Breaking Bad At 10: 8 Ways It Changed TV For Good

8. Breakout Talents

One of the most basic, and yet also important, ways that Breaking Bad has left a lasting impact is with a generation of talent both in front of and behind the camera.

The biggest of these is, of course, Mr Bryan Cranston himself. A well-known and successful sitcom star, Breaking Bad completely transformed opinion of him in the public eye and Hollywood, elevating him to heavyweight acting status, complete with an Oscar nod.

Relative newcomers like Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter were also given huge career boosts, with Paul now leading his own show on Hulu, and Ritter proving herself one of the best superheroes on a screen of any size with Marvel's Jessica Jones. The likes of Jonathan Banks and Bob Odenkirk weren't exactly unknowns, but their careers too have soared higher thanks to Breaking Bad, in both its spin-off Better Call Saul and movie ventures.

Behind the camera it's perhaps even more impressive. Michelle MacLaren, who directed more episodes of the show than anyone else, is one of the very best directors working in TV right now, with a movie break on the horizon. Sam Catlin, one of the main writers, went on to co-create AMC's Preacher. And Rian Johnson, who directed three of the show's episodes - including its crowning achievement, Ozymandias - recently directed a little indie film called Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Breaking Bad's not solely responsible for every success, but it was certainly a massive help and pushed them further than they might otherwise have soared.