Entertainment

‘Bad’ enough: It’s six days and counting…

Dean Norris

Dean Norris

BEERS TO YA: Aaron Paul (left) and Bryan Cranston (right) – along with Dean Norris (inset) – star in AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” which returns for its final season this Sunday night. (
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In case you haven’t heard (he said sarcastically), “Breaking Bad” kicks off its final season this Sunday night.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge fan of the show, having written about it many times and having interviewed most of its stars (most recently Dean Norris, aka DEA Agent Hank Schrader). And I’m really looking forward to this season, for which fellow “BB” fans have waited 13 long months.

Maybe it’s just part-and-parcel of covering television — and being bombarded daily with breathless press releases touting everything from “Breaking Bad” museum retrospectives to “BB” i-books — but I gotta say I’m really tired of reading/hearing/talking about Sunday’s season premiere. Enough already. This is reaching “Mad Men” proportions, and that’s not a good thing — especially for a show that’s revered by its fans (me among them) but has registered a meh among the rest of the TV viewing universe.

Allow me to point out that, for a show that’s won a boatload of well-deserved Emmys — series star Bryan Cranston won three Best Actor statuettes in a row — “Breaking Bad” has never been what you’d call a ratings bonanza for AMC. Like “Mad Men,” its network stablemate, the series seems to be talked-about more than it’s watched.

Discounting its seven-episode first season back in 2008 — which took everyone by surprise — “Breaking Bad” has never broken the 3 million viewer mark for a single episode (not counting repeats, DVR viewership, etc.). Last summer’s Season Five opener came close (2.9 million) but, strangely enough, the following seven episodes were a mixed ratings bag (including the season finale, which was down 400,000 from the season premiere). “BB” finished its abbreviated season averaging 2.6 million viewers — pretty good — but, let’s face it, not exactly “Duck Dynasty” numbers.

So here we go, T-minus six days and counting to Sunday’s opener. Though it’s been a while since we last left the show — with Hank perched atop Walt’s porcelain throne (“Sorry about that, man,” a wry Norris said to me in our interview last month) — let’s just enjoy the next six days of anticipation — without the constant reminders.