Sony Spoils The Fun Again: Takes Down Alternate Breaking Bad, Malcolm In The Middle Ending

from the of-course-they'd-do-that dept

Over the five seasons that the show Breaking Bad ran, it became increasingly common for people to joke about how it was really a very differently toned sequel to the comedy Malcolm in the Middle, which also starred Bryan Cranston. At times Cranston and the creators of the Breaking Bad had even cracked a few jokes about the supposed "coincidences" between the two very, very different shows. However, over the weekend a video clip was released showing a potential "alternate ending" to Breaking Bad, in which Cranston's wakes up in bed with his wife from Malcolm and admits that Breaking Bad was all just a dream. It's an amusing little clip that the Breaking Bad crew included on the DVD release of the series. And the video got everyone talking about it.

So, of course, Sony Pictures had to issue a takedown on the YouTube clip. Because, apparently, no one is allowed to have any fun until they pay Sony.
Spoiler alert: this doesn't make anyone more interested in buying the DVD. It just pisses people off.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: alternate ending, breaking bad, bryan cranston, malcolm in the middle
Companies: sony, sony pictures


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 12:55pm

    but then Sony can go crying yet again to politicians saying how no one is buying their media! it must be due to 'piracy', so get new laws enacted, ramp up old ones, get more people put into prison and made bankrupt! then they'll buy our stuff instead! talk about thick as shit! i could never understand how anyone with the mentality below that of a moron (nothing bad intended to those people) can become the head of a multi-billion dollar company and still not understand the customers they rely on totally for existence!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:02pm

    Re:

    To rise in politics and company management you have to be like the emperors of old, everybody pays tribute or you beat them up.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:07pm

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. icon
    weneedhelp (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:18pm

    [Leans over to coworker]"Hey, do you have the Breaking Bad series converted?" Coworker: "Yes. Do you want it?" Me: "OK." [Never watches it, doesnt care]

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    MondoGordo (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:23pm

    The Bob Newhart ending ? Really ?

    How unoriginal ... I hope Sony TV owns the rights to Newhart or someone might decide that Sony using their idea is infringing.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    silverscarcat (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:29pm

    Re: The Bob Newhart ending ? Really ?

    To be fair, I did see the alternate ending, it was pretty funny.

    It was nice to have the two MitM actors reprise their roles just for those few minutes.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Jessie (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:44pm

    Good job. We'd hate for there to be something out in the public consciousness that might make people want to watch our show. Send out the lawyers, make it so the show appears to never have existed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. This comment has been flagged by the community. Click here to show it
    identicon
    out_of_the_blue, 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:48pm

    Mike has an economics degree, ya know. So that makes this important.

    Appropriate time for previously written tagline:
    The world is being dumbed-down in ways most people are already too stupid to grasp.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Gwiz (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 1:55pm

    Re: Mike has an economics degree, ya know. So that makes this important.

    The world is being dumbed-down in ways most people are already too stupid to grasp.



    Are you the leader of this movement?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 2:01pm

    Re: The Bob Newhart ending ? Really ?

    I'm glad I'm not the only one here who remembers that.

    {Sometimes, I feel old here - here being the Internet}

    Still was funny though.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 2:09pm

    LOL That was awesome I love Breaking Bad wtf Sony?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. icon
    DanMitchell (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 2:17pm

    Re:

    It's absolutely fascinating that you don't watch Breaking Bad and that you don't care. Please tell me of other shows in which you have no interest, because it's really very interesting, this non-interest of yours. And as I presume you suspected, it really makes you seem likejust about the coolest person ever.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 2:21pm

    Re: Mike has an economics degree, ya know. So that makes this important.

    What? No lines and random numbers? We want our lines and random numbers, damn it! Also, where are the off topic attacks on Google? Your game is slipping, blue.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. icon
    John Fenderson (profile), 18 Nov 2013 @ 2:31pm

    Re: Re: The Bob Newhart ending ? Really ?

    I remember it! In fact, I was recently interested in watching the series again, so I could experience the whole buildup to the finale. Unfortunately, it's not available on Netflix, so me no get to watch.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 6:32pm

    Re:

    out_of_the_blue just loathes it when due process is enforced.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 18 Nov 2013 @ 7:01pm

    Re: Re: Mike has an economics degree, ya know. So that makes this important.

    he is this movement

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Rekrul, 18 Nov 2013 @ 8:08pm

    Re:

    Buzzfeed grabbed it an republished it after the takedown.

    No longer available. :(

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 4:19am

    Re: Re:

    No, it's still there.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 10:39am

    Re:

    With your name, I'm pretty sure that should have been, "Good job, bitch!"

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 10:42am

    Re:

    Awesome, go Buzzfeed!

    I watched this over the weekend, absolutely loved it. "I'm the one who's knocking." :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 10:49am

    Re:

    It really is impressively dumb. It did NOTHING but keep both shows which are already off the air and trying to sell dvd/blu rays in the public consciousness and show a bit of a sense of humor.

    Maybe I'm giving them too much credit, but any chance they could be trying to take advantage of the Streisand Effect and get more people to see it? Yea, I know, probably not.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 19 Nov 2013 @ 2:45pm

    It's interesting how YouTube hides the original title so that people looking for that video cannot find it easily by the title.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    Rekrul, 26 Nov 2013 @ 8:09am

    Re: Re: Re:

    It wasn't available when I tried to view it on the 18th and it's not there now.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. icon
    Sheogorath (profile), 15 Jan 2014 @ 2:22pm

    Breaking Bad alternative ending YouTube

    Using the above search term in Google, guess what I found? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtYNX3JWzjc

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.