Breaking Bad to Have a Fourth Season

Deadline Hollywood broke the news yesterday that AMC’s Breaking Bad has been picked up for a fourth season. The season three finale, “Bad,” aired last night. The episode was written and directed by X Files producer Vince Gilligan. It was Gilligan’s first time to take on the writer and director’s role since the show’s pilot episode. Gilligan informed the Los Angeles Times that he watched the old western, Once Upon a Time in the West, to get inspiration for the episode’s mood and atmosphere.

The show is shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The LA Times writes, “Gilligan began with a standoff of sorts in the beautiful, untamed desert and then ended with a climactic showdown that led to the barrel of a gun and a gunshot.”

The show’s star, Bryan Cranston of Malcolm in the Middle, won Emmys for his work on the show for outstanding lead actor in a drama series; the only time this has ever happened to an actor from a basic cable television show. Altogether, the series has won 4 Emmys and a Peabody award. The finale’s cast line up also included performances by Aaron Paul, Bob Odenkirk, Anna Gun and Giancarlo Esposito.