AMC Steals into HBO Turf with 2 Great Shows

Posted on 31 March 2008 by Daniel Dessinger

HBO has made a legitimate name for itself with great shows in the past like The Sopranos.

Such series not only raise the corporate bottom line but also build a loyal following that benefit the channel's other products as well.  

The lesson seems to have been learned well at AMC, the American Movie Classics channel. Right now AMC is offering two relatively new shows that deserve our attention: Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Mad Men, created by The Sopranos Executive Producer and Writer Matthew Weiner, is a cutting-edge drama centering on a Madison Avenue advertising agency in 1960. Incidentally, the show portrays the very same "politically incorrect" realities of the day as The Apartment, a Jack Lemmon-Shirley MacLaine romantic comedy classic that also focuses on a big NY firm (insurance) and is shot in 1960.

Since I've been raised by a strong professional woman who waged her own brave battles against the kind of abuses depicted in Mad Men, I admit I bring my own baggage to this series.

However as someone who is keenly interested in American history as well as good drama, I can't praise enough Mad Men's breathtaking authenticity and courage to portray the nasty realities of those good-old bad-old days. After watching the first episode you understand why the series is named "Mad Men" and not something else.

Vince Gilligan's Breaking Bad is the other and daring new offering from AMC. Its main character Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher who flips to the other side of the law after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Talking about tension: Walt not only loves his pregnant stay-at-home wife and son (born with cerebral palsy) but also happens to have an in-law who is a DEA agent.

Partnering with his ex-student Jesse Pinkman, Walt's trip down the meth valley gets "curiouser and curiouser" in every episode. It's an electrifying take on a slice of contemporary America that is both familiar in many ways and unsettling since it unfolds like any respectable tax-paying law-abiding citizen's worst nightmare come true.

Drama by definition is conflict and both these series are packed with enough twists and turns to keep us panting for many years to come.

To watch some of the past episodes, try these links:

Mad Men: http://www.amctv.com/videos/madmen/

Breaking Bad  http://www.amctv.com/videos/breakingbad/

Popularity: 5% [?]

Related Posts

• Hurling for Dollars
• Flipping Out over Flipping Out
• Where Would I Be Without My Tv?
• So You Think You Are Ready?
• John Adams on HBO - History Served Piping Fresh