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

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 …


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.

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

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

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

NCIS and especially JAG was great, but they were 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 televised here in Sydney. It took a while to build up a following here but it did.

But 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 actors who have one or two letters in their name, that fit in the Periodic table, actually got the job …


Cheers.