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.

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

As MPAA Insists TV Piracy Is So Harmful, Breaking Bad Creator Explains How Piracy Helped

from the but-of-course dept

At this point, it's amazing how tone deaf the MPAA remains about the impact of people downloading TV shows. Just a few days ago, the MPAA posted a silly blog post arguing that people getting copies of The Walking Dead from unauthorized sources demonstrated how "content theft is a complex problem... that needs to be taken seriously." Except, a day or so later, the creator of AMC's other super popular show (now concluded) Breaking Bad, Vince Gilligan, explained how piracy really helped the show build its base and become so popular:

"[It] led to a lot of people watching the series who otherwise would not have."

Of course, at this point, this shouldn't be surprising. Folks behind Game of Thrones have more or less said the same thing. Of course, they also try to hedge their claims. Gilligan, for example, followed up his statement above with the following:

"The downside is a lot of folks who worked on the show would have made more money, myself included, if all those downloads had been legal."

Except, that's wrong. Or, rather, it's fantasy-world. If people hadn't pirated it, Breaking Bad would have had a much smaller audience, and likely a much shorter run. Recent interviews with the writing staff suggested they expected the show to be cancelled many times throughout the run. If it wasn't getting more and more viewers, it seems likely that it would have been canceled much earlier, and Gilligan's reputation and brand wouldn't be as wonderful as it is currently. It seems quite likely that it would have resulted in him making less money both from Breaking Bad itself and from future projects, where he'll now be able to command a much larger paycheck, given this success.

The MPAA is right that it's "complex," but the constant drumbeat that it's a problem that needs to be fixed seems to ignore the reality that those who have embraced much more widespread distribution and the benefits it provides, have found that it's not necessarily a problem at all. It's only a problem for those who fail to capitalize on it (and, we should note, that "failing to capitalize on new opportunities" is sort of a trademark of the MPAA).

Filed Under: attention, breaking bad, piracy, the walking dead, vince gilligan
Companies: amc, mpaa

News Anchor Does Twitter Wrong: Teases Homicide Story Referencing Breaking Bad

from the hot-hot-hot dept

We all know that companies will occasionally use social media in a way that just comes off as wrong, either intentionally or not. For instance, one pizzeria's friendly promotion for free pie is another feminist league's gross attempt to view women's breasts. The point is that in a world that is more connected than ever, in which social media attempts can go viral quickly for reasons good or bad, a corporation had damned well better get the message right or risk the consequences.

One would think that news organizations and their employees, already adept at writing headlines, would be proficient in this. One would not, however, always be right in that regard. Take the example of a Fox News employee, Joyce Evans, who tweeted the following to followers of the local Philadelphia station:

Thought "Breaking Bad" was hot last Sunday? @FOX29philly See who's breakin' bad in SW Philly leavin' 6 people SHOT - Tonite at Ten!

— Joyce Evans (@JoyceEvansFox29) October 7, 2013

Your reaction range ought to be somewhere between cringe and laugh, depending on how dark your sense of humor is. Teasing a story in which multiple people were shot using that kind of terminology is something you just don't do. At the very least, those involved in the story are going to be outraged. More likely, you're going to outrage a good portion of those not involved who don't think that conflating entertainment with the real-life harm of a multiple shooting is something news companies should be doing.

So, as you'd imagine, the properly chastised Evans issued a sincere apology. Just kidding, she doubled down on her ignorance.

Last tweet NOT AST ALL A JOKE. Very real life drama was the point as oppose to one that end on tv. That was my point

— Joyce Evans (@JoyceEvansFox29) October 7, 2013

Mmm, no. Your point was that the story was "hot" in the same entertaining way as a fictional show. And nobody is buying the BS, either. Welcome to social media, Joyce!

Filed Under: breaking bad, journalism, joyce evans, philadelphia

Dear Everyone: Stop Calling 911 If Your Cable Is Out When Breaking Bad Is On

from the breaking-emergency-services dept

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you have surely heard about AMC's hit show Breaking Bad, featuring Bryan Cranston cosplaying Gordon Freeman while making a ton of drugs and generally being an all-around badass. Fortunately for this story, journalistic integrity doesn't really include my opinion of the show, because I watch it enough that my dog and my fiancé can now recite the proper cooking method for a batch of blue crack-speed, which is a strange thing to hear from a dog, I have to tell you. Add to that AMC's being rather awesome when disputes with Dish Network prevented subscribers from seeing it on their TVs and I have something of a fanboi relationship with the show.

And yet, if I had a cable subscription and it went on the fritz during the latest episode, I probably wouldn't be on the horn with emergency services to get help like apparently everyone in Norwich, Connecticut was.

That's what happened last night in southern Connecticut when affected Optimum Cable subscribers decided that missing an episode of Breaking Bad or Eat Drink Love was akin to suffering a major heart attack. Service was down for about two hours during primetime because of a power outage in Norwich.

Confused as to what to do and too impatient to wait until the next day, people started calling 911. That unsurprisingly pissed off emergency dispatchers.

The result of this pissing-off of dispatchers was for emergency services to engage their snark-emitters on social media, informing everyone that abusing 911 services could result in arrest and that they wouldn't get cable in prison, either. Not bad, but I wonder how many of them had to resist the urge to dispatch SWAT to each and every caller to administer a bit of the old scared-straight tactic, because if my Gram-Gram needed an ambulance and couldn't get one because someone's cable was out, I'd be inclined to go full-psycho on them. So, please, people of the world and, more importantly, Connecticut, don't call for EMS because you can't watch Breaking Bad. Instead, Gawker offers a list of more productive activities you could engage in, such as swearing, eating a cookie, or maybe just wait until the morrow when AMC makes their episodes available on iTunes.

Filed Under: 911, breaking bad, cable service, police

Dropped By Dish, AMC Pulls An Anti-Viacom: Offers Breaking Bad Premiere Free To Dish Subscribers

from the that's-how-it's-done dept

Yesterday, we wrote about Viacom's reactionary strategy of holding its fans hostage by shutting down online streams of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report after DirecTV advised its customers (who just lost access to Viacom shows) to watch them online. It was a childish move that punished a whole lot of fans (not only DirecTV users) just to gain leverage in a contract dispute, and a textbook example of how big media's shortsightedness drives people to piracy. Nobody was impressed.

So today it's interesting to hear about a network taking the exact opposite tack. AMC, home of a bunch of popular shows cast somewhat in the HBO mold, was recently dropped from the basic package for Dish satellite subscribers. AMC says that unlike the Viacom/DirecTV situation, they were not asking for more money and this was not a negotiation issue, but rather Dish trying to "gain leverage in an unrelated lawsuit."

So what is AMC's response? Well, the much-anticipated fifth-season premier of Breaking Bad, one of their flagship shows, is airing on Sunday—and they've decided to set up a special online stream just for Dish subscribers, so they can watch it for free. Meanwhile, they point out that virtually every other satellite and cable provider includes AMC in its basic package, and that several are now offering special sale prices for customers switching from Dish. They even have a toll-free line at 1-855-2DROP-DISH offering more information. For Dish, this is what you call a "PR nightmare".

But -- and here's where it gets even more interesting -- Dish claims they dropped AMC because the company insists they also carry some other less-popular networks bundled with it. That's why DirecTV says it dropped Viacom, too. It's a bit of an our-word-against-theirs situation as to the real cause of the conflict, and it's likely that neither company is entirely blameless. But AMC's first move was to go straight to the fans with a special offer to give them what they want. Viacom's first move was to... petulantly punish not only the fans involved in the dispute, but all of their fans.

Both Dish and DirecTV are experiencing backlash—even though some people support DirecTV in the bigger picture, most fans are just reacting to their favorite shows suddenly disappearing, and understandably getting annoyed with their service provider. But while AMC has leveraged the situation as a way to get good PR by offering fans something special, Viacom managed to extract its own dose of negative backlash by further depriving them.

Much like the MPAA, it seems Viacom needs a lesson in communications.

Filed Under: breaking bad, public relations
Companies: amc, directv, dish, viacom