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

4. Split Final Seasons

Breaking Bad's decision to split its final season in two was an unusual one, but ultimately paid off massively for AMC. Obviously there was a strong commercial aspect to this, as the 11-month break allowed hype to increase considerably and saw a huge ratings boost for the series, while also allowing AMC to keep Breaking Bad in the cultural conversation for longer.

There was more reason to keeping Hank stuck on that toilet than money though, as granting them the extra time allowed Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould and the rest to carefully craft the final collection of episodes, which represented some of the most anticipated in TV history. The second half of Season 5 was a roaring success, and now other TV shows have started to copy it.

The first was another AMC show, Mad Men, which split its seventh and final season into two chunks of seven episodes across 2014 and 2015. Game of Thrones is perhaps now the most high-profile example, effectively splitting its end into two seasons: the seven-episode Season 7, which largely serves as setup for the finale, and then the six-episode eighth season, which will be its last and won't air until 2019 due to production length.

It's seen in more places than just the final seasons, though. Increasingly TV schedules are moving away from shows airing at the same time every year, and it's a habit that can largely be attributed to Breaking Bad's decision (and subsequent success) to split Season 5. Atlanta and Westworld return this year after a year off, and there's a whole bunch of shows that won't return until 2019. Release dates for TV are far more fluid and in the hands of the creators, which may not have been possible without Breaking Bad.