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2|Cover story Too much of a 'Bad' thing Drugs and drama abound in the final season of AMC hit By Kyla Brewer TV Media Emmy wins for his role as Walter White in AMC's "Breaking Bad," a role he's set to reprise in the premiere of the series' fifth and fi- nal season, airing Sunday, July 15. In an unconventional move, AMC will present the final season of "Breaking Bad,"which follows former chemistry teacher White as he sinks deeper and deeper into the seedy drug underworld, over the course of two summers. Consisting of 16 episodes in total, Season 5 begins this summer with eight of those episodes,but the series conclusion isn't set to hit TV screens until Summer 2013.While it may be unorthodox,the strate- gy will likely bode well for the ca- ble channel, as it will keep view- ers on the hook longer.The show has been a hit from the very be- ginning and AMC execs should be sad to see it go. B ryan Cranston is so bad, he's good.He's great, in fact — so great,the ac- tor has earned three FUN ON THE GO! follow @ErinFriday Entertainment news from north central Indiana and a bunch of other stuff you could probably live without. What began as an arguably no- ble attempt by White to secure his family's future in the wake of a cancer diagnosis has spiraled completely out of control. Initially, the teacher enlisted the help of former student Jesse (Aaron Paul) to make and distribute metham- phetamine in the hopes he could earn enough money to cover his cancer treatments and provide for his family if the unthinkable hap- pened. Since then,Walter and Jesse have become more embroiled in the dangerous drug trade, rising through the ranks from lowly pawns to power players. Despite a few falling-outs over the years, the duo is back together in Sea- son 5 and ready to take on the world in the wake of last season's shocking finale. Fans are eager to find out what will happen now that drug lord Gus (Giancarlo Es- posito) is gone,and White as- sumes his post as kingpin. In addition to Paul, Cranston shares the "Breaking Bad"screen with Anna Gunn as his long-suf- fering wife Skyler,R.J. Mitte as his son Walter Jr. (who has cerebral palsy),Dean Norris as his lawman brother-in-law Hank,and Betsy Brandt as his sister-in-law Marie. Rounding out the cast are Emmy- winning writer Bob Odenkirk as lawyer Saul Goodman and sea- soned TV actor Jonathan Banks as thug and "cleaner"Mike. Season 5 has a lot to live up to. Critics have been singing the praises of the show from the very beginning when "Newsday" deemed "Breaking Bad"a "must- see series" after its January 2008 premiere.The show hadn't lost momentum by last season,mak- ing several top-series lists and even drawing the attention of "Time"magazine, which herald- ed White's "I am the one who knocks"line as one of the best TV lines of the year. Luckily,the new season shows just as much promise with Cranston again in the leading role.As White,the actor dances a fine line between brilliance and madness and somehow manages TV Media Weekly|July 14 - 20, 2012 CHANNEL GUIDE Comcast Walton Cable- Vision `uWTTV CW Indianapolis " WRTV ABC Indianapolis $ WISH CBS Indianapolis h WTHR NBC Indianapolis r WLFI CBS Lafayette y WFYI PBS Indianapolis d WPTA ABC Ft. Wayne g WNDY MNT Indianapolis WHMB IND Indianapolis WIPB PBS Muncie R WFFT FOX Ft. Wayne G WXIN FOX Indianapolis Arts and Entertainment American Movie Classics Animal Planet [A&E] [AMC] [AP] [BET] [CMT] [CNBC] [CNN] [COM] [DISN] [E!] [ENC] [ESPN] [FAM] [FOXN] [FSN] [FX] [HALL] [HBO] [HIST] [HN] [LIFE] [MAX] [NICK] [OXY] [QVC] Black Entertainment TV [BIGTEN] Big Ten Network [BRAVO] Bravo County Music Television Consumer News & Bus. Ch. Cable News Network Comedy Central [CSPAN] CSPAN [DISC] Discovery Channel Disney Channel Entertainment TV Encore Entertainment Sports Net. [ESPN2] Entertainment Sports Net. 2 Family Channel Fox News Channel Fox Sports FX Hallmark Home Box Office History Channel CNN Headline News Lifetime Cinemax [MTV] Music Television Nickelodeon Oxygen [SHOW] [SPIKE] [STARZ] [SYFY] [TBN] [TMC] [TNT] [TOON] [TRUTV] Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul star in "Breaking Bad" to elicit sympathy from TV viewers in spite of White's heinous,seem- ingly remorseless acts. In less ca- pable hands,it would be a tough sell,but the actor has done his job beautifully,evidenced by the aforementioned Emmys. Cranston snagged his three "Breaking Bad"Emmys for the first three seasons of the show, and it's important to note that Season 4 debuted in July, after the May 31 cutoff for the 2011 awards.His triple win made him the first actor in a cable series to win the honor three consecutive times,and only the second actor overall to earn it three times in a row (after Bill Cosby in 1966-1968 for "I Spy"). "Breaking Bad"has been a boon for Cranston,but it was the Fox comedy "Malcolm in the Mid- dle"(2000-2006) that made him a bona fide star.His work as hap- less dad Hal earned him his first three Emmy nominations.Other memorable TV credits include dentist Tim Whatley in NBC's "Se- infeld"and Buzz Aldrin HBO's "From the Earth to the Moon." Right now,Cranston is hot on the big screen with roles in Adam Shankman's "Rock of Ages"(2012) and "Madagascar 3:Europe's Most Wanted"(2012).He's also set to [USA] [VH1] 4 6 7 12 8 20 10 21 11 9 39 43 30 32 67 55 58 36 34 50 14 28 38 49 70 26 27 44 52 53 54 65 700 40 35 29 730 31 37 61 Quality, Value, Convenience 18 Showtime Spike Starz Science Fiction [TBS] WTBS Atlanta [TLC] The Learning Channel The Movie Channel 750 57 650 56 Trinity Broadcasting Network 13 41 47 Turner Network Television Cartoon Network TruTV [TWC] Weather Channel USA Network Video Hits One [WGN] WGN Chicago Local Programming 785 42 45 66 25 24 33 22 3 star as villain Vilos Cohaagen in Len Wiseman's highly anticipated re- make of "Total Recall,"scheduled to be released in August. 11 24 18 14 33 27 21 9 5 24 15 37 30 35 36 9 2 7 14 34 37 24 33 9 19 17 35 26 36 22 20 29 9 10 26 29 4 6 8 13 22 2 Indiana 4 6 8 Sammo ns of 13 22 20 21 7 12 10 18 3 40 41 Tipton Cable TV 4 6 8 13 2 12 3 5 10 11 35 26 Oak Hill Cable 4 6 8 13 2 32 10 40 21 12 28 15 4 6 8 13 2 22 10 55 53 12 41 30 44 34 3 32 20 35 23 28 25 33 26 38 17 27 31 36 21 39 27 16 28 22 18 30 25 23 24 3 22 38 18 47 14 28 34 21 20 3 26 33 16 39 30 19 7 16 31 24 18 29 34 14 32 15 30 29 17 31 20 42 18 32 7 33 5 16 14 27 2 7 42 19 46 5 39 16 50 14 27 48 17 29 15 35 23 31 40 9 35 4 6 8 13 20 10 40 11 166 795 252 155 650 181 525 216 202 140 230 120 302 134 619 606 178 210 734 128 176 270 203 360 502 314 368 9 145 151 560 112 250 108 325 225 124 518 180 99 While the onscreen talent is in- disputable, creator Vince Gilligan is also a force in the show's suc- cess.The former "The X-Files" pro- ducer has pushed the boundaries of television with "Breaking Bad" by completely transforming the main character. Usually,TV series establish stable characters so that the show may go on for season after season. But "Breaking Bad" has seen White spiral further downwards as he sheds his meek schoolteacher persona for his cur- rent larger-than-life ego. Though the end is in sight,all may not be lost for fans of the show. Cranston recently told the "L.A.Times"that he would con- sider a "Breaking Bad"movie. Mind you,while he's open to the idea,who knows whether White will actually survive the end of the series. If Gilligan does have it all worked out,how the show ends is a closely guarded secret for now. Tune in for the beginning of the end Sunday, July 15,on AMC. Swayzee AT&T U-Verse

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