[Scott Roberts] "I find it harder to believe that 600,000 people were just like "I'LL TRY OUT BREAKING BAD FOR SOME REASON, OOPS, NOT FOR ME!""
But that's not necessarily what happened. I gave 4 possible scenarios, three of which involved people EVENTUALLY watching every episode -- yet which account for why they're not tuning in for the forseeable future.
That said, I'm scenario 4. Enthusiasm from people like you got me to watch, I agree it's well-crafted, and I don't want to see it again. Thanks, though. Always glad to know that there are people doing work this good.
re: Dexter, he's not a serial killer, any more than Tony Soprano was a murderous gangster. Tony is Everyman, and Dexter is a vigilante who lives by The Code. Violent men who break laws in the name of The Code are perhaps the ultimate pop cultural American heroes. Rooster Cogburn! Sam Spade! Batman! Pretty much every Charles Bronson character! That dude in Unforgiven! Liam Neeson in Taken! We understand The Code. We agree with The Code. We agree with The Hero that The Law must be discarded when it gets in the way of The Code.
Anti-hero would be if Dexter is the one who killed his wife and left her floating in a tub of blood. Instead, he's the hero who tracks down and slaughters that guy. We absolutely identify with him. We want him to succeed. We want to live in a world with the moral clarity and consistency that Dexter lives in.
Actually, I don't think most people actually do. It'd drive them as crazy as it drives Dexter. They just want to THINK they want that kind of morality. Same with killing. People "want" to kill bad guys -- but they don't really want that, and they know it. It's just fun to think about. Which means that audiences are living vicariously through both Dexter's morality AND his (otherwise) immorality. Very cool idea, but still kinda meta for The People.
For the record, note that Dexter's top rated ep was the Season 4 finale in 2009 - 2.3 million viewers. Oops. Less than last week's Breaking Bad, which had 2.9 million.
The thing is, you've been watching Sympathetic Cancer Guy turn dark over 4 seasons. Hundreds of thousands of people showed up to find Dark Meth Guy. It's just not the same.
Everybody loves murder. Nobody loves meth. Walter's not even a pretty lady who regularly gets naked moving pot, which people love almost as much as they love murder. (Referring to pot, rather than the naked part.) That Breaking Bad is on for a 5th season is a miracle to be celebrated.
On behalf of my brothers and sisters in Creative COW, I also want to remind you that advertising has the power to draw a crowd. I don't see how AMC could possibly have done more to market the show. It worked. But I hope you can empathize with people who show up, meet Dark Meth Guy and decide they don't want him in their bedroom until 11 PM Sunday, when, by the time they get to sleep, they'll have to wake the kids for school in 6 or 7 hours -- and decide to watch something a little lighter, eg, anything.
Thinking about this some more, though, I thought of another show that features an actual anti-hero: Boardwalk Empire. Except there, Season 2's premiere was down 39% from the pilot, leaving an audience of...wait for it... 2.9 million. But I suspect that the ratings will drop from there, don't you think?
Are you seeing a pattern here? Virtually identical ratings for all of these, with poor Dexter trailing the pack. But the number is the number. There are clearly only around 3 million of you sick bastards, tops. LOL
Net net: Breaking Bad ratings are the same this year as last year. Not Nielsen's problem. LOL
Tim Wilson
Vice President, Editor-in-Chief
Creative COW Magazine
Twitter: timdoubleyou
The typos here are most likely because I'm, a) typing this on my phone; and b) an idiot.
