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When the final season swept the Emmys in 2014, it broke the record for the most Emmy wins by a drama series in a single year, taking home five. A pretty huge sendoff for a show that started as a low-budget cable gamble.
In 2014, Breaking Bad action figures hit shelves complete with tiny meth lab accessories, and a Florida mom launched a petition against Toys 'R' Us over it. The backlash got loud enough that the figures were eventually pulled from stores.
A different ending was actually filmed as a bonus feature for the final season's DVD release, framing the entire series as a dream had by Hal — Bryan Cranston's character from Malcolm in the Middle. It never made it to air, obviously.
The finale's title, 'Felina,' is an anagram of 'finale,' but it's also a quiet tribute. A 16-year-old superfan named Kevin Cordasco, who was terminally ill, got to visit set and meet the cast before he passed away — and his name was worked into the episode's credits.
That same fan, Kevin Cordasco, got asked by Vince Gilligan what he wanted to see in the ending. His answer was more closure on Gretchen and Elliott, Walt's old business partners — and sure enough, they got extra screen time in the final stretch of episodes.
The show stuck with Albuquerque, New Mexico for all five seasons instead of chasing cheaper tax breaks elsewhere, and it's estimated the production put around $70 million into the local economy. Fans still turn up to photograph the White family house and the car wash.
Before the show even aired, Bryan Cranston reported an actual suspected meth lab in his neighbourhood. He recognised the smell purely from research he'd done for the role — which is either a great party story or slightly unsettling, depending how you look at it.
Vince Gilligan personally insisted on using Badfinger's 'Baby Blue' over the closing shot, even though his own music team pushed back on it. Turned out to be the right call — the song reportedly sold over 5,000 copies on iTunes the night the finale aired.
Long before he was cast as Jesse, Aaron Paul actually auditioned for a part on Malcolm in the Middle — the sitcom starring Bryan Cranston. He didn't land that role, but years later ended up working alongside Cranston anyway on a much darker show.
In an early episode, we learn Krazy-8 is the son of a furniture store owner. Dean Norris, who plays Hank, actually is the son of a furniture store owner in real life. Nobody's ever really explained if that was intentional or just a funny coincidence.
