Winner 2008

Breaking Bad

Sony Pictures Television, High Bridge Productions, Gran Via Productions

Adventure and doom, courage and deceit, comedy and tragedy coalesce in Breaking Bad, a serial that ponders the changes that come over Walter White. A harmless high school chemistry teacher with a loving wife and a disabled son, Walt becomes a master chef of methamphetamine when he learns he has terminal cancer. His meekness evaporates as he discovers the strange potential and power of his new profession. His dilemma, his determination to leave his family financially secure and his good nature make it easy to root for him despite his criminal activities—at least initially. But as he descends into drug-dealing and its consequences, the moral questions become more and more difficult for him—and the audience. Sun-bathed northern New Mexico provides a visual backdrop ideally suited to a story that somehow conjures hope from desolation. For its curious, contradiction-laden narrative, Breaking Bad receives a Peabody Award.

PRIMARY PRODUCTION CREDITS

Executive producers: Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson. Producers: Karen Moore, Patty Lin. Directors: Vince Gilligan, Adam Bernstein, Jim McKay, Tricia Brock, Bronwen Hughes, Tim Hunter. Writers: Vince Gilligan, Patty Lin, George Mastras, Peter Gould, J. Roberts. Actors: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte, Dean Norris, Betsy Brandt. Director of photography: Rey Villalobos. Editors: Lynne Willingham, Kelley Dixon.