Showtime's Weeds and AMC's Breaking Bad share several common characteristics — so much so, that the existence of Weeds nearly caused Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan to cancel his drug-centered TV series. Both shows had very successful runs, earning several Golden Globes and Emmys collectively along the way, and both shows share the same basic premise: middle-aged suburban parents who resort to selling drugs to provide income for their family and maintain/improve their lifestyles.
Jenji Kohan's suburban-set satire Weeds first aired in August 2005, and had developed a significant following by the time Gilligan's Breaking Bad premiered in 2008. For years, Weeds and Breaking Bad competed with each other on a per episode basis as well, with new episodes from both shows airing on Sunday nights at 10 P.M. Eastern Time (although the show's seasons didn't always run at the same time). The shows aired at same time slot for most of Breaking Bad's run, with Weeds wrapping up in 2012 and Breaking Bad in 2013.
Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan found out, to his horror, that Weeds existed while he was in the middle of pitching his own suburban drug dealer story to studios. Gilligan told The Huffington Post in 2012: “If I had known of Weeds weeks or even days prior to that meeting, it’s likely I wouldn’t have had the will to go on, I would have said to myself (and I’ve said this a lot)," "Damn! All the good ideas are already taken!"
Weeds featured Mary-Louise Parker as Nancy Botwin, who was simultaneously both a genius and a fool when it came to selling and producing marijuana. She is the single mother of two children and lives in southern California, originally selling marijuana to maintain her wealthy suburban lifestyle after her husband dies months before the first episode. Breaking Bad features Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a brilliant chemist who has inexplicably ended up as a high school chemistry teacher. He teams up with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), and produces some of the highest quality crystal meth ever seen by the criminal underworld. Starz is producing a spinoff series titled Weeds 4.20 and Breaking Bad has already released the critically acclaimed Better Call Saul as well as a Netflix-direct film, El Camino.
Luckily for viewers, Gilligan was too far along to be scared off by Weeds and Breaking Bad became one of the most acclaimed shows in recent memory. It is very impressive that given the shows' plot similarities and closeness in production and release dates, they both went on to have very successful runs, both critically and commercially. They coexisted perhaps by having slightly different tones: Weeds trended closer to the "black comedy" genre while Breaking Bad leaned more towards a pure drama. Both shows however, contained plenty elements of both genres respectively.
Breaking Bad and Weeds both remain very relevant to this day. Mary-Louise Parker is reprising her role in the upcoming spinoff Weeds 4.20 and Better Call Saul continues to garner critical acclaim and often features former Breaking Bad cast members. Both shows will be remembered for their undeniable quality and strong fanbases for years to come.
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