel channel. Following the addition of these new offerings, Sling TV now says that it offers more than 41,000 on-demand titles. You can learn more about each of the new channels below based on Sling TV's descriptions:

Read more