Bryan Cranston has delivered hit after hit over the years as one of the most outstanding actors of all time, but his performance in Breaking Bad remains his best work to date. To say the least, that smash-hit drama series about the meth-making business is worthy of all the critical commendation and accolades that it has garnered and won over the years.
Curiously enough, while this show worked perfectly to make the actor a household name in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, there was a time when that very crime/drama saga almost didn’t make it to the screens. before AMC took a leap of faith. And the reason behind it not getting made was actually a FRIENDS actress’ drama getting picked over it.
One FRIENDS star’s drama almost had Breaking Bad “as dead as a hammer”
Back in the mid-2000s, years before Bryan Cranston‘s meth-making drama actually made it to the screens, FX was the one that started developing the story. However, instead of proceeding further and bringing to the tables yet another male anti-hero drama—it already had three shows of the kind airing back then—the network decided to take a different approach.
Eager to lure females in since it already had a bit too much male anti-hero drama going on, it decided to give more edge to the 2007 tabloid series Dirt, which notably featured Courteney Cox leading it as Lucy Spiller.
Breaking Bad, on the other hand, was passed over, and it was all because of the FRIENDS actress’ show getting the order instead.
As Vince Gilligan, show creator, writer, and producer of the 2008 masterpiece, remarked to The Hollywood Reporter about the respective series:
It was as dead as a hammer.
With little to no hope left on the line anymore, he resorted to working on another rewrite of Will Smith‘s action feature Hancock. But that’s when a miracle struck to save his meth-centered series.
How AMC saved the day for Breaking Bad when FX balked
Surprisingly enough, while FX decided to pass on what went on to become the most critically acclaimed TV show of all time in the Guinness World Records in 2013, AMC didn’t. Call it a miracle or simply fate, but this was thanks to Jeremy Elice, who had notably been the director of original programming at the respective network for a matter of days back then.
Since the network had no originals on air at the time, Elice set up a meeting in early 2006 to discuss potential projects with Mark Gordon, who turned out to be one of Vince Gilligan’s ICM agents.
Thus, Gordon passed along two shows that held the potential to put AMC on the map: a drama from State of the Union writer Bruce Wagner and the fan-beloved Breaking Bad.
Interestingly enough, Elice had gotten his start at FX, and was sincerely intrigued by the latter project and bringing it to the screens. Per THR, he recalled about Gilligan’s out-of-the-box project, “It was a totally original story about an underdog with about a one-in-a-million chance.” Thus, before they even knew it, everyone was onboard and the show went into production.
On a separate note, the FX chief confessed his regrets about passing on Bryan Cranston’s drama
After the show got picked up by AMC, things got considerably easier as Vince Gilligan soon hopped on board as well—though only after his initial reservations about his own show. And the rest was history, as Cranston’s series went on to perform so epically that it actually shattered records and won a gazillion of major awards over the five years that it aired.
Dirt, on the other hand, unfortunately turned out to be a more disappointing run for FX. Running only for two seasons, beginning in January 2007 and ending in April 2008, the tabloid show couldn’t garner enough acclaim as compared to the one that it was chosen over by the Network, earning only 37% on Rotten Tomatoes and 6.9 stars out of 10 by IMDb.
That being mentioned, FX chief John Landgraf did go on to admit his regrets about letting Gilligan’s drama go, saying (per THR), “If I had known that Vince Gilligan was going to be one of the best showrunners in television, and Breaking Bad was going to be literally one of the very best shows in television, I would have picked it up despite the concept.”
Well, for what it’s worth, even AMC probably wasn’t all that sure that Gilligan’s work would help it perfectly find its footing in the market, so that isn’t quite an excuse. But, then again, fate willed it this way; and after all, the series got made and the tables got turned, so what more needs to be said?
Breaking Bad can currently be streamed on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
