Breaking Bad, a newer comedy on the AMC network, was something that we had recorded in our DVR for several months before actually taking the time to sit down and watch the first episode.  Finally, we ran out of room on the TV it was recording on, and were forced to watch it.  Being “forced” to watch something never had such a good outcome!  We both really loved this show, which stars the uber talented Bryan Cranston, whom you may recognize as the zany and flawed, but loveable father in “Malcolm in the Middle”. 

Bryan pulls off much of that same loveable yet flawed and zany way in this show, only he’s a man who is dealing with more than too many kids and a screaming wife.  He is a mild mannered high school chemistry teacher who we see in the first episode, also happens to get very little respect from people in life, including sometimes his own wife, her macho brother, and an employer at a car wash where he moonlights to support his son who has cerebral palsy, and his pregnant wife. 

You feel for the buy because he seems kind of like that poor schlep who is really smart but just got stuck working a job that barely pays the bills.  He seems earnest, yet you always sense there is a volcanoe brewing beneath his exterior that is waiting to make both a hilarious and frightening explosion.  He’s the guy who’s had it with people, and to top it off we see him suffering from an awful cough and being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in the first episode. 

His character, Walter White, decides to live life a bit more on the edge after his diagnosis, and forgos telling his wife or son that he is dying of lung cancer and possibly only have months to a few years to live.  We see him lash out at strangers who are making fun of his son in a store, tell his boss to f off at his second job, and attack his wife in bed like he never has before, if you know what I mean. 

The pilot alone shows one of the most interesting character evolutions I’ve ever seen, especially in just one hour, and the pilot I would say is probably one of the best pilots I’ve ever seen, because it made me want to immediately watch the next episode.  If you’re looking for a feel good show, this probably isn’t it, as it is laced with satyrical, dark comedy the whole way through, and yet you find yourself rooting for this gu who’s never gotten a break from anyone, and well, he’s just not gonna take it any more! 

It gives new meaning to the Tim Mcgraw song that you should “live like you were dying”.