5. The Scripts
You can do what you like with a T.V show, or any scripted medium for that matter; you can throw millions at the effects, secure the finest actors in the land and visit the most incredible locations, but if the script is a turd the audience will smell it. Thats why Breaking Bad is so phenomenal, despite everything that is has its effects, its performances, its locations its the superior scripting shining through that makes it contender for the top. Everything is connected, the subtext is so deep you could lose your shoe in it, characters are completely drawn and believable and the dialogue is some of the finest Ive heard recited on T.V maybe ever. Invariably, this is why the show has done so well, why its won so many accolades and so much critical acclaim. Fundamentally its superbly written. Everything else is an added bonus. And when all that funding, all those performances, the superb range of locations and the incredible cinematography are added as the icing to superior scripting, thats when you know youre onto a winner.