What has been voted the best tv crime drama of all time?

[Allan Black]

Well it’s Breaking Bad, have you seen it?

Breaking Bad first premiered on US television on January 20, 2008. The 5 series 62 Episodes ran until September 29, 2013.

Breaking Bad first aired on Australian TV on March 3, 2009.

Breaking Bad episodes aired weekly during its original run on Australian TV, with seasons typically spanning several months each year.

Breaking Bad received 16 Emmy Awards and has just been ranked the greatest crime TV show of all time by Collider in July 2026 and placed third on Rolling Stone's 2022 list of the greatest shows ever.

The series is often credited with helping popularise the binge-watching trend in television.

HBO wasn’t the only network that ultimately said no to Walter White: Showtime, TNT, and FX all passed on Breaking Bad, too, for various reasons.

Over the course of five seasons, Breaking Bad produced a total of 62 episodes—which is no arbitrary number. The 62nd element on the periodic table is Samarium, which is used to treat a range of cancers, including lung cancer.

Recently The New York Times has been unveiling its ranking of the "Best TV Show of the 21st Century," detailing 20 entries daily. Now, the outlet has revealed the top 20, with the 2008 AMC series Breaking Bad ranked at No. 1.

Topping a high-profile ranking published by The New York Times would always be a huge deal. However, this accolade is especially noteworthy given the process behind how Breaking Bad was chosen.

As the outlet noted, the ranking was created after more than 500 "influential stars, showrunners, and other notable names in the world of TV voted on the best series released since Jan. 1, 2000." Getting the most votes from a group of experts on how to create great TV shows says a lot about how masterful Breaking Bad is.

It was originally going to be shot in Los Angeles but originator Vince Gilligan discovered the New Mexico Film Commission was offering tax incentives for TV and movies shot in their State. And as a result the colours, the desert scenes, and the scenes in Albuquerque are three of the shows distinctive features.

Just when you thought Better Call Saul was as good as it could get for Breaking Bad fans: sources have confirmed that Gilligan is producing a Breaking Bad movie. Though details are extremely limited at this time, The Albuquerque Journal reported that filming is scheduled to begin very soon. Out of what one can only believe are security measures, the movie is being shot under the working title of Greenbrier and, according to the logline, "tracks the escape of a kidnapped man and his quest for freedom." Is Jesse Pinkman about to come back into our lives?

There’s a ton of BB videos on YouTube try this 10 minute one …

YouTube (Short URL)

Today Bryan Cranston approaching 70, plans to take a break from acting in 2026 and relocate to a small village in France with his wife, where he intends to enjoy life without the pressures of Hollywood. He aims to focus on personal experiences like gardening, learning French, and spending quality time together.

I wonder how long that will last. I remember watching one of his EMMY acceptance speeches where he said, “I’ll be acting till my last breath.”

I’m now streaming BB, each Ep. 48 minutes with no commercials, but finding I can only watch 2 Episodes at one time. How about you?
Cheers.

[Paul R Johnson]

I've not seen a single episode? My favourite US crime dramas were NCIS and JAG!

[Allan Black]

NCIS and especially JAG was great, but they are each mainly one off stories.

Breaking Bad is one continuous story, 62 eps over 5 seasons, very addictive like the subject methamphetamine (so I believe) with one Ep a week shown here in Sydney. It took a while to build up a following here but it did.

And today with 16 EMMYs and its on-going publicity and awards, BB is getting more people streaming it, than who viewed it first time around.

And I’m finding it’s better than when I first saw it. I know the story line but now I’m appreciating the other characters better. And the camera work, effects like the slow, day, night, morning dissolves, very clever.

But watching 2 Eps, that’s 96 continuous minutes each time is enough for me and I’m starting to think only the actors and crew who have one or two letters in their name, that fit in the Periodic table, actually got their jobs …

YouTube (Short URL)

Cheers.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Never watched it, not interested. Don't know anything about Breaking Bad, JAG or NCIS either. In fact, I'm pretty sick of the whole "cops and robbers" genre which only gets more violent as time passes. I don't watch any network shows these days, have never subscribed to Netflix, cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription years ago. I do still enjoy a few of the classics from years past, Perry Mason is my favorite, it ran from 1957 - 1966 (IIRC) and I have all the episodes on my media server. Also have a couple 70's shows on it, like Columbo and the Rockford Files. Fun mainly for nostalgia - remembering what life was like back then.

But, for a little personal trivia... Robert Blake, star of the popular 70's cop series "Baretta, was married to my ex-wife's aunt for many years, she is also an actress and a really nice person. Never met Robert though, and don't think I missed anything. That marriage ended in an ugly "tabloid" divorce. Baretta was another show that I hardly ever watched.

These days, video is mainly just "background noise" for me as I spend my days writing computer code. I'm often watching Bloomberg, but my real weakness is any garbage about aliens and ufo's. Now *thats* entertainent! :-D

[Mark Watson]

I have all the Columbo and Rockford Files DVDs and watch them repeatedly. Had family over for holidays one year and they somehow put Netflix (shared it?) on my tv. I discovered Breaking Bad and sort of lived in my recliner for about a week. Next, I discovered Dexter and binge watched that series as well. I liked NCIS. If I had to pick one, it'd be Columbo.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Wow... you actually still watch DVD's? I have a huge collection, when I moved to my hideaway back in the woods 20 years ago, there was no cable, poor broadcast reception and sub-megabit internet. So I bought lots of DVD's! But back around 2015 I began ripping them all, took a few years but eventually ended up with about 600 movies and 600 TV shows on my little server. I just don't have the patience to mess with DVD's anymore, I had my fill of that over the years!

But Columbo really is a lot of fun, I watch it often (although a little can go a long way sometimes). So many great episodes and guest stars. The the ones with Patrick McGoohan sort of fascinate me. He is in several - "Identity Crisis" (with Leslie Neilsen) from season 5 is probably my favorite, but he also directed one or more episodes. "Last Salute to the Commodore", also from season 5 is one of them and it is just bizarre. Columbo seems to have a completely different character. It looks like Peter Faulk and Patrick McGoohan were friends who were just goofing around, acting out some kind of inside joke and and having a lot of fun in that episode. The result is kind of incoherent and not very good drama (although there's a clever plot twist) yet still fun to watch because it's just *so* weird.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074329/?ref_=ttep_ep_6

[Doug Jensen]

You also count me as a huge fan of Rockford and Columbo. We watch them all the time, and wish there were some we had never seen before. My favorites are those with Jack Cassidy (several episodes) and Dick Van Dyke.

"Last Salute to the Commodore" actually stars Robert Vaughn, not Patrick McGoohan. You might be thinking of the episode where McGoohan played a commander for a military academy. But the one where he is a CIA operative is even better.

I can't watch the later Columbo episodes they did in the late 80's or 90's. They are all crap compared to the originals. They feel more like episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

As for the best crime drama of all time, yes, it is Breaking Bad. Did you see that the actor who played Walt Jr. died this week? That's a shame.

[Mark Watson]

"Wow... you actually still watch DVD's?"
Boyd, I have a very large collection of DVDs. Bins full. Many Blu-rays. I spent lots of time on aircraft carriers from 2005 to 2018 and always brough a few hundred DVDs for me and my roommates. I was a civilian contractor. When things were going on, such as general quarters drills, we'd just hole up for a few hours and watch movies. Now, I can watch my movies without relying on a streaming service, and ads. I am not a big tv watcher, but usually watch a couple each month. I get power outages due to wind storms on the island and it's nice to fire up the generator and get 80% of my house power on and then just put in a video. Cheaper than going off-island to a hotel for a couple nights. Not because the hotel rates are high but because they stuck a casino in it. I agree with Doug on those later years Columbo episodes. Whoever wrote those did not get what made the show interesting to watch. They hammed it up too much, so much on his dog and goofiness. But there are enough gems to keep me watching. I should rip these DVDs and put them on my 8-drive NAS. They take up a lot of room.

[Allan Black]

Interesting set up Mark.

Yes Doug, R.J. Mitte’s death at 34 by unconfirmed suicide is tragic, and it comes just a year after his engagement to longtime friend Kennedy Suarez.

R.J. visited Sydney in October 2015 to support the Highlights on Mental Health campaign and to speak about living with cerebral palsy. He also participated in various talks and events during his time in Australia, he doesn’t need supports to walk around.

Breaking Bad has been adapted into several languages, including Spanish, French, German and Italian.

And there’s another version - Metástasis the five BB series completely reproduced, and also in Spanish.

This differs from Breaking Bad primarily in its setting, as it takes place in Bogotá, Colombia, rather than Albuquerque, New Mexico, and features cultural adaptations to fit Colombian standards of living.

Metástasis explores similar themes to Breaking Bad, such as the moral decline of its main character, Walter Blanco, as he turns to crime to secure his family's future after a cancer diagnosis. Additionally, it adapts the original's themes of family, desperation, and the consequences of choices within the context of Colombian society.

Why would the producers do this, because they could sell it to Sth. American countries influenced by the fact, that cable television is less common in the region, making it necessary to tailor the content for local viewers and it’s probably cheaper than buying BB long term for coming generations.

Cheers.

[Doug Jensen]

I threw away (or gave away) 90% of my DVDs and most of my Blurays several years ago. DVD is standard definition!!! I can't watch it. And Bluray is just too slow and inconvenient. Columbo, Rockford etc. are all now on streaming services and they look fabulous (if you use the right streaming service) and often they don't even have any commercials. I've got 500Mbps cable at home, unlimited data on my phone, and two Starlink dishes for when I'm traveling, and I find streaming a much better overall experience.

Also, YouTube Premium is well worth the money if you like documentaries, science, history, old lectures (Carl Sagan, Christopher Hitchens, etc.). It's great to listen to YouTube while driving -- and no commercials ever.

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Doug Jensen

"Last Salute to the Commodore" actually stars Robert Vaughn, not Patrick McGoohan. You might be thinking of the episode where McGoohan played a commander for a military academy.

Your are correct about Robert Vaughn but I didn't say that Patrick McGoohan was in it, I said that he *directed* it - but I'll admit I could have worded my post a little better. I said:

"... but he also directed one or more episodes. "Last Salute to the Commodore", also from season 5 is one of them"

I agree that the one where Patrick McGoohan is a CIA operative is great, that's "Identity Crisis", where he kills Leslie Neilsen, who is another operative. I also agree that the later episodes were pretty awful and I rarely watch them.

Actually I would pick "Murder by the Book" with Jack Cassidy and Martin Milner as my favorite episode, it was directed by a young Stephen Spielberg, which makes it especially interesting. It's listed as season 1 episode 1 but pretty sure there were a couple others filmed before that.

Regarding DVD's, as I said, I also have a huge collection - I ripped 1200 of them and there are some more that weren't worth the effort. Mark, I agree with your points about not needing internet to watch DVD's and not having to watch ads. But those things are also true for me, with all those DVD's on a 4tb SSD connected to a Mac Mini server, along with a lot of other video and I still have over a terabyte free. I can watch that during power outages too, either from my LAN, or plugging the ssd into another computer. And that SSD fits in my pocket, instead of my big floor-to-ceiling bookshelves full of DVD's. I guess some people still enjoy the "DVD experience" but I never liked that... waiting while the optical drive goes chugga-chugga-chug accessing the disk only to display some annoying animated menu.

Yep, DVD is standard definition. I can understand why someone who works with video all day could have a problem with that. But, it's funny, with a good movie or an old TV show that I enjoy... I don't even notice. I used to get a nice Christmas present of an Apple gift card every year from an employer. So, upgraded many of my favorite DVD titles to HD and downloaded all of those too (although it's nice to be able to stream them from iCloud anywhere). But I've found that the HD version is only marginally more enjoyable for me than my old DVD rip. Part of that is because I just don't "watch" video much anymore, it's more like background noise as I work on code, make maps and do my daily household chores.

I also have 500mbit internet (FIOS) - they keep trying to pitch gigabit to me, but when they gave me an unsolicited free trial, I just couldn't tell the difference. I stream video with Sling (but their buggy software has me just about to the point of dropping it). I have a YouTube "premium light" subscription included with my Gemini Pro plan, never tried it yet, probably should check it out.

[Mark Watson]

On some DVD movies, there are extras. I haven't seen those extras offered in my streaming service. For example, a special edition of "Fargo" came out around 2004. There was an interview with Steve Buscemi where he explained that the movie was not based on a true story, as it is stated in the opening of the movie. I was going on a business trip to Fargo and saved that DVD to watch there. Steve said that a Japanese woman went out along a fenceline, digging around in the snow. Sheriff came out to ask her to leave, as it was private property there. She was looking for the money Steve stashed away. The lady came back again and they found she had died of exposure. Also, more recently, on the DVD for "John Wick", there is a hilarious short called "John Wick's Dog". In this short, John gets killed in his home and his dog goes out to a tree and digs up a cache of weapons and goes after the bad guys. Takes them all out with various weapons. They have the bad guy's Russian boss playing his part on the phone over his son killing the owner of the dog. Even Clint Eastwood's old westerns have lots of bonus content. Director's discuss the movie, Clint discusses scenes and all that. I enjoy those interviews and BTS content. Never seen it anywhere else.

[Doug Jensen]

That's a good point about the extras on DVDs, but I would wager that most of that stuff is on YouTube if you looked for it. Of course, the nice thing about the disc as that you don't have to go looking for it.

[Mark Watson]

It got 4.3 million views.

Dog Wick - YouTube