Since its initial start in 2008, it seems Breaking Bad has been picking up more and more steam as the plot thickens and fans get more and more anxious for the next shocking twist. The American television series is broadcast on the cable channel AMC, in both the United States of America and Canada, and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico by Vince Gilligan. Perhaps the bigger name of the show is Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston who some may recognize as Hal from “Malcolm in the Middle.”

The show has received many awards and accolades, along with tons of praise, including being ranked as number 13 on the list of Best-Written TV Series of All Time by the Writers Guild of America. Since its release there have been four wildly successful seasons, then in 2011 AMC gave the green light to a fifth and final season. The first half of the final season premiered in July of 2012, featuring 8 episodes broadcast over the summer. A mid-season break was taken at this halfway point, leaving the final outcome up in the air.

The Big Premiere

Starting on August 11th, the final 8 episodes of the season will be aired each week at the show’s home on AMC. This initial premiere surpassed even the already high expectations, bringing in the largest audience in the history of the show at 5.9 million viewers. In addition to this staggering number, the attention generated by those watching was simply amazing. For example, over 750,000 messages on Twitter were made about the show, a clear indication that the viewers were likely in the coveted 18-49 age range that advertisers often target. In fact, 3.6 million viewers fell in to this category, a number that is the second highest of the year on cable television.

AMC seems to be on to something though, because the #1 spot was taken by their other popular, original show, “The Walking Dead.” However, the premiere was followed by the first episode of a new drama by the name of “Low Winter Sun.” So far the show has not received many great reviews, but the 2.5 million viewer number was nothing to ignore.

AMC capitalized on the popularity with a version of previous show, “Talking Dead,” where fans are able to see some of the insight behind the show and its production. The name for this was of course “Talking Bad” and the initial showing featured producer Vince Gilligan in an interview. The hour-delay between the show and its follow up may have led to some loss of numbers, but it still brought in a respectable 1.2 million member audience.

The Future

Altogether, the night should certainly be marked in the win column for AMC. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the following of Breaking Bad seems to attract many binge viewers, hinting that more and more fans may join in on the bandwagon as the season continues. It is hard to accurately predict anything, but it is entirely possible to see even more records broken during the final season of Breaking Bad.