So I found a new show this weekend. My brother-in-law has been telling me about it for a few months, but, here at the Hateball house, we don’t trust ourselves with cable, so, if it’s not on DVD, we haven’t seen it. (Which, btw, Mars, is the reason why I have to avoid the site whenever one of your impeccably written rundowns or re-ups is at the top…my face is still a little bit melted from your first LOST post.)

It’s not entirely unheard of for my wife and I to go stalking over to Target on a Friday night looking for ‘something to watch.’ I blame this phenomenon for my comprehensive knowledge of Friends and Office trivia, and why I feel qualified to discourse on the merits of CSI: over CSI: Miami.

Anyway. The new show. The show that is new to me: Breaking Bad. AMC seems to be on a roll between this and Madmen, which is also mind-numbingly awesome. BB stars Bryan Cranston, who some of you—like me—may remember better as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle. He’s…awesome. A superb and amazing actor.

The main plot of the show is that Cranston’s character is a chemistry whiz that’s been diagnosed with lung cancer. With hopes of leaving behind a nest egg for his family, he turns to cooking crystal meth with a wily person from his past and drama ensues. Please. Please. GO watch it. Season 1 just came out on DVD, and at 3 discs (only 7 episodes) you can Netflix the whole thing in one night.

The only negative thing I could think to say about this show—besides bemoaning the short length of S1—is *maybe* the writers’ zeal for trying to say ‘crank’ in a different way each time it comes up. I am probably the least qualified person in the world to talk about things like crime, drugs, the streets, or, um, cred, but I’m pretty sure that drug people don’t sit around thinking “I can’t call it ‘scray-yo’ today because so-and-so already heard me use that one. Do I say ‘chicken’ or stick with ‘blatch’ or maybe go with ‘wizzle-wazzle’?”

But yes. Please check it out. I’m way impressed.

- Hateball