“Breaking Bad” showrunner Vince Gilligan has made it clear that he’d like to end his acclaimed meth drama after five seasons, but there’s a considerable hitch: AMC and Sony Pictures Television (the studio that makes the show) have been unable to come to terms on a renewal, with Sony Pictures going so far as to shop the show to other networks. “Oh no!” exclaimed fans of the show who don’t know how to change a channel.
AMC firmly wants to bring the show back for a fifth season — that’s the good news. But shows get more expensive as they age, and AMC is looking for ways to reach a financially effective deal. The network proposed a shortened fifth season (six or eight episodes instead of the usual 13) which producers rejected (thankfully).
Now, the actual odds of Breaking Bad actually jumping networks? Very slim. Often studios will shop a show around to get some leverage on the network they’re haggling with, but committing to a divorce is a nuclear option that seldom gets detonated. [EW]
This isn’t anything new for AMC — remember the prolonged negotiation between AMC and Lionsgate and Matthew Weiner that was eventually resolved to give us at least two more years of “Mad Men”? It’s important to remember that for all of its fancy awards, AMC’s still a small cable network with limited viewership — and therefore limited funds. It’s not like CBS, where they can pay Charlie Sheen millions in cocaine briefcases just for him not to show up.
