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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, July 15, 2011 2 coverstory So bad, it’s good ‘Breaking Bad’ returns with Season 4 By Kyla Brewer TV Media A s the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good inten- tions. Apparently, no one told Walt White. What began as an effort to secure his family’s fi- nancial security has trans- formed his life in ways he could not have imagined. Bryan Cranston returns as the chemistry teacher-turned- drug dealer in the season pre- miere of AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” airing Sunday, July 17. Filmed in Albuquerque, “Breaking Bad” is the brain- child of Vince Gilligan, for- merly famous for his work on the sci-fi Fox hit “The X-Files.” The term “breaking bad” means to raise hell or defy convention -- and that’s just what White does. When the series began, White had just been diag- nosed with terminal cancer. Desperate to make ends meet, he decided to use his chemis- try skills to cook meth in the hopes that his shady dealings would secure his family’s fu- ture. However, his decision to throw caution to the wind has resulted in an unexpected transformation for the for- merly docile teacher. He’s be- come a reprehensible drug dealer, and he shows no sign of stopping in Season 4. Aaron Paul stars alongside Cranston in his Emmy-win- ning role as Jesse Pinkman, a dropout who teams up with White to break into the city’s lucrative drug trade. Anna Gunn portrays White’s wife, Skyler. Betsy Brandt and Dean Norris star as Marie and Hank Schrader, Skyler’s sister and her husband. Young actor R.J. Mitte tackles the role of Walt Jr., Walt’s son, who has cere- bral palsy. Unlike so many other shows on TV that strive to maintain the status quo (and therefore the viewers), “Breaking Bad” is all about change. The transformation of Walter White from hero to vil- lain has been tremendous, and few actors could have pulled it off. Luckily, producers hired Cr- anston, and he’s earned noth- ing but accolades since. In fact, he became the first actor on a cable show to be hon- ored with back-to-back Em- mys for his role as White in 2008 and 2009. He won again in 2010. These weren’t Cranston’s first Emmy nods either. Previ- ously, he’d been nominated for three Emmys and a Gold- en Globe for his work as the dad in “Malcolm in the Mid- dle,” which was his breakout TV role. Although initially the actor studied police science, he was bitten by the acting bug while on a cross-country motorcycle trip with his brother. After be- from the beginning. After its premiere in January 2008, “Newsday” quickly heralded the show as a “must-see se- ries.” Praise for the series continued throughout its first three seasons, with “Variety” calling it “one of TV’s best dramas.” Anna Gunn stars in “Breaking Bad” ing cast in a summer stock company, he decided against police work. “At that point, I realized I needed to pursue what I loved, not just what I was good at, so becoming a detec- tive was out and acting was in,” Cranston said. His love for his craft shows in his performance, and it ap- pears that as Cranston’s Walt gets darker and more hei- nous, viewers want to watch him even more. Many TV se- ries draw their highest ratings in the first season or two. Not so for “Breaking Bad.” The show’s second season pre- miere earned 40 per cent higher ratings than its first. What’s more, Season 3’s pre- miere earned even higher rat- ings than the previous sea- son. Mind you, it wasn’t exactly one of those series that was slow out of the starting gate. “Breaking Bad” was a hit A/Auto Boutique B/The Green Giraffe 2 x 2 Over the years, the show has been nominated for 16 Emmys, winning six. It was also honored with a 2008 Pe- abody Award, earned a Writ- er’s Guild Award for Gilligan’s work on the pilot, and was named one of the American Film Institute’s Top 10 Pro- grams of the Year in 2008 and 2010. In 2009, it was bumped from the list by a little up- and-coming phenomena known as “Glee.” It was hardly a surprise to fans or industry insiders when AMC announced in June 2010 that the show had been re- newed for another season, more than a year before the season was set to premiere. Buzz about the new season promises plenty of action from the get-go as White be- comes more comfortable in his own skin. His days as a boring high school chemistry teacher are long gone. Fans of the show are no doubt anxiously awaiting the season premiere on July 17. The season opener checks in with Walt and Jesse as they face the consequences of their actions. Elsewhere, Ma- rie tries to help Hank, and Skyler deals with a puzzling disappearance. Chirstopher’s Coins 2 x 2 hollywoodQ&A By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Who played Max in “My Giant”? I thought it was Andre the Giant, but he died in 1993 and the movie was made in 1998. A: The role of the titular giant in “My Giant” was played by a different sports-to-film transplant, former basketball star Gheorge Muresan. The seven-foot-seven NBA star (currently tied with Ma- nute Bol as the tallest player in NBA history) was born and raised in Romania, just like his character in “My Giant.” He joined the NBA in 1993 and split his six-year career between the Washington Bullets and New Jersey Nets. In “My Giant,” he plays a quiet man from rural Romania who saves the life of a failing Hollywood agent (played by Billy Crystal, who stands five-foot-seven). The agent sees a Hollywood future for the man -- and a decent commission for himself -- and so takes him home to L.A. Muresan didn’t take as naturally to acting as former pro wrestler Andre the Giant (born Andre Roussimoff), and, in fact, “My Giant” was Muresan’s only screen role (besides a few-second cameo in rap star Eminem’s breakout video, “My Name Is”). The only other credit on his screen resume is from an interview he gave for the 2003 History Channel documentary “Giants: Friend or Foe,” which also featured footage of Andre. A/Crazy Tom's B/Allstar Auto Wash 2 x 3 Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town.

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