With just a handful of episodes left of the highly acclaimed AMC drama series Breaking Bad, premiering this summer, the Academy of Television hosted an evening to celebrate the show while giving a glimpse into what fans can expect as the story about everyone’s favorite meth dealer continues.  Collider was there to cover and attend the event, and we’ve compiled the highlights of what was said during the Q&A.

During the discussion, actor Bryan Cranston talked about how he didn’t quite grasp the extent of the darkness of his character’s journey when he signed on, how much he’s enjoyed the ride, that he got the “Br Ba” elemental chart tattooed on the inside of the ring finger of his right hand to commemorate the end of the series, which scene has resonated the most for him, how much the show has changed his life and career, and just how satisfying the finale will be for fans.  Show creator Vince Gilligan talked about how they decided 62 episodes was enough to tell their story, the temptation of wanting to do another season, how the show ended up on AMC, that the show was originally set in the Inland Empire, their strive for authenticity, how they do the time lapse shots, that he never looks online to see what people are saying, and whether the spin-off featuring Saul (Bob Odenkirk) might actually happen.  Check out what they had to say after the jump.

This week on The Collision, we are joined by Allison Keene and Charles Judson.  Our conversation is sparked by a Mad Men spec script from actress Erika Anderson, which brings African-American characters into Matthew Weiner‘s critically acclaimed show.  From there, our conversation expands to explore diversity in popular TV series, if showrunners should feel obligated to diversify their casts, the difficulty in writing minority characters, and much more.  As always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Violence and Evil Dead“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

With Breaking Bad coming to a close this summer, AMC is apparently desperately looking for a way to keep cashing in on its success.  While many would say Mad Men is currently the best show on television, I’ve always given the edge to Breaking Bad, which is just as cinematic and full of visual metaphor, yet also has the fantastic ability to make viewers want to reach for anti-anxiety medication.

The considered spin off would star Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), and series creator Vince Gilligan would be on board to create this new Saul-centered world, which could be a half-hour comedy.  Hit the jump for more possibilities.

AMC’s Breaking Bad is one of the best shows we’re likely ever to see on television, and it will be a sad, sad day when the series wraps up its final season later this summer.  It seems like an impossible feat in hindsight, but there’s nary a bad episode to be found in Breaking Bad’s entire four and a half season run as creator/showrunner Vince Gilligan has magically been able to maintain the show’s ridiculously high quality for nearly five years now.  As such, Breaking Bad’s final run of episodes comes with some impossible-to-meet expectations.

As Gilligan and his crew are busy scripting the show’s concluding eight episodes, the showrunner recently spoke up about his approach to the series finale and addressed those dangerously high expectations.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

I’m a sucker for science, so this bit of news pleases me greatly: the ever-interesting Discovery Channel series Mythbusters is planning a Breaking Bad-centric episode.  That’s right, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman are set to tackle a couple of experiments inspired by events from AMC’s stellar drama series Breaking Bad.  Moreover, stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will be making an appearance in the episode.  Just what Breaking Bad science will they be testing?  Hit the jump to find out.

Since fans of Vince Gilligan’s hit AMC drama Breaking Bad will have to wait until next year for the show’s epic conclusion, we thought we’d share this entertaining intro sequence to help pass the time.  From French graphic designer Martin Woutisseth comes a re-imagined Breaking Bad intro that features motion animation, great Easter eggs from the series and pays homage to a number of cast members past and present.  If you’re not familiar with the show, be sure to get caught up on all of our episode recaps here.  Fan or not, hit the jump to check out the awesome intro from Woutisseth!

Breaking Bad‘s mid-season finale, which aired this past Sunday, was not as explosive as some of the show’s finales in the past, but it was quietly stunning (quite literally).  The series maneuvered everyone’s favorite (or most hated) high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin into some of his (and the series’) most serious territory yet — a great setup for what is bound to be an extremely anxiety-inducing final eight episodes next summer.  Series creator Vince Gilligan recently sat down to discuss some of the finer points of Sunday night’s episode, including where Walt might be headed next, as well as the final eight episodes of the series.  Spoilers, of course, you are not caught up on the series — otherwise, hit the jump for more.

When things work out as well as they did in Breaking Bad’s “Hazard Pay” for almost all parties involved (minus Skyler), it’s Vince Gilligan mercifully throwing us a bone.  The violence and intensity takes a break, briefly, and we get a comic interlude that features Badger (Matt Jones) and Skinny Pete (Charles Baker).  Badger and Skinny Pete may be the most underrated performers on the show, actually, and often get some of the funniest lines (the only funny lines?).  Introducing Skinny Pete in “Hazard Pay” with him artfully and flawlessly dancing through a piano melody on a keyboard in the music store was funny, but also deeply sad.  How did this talented and sweet young man turn into the drug-addled and often brainless wisp?  That moment was as good of a “Meth: Not Even Once” campaign as any I’ve seen.  You can imagine Badger always having been a little educationally subnormal, but Skinny Pete?  What a waste.  Hit the jump for the specifics of the episode, and what will make tortillas smell like cat piss.

On the red carpet of this year’s Saturn Awards, I was able to get a few minutes with Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan.  While he was guarded about spoiling any of the upcoming twists and turns, he revealed there “is some crazy-ass shit coming up” and that the show gets “darker, edgier, crazier than ever.”

In addition, we also talked about the opening shots of the fifth season, does he know how the final season will play out, is there any chance the final season could be more than eight episodes, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

At the Saturn Awards tonight, Vince Gilligan, creator of Breaking Bad, was on hand to receive an award for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series.  Whilst there, Hunter Daniels and I talked with Gilligan about the past seasons of the show and the ongoing fifth season.  The thirteen-minute conversation covered many a topic – the full transcript to which, I will post later.  But for now, I wanted to quickly post choice highlights: namely Gilligan’s interest in creating a real deal Western post Breaking Bad.

“I would love to do a Western.  And in fact I think of Breaking Bad as a Western in a great many senses.  We shoot in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The enormous skies with the beautiful cumulus clouds and the stark desert landscapes make me think of ‘America’.  Indeed [Billy the Kid], one of the most famous western outlaws of American history, his stomping grounds were New Mexico.  And apparently Jesse James made his way out there at some point.  There’s also all this marvelous Western history that takes place in the Southwest and in large part in New Mexico.  I feel lucky that we shoot there and I’d love after this is all over just to do a full-out, pullout-all-the-stops Western”

For more highlights from the Gilligan talk (including his thoughts on the ’rumored’ Saul Goodman spinoff), hit the jump.

“Because I said so.”  Have four words ever been so chillingly, yet rousingly, delivered? Walter White’s Season Five conversation ender put the definitive mark on his transformation from mild-mannered science teacher to ruthless drug kingpin.  The brilliance of Breaking Bad is that this transformation can be viewed either as a triumph of Nietzschean ‘Superman’ ethics or as the moral turpitude of hubris run amuck.  Sure Walter White is a badass – but he’s also a very bad, bad man.  Breaking Bad is one of the only shows in recent memory that can ‘have its cake and eat it too’ – at once both celebrating and decrying Walter’s actions.  How does it get away with this? Because it’s just so freaking good… ‘Because it says so’.

At Comic-Con last weekend, Vince Gilligan and the entire cast were on hand for a roundtable discussion regarding the show.  In today’s edition, creator Vince Gilligan discusses how his vision of the show changed (or didn’t) since day one, takes exception to the notion of Walter White as a sociopath, puts down any Breaking Bad movie rumors, and more.  For the full interview, hit the jump.

AMC keeps dropping pieces of Breaking Bad‘s new season like parts of a burned toy bear soaked in pool water (posters, photos, a teaser trailer, a full-length trailer and a fantastic fan recap.  The latest is a short clip that takes place just after the episode’s cold open, with Walt (Bryan Cranston) and his family reacting to the events that ended last season.  It’s been described as the “calm before the storm,” and a reminder that most Breaking Bad seasons start off slowly, giving you plenty of time to order that defibrillator you’ve been meaning to get to ensure your survival watching this show.  Hit the jump for the video. (Spoiler notes: Don’t watch or go any further if you’re not caught up with the show. If you are caught up, the clip does not reveal any spoilers specific to the new season).

The official trailer for the final season of AMC’s Breaking Bad has landed.  If I had one complaint about the end of season four, it would be that it didn’t feature enough of Gus Fring’s enforcer, Mike (Jonathan Banks).  This trailer for season five addresses that oversight right off the bat and I couldn’t be happier.  For fans of Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), you’ll be happy to see them get back to work in the last season.  As Walt says, “There’s a market to be filled and currently…no one to fill it.”  Luckily, the “awesome dramatic television show” market will be satisfied when Breaking Bad returns to AMC Sunday July 15th.  Hit the jump to see the new trailer.

By the time of season four of Breaking Bad, Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) have been in the meth game long enough to not make rookie mistakes.  Now they’re in the big leagues (making much bigger mistakes), and they’re working under the thumb of Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), who has a placid exterior and no problem acting as a cold blooded killer.  It’s the best season of the show, and one of the best seasons of television ever.  Our review of the Blu-ray of Breaking Bad season four follows after the jump.

We’re just 20 days away from the biggest pop culture convention of the year with Comic-Con 2012 coming next month, and slowly but surely studios and TV networks are firming up their rosters of films and series that will take San Diego by storm. This week it’s AMC announcing their line-up of panels for the convention, and the trio of programs hitting the Con is no surprise.

The Walking Dead will make a triumphant return to the convention with an hour-long panel in Hall H moderated by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick and including special guests like cast members Andrew Lincoln, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Denai Guerrero and David Morrisey along with Executive Producer and Showrunner Glen Mazzara, Executive Producer Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer Robert Kirkman and Co-Executive Producer and Special Effects Make-up Supervisor Greg Nicotero.  But that’s not all. Hit the jump for more.