With its writing and acting, ‘Breaking Bad’ gathered a solid fanbase during its run from 2008 to 2013. Vince Gilligan’s story, focusing on chemistry teacher Walter White and his ex-student Jesse Pinkman’s journey in the drug world, inspired many shows even years after its release. Each of these series took something from the original, whether it’s the drug theme, the moral complexity, or the deep character development. So, we touched on five of them in the list below.
5. Disjointed
First up is ‘Disjointed,’ a Netflix series from 2017. Created by Chuck Lorre and David Javerbaum, the show’s about Ruth Whitefeather Feldman, who runs a cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles and advocates for the legalization of weed. It’s more about laughs than drama, but like ‘Breaking Bad,’ ‘Disjointed’ explores the world of drugs for 20 episodes.
4. High Maintenance
Then there’s ‘High Maintenance.’ Starting as a web series in 2012 and moving to HBO in 2016, it was made by Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld about a weed dealer in New York and his customers. The show’s drama is not as intense as ‘Breaking Bad,’ but it mixes everyday life with the drug world. It’s more about the people and less about the drug dealing itself.
3. Sneaky Pete
‘Sneaky Pete’ came out in 2015 and received good reviews for years until Amazon canceled it after three seasons. Bryan Cranston, who played Walter White, helped create it with David Shore, and the show focused on a con artist taking on someone else’s identity. ‘Sneaky Pete’ isn’t about drugs but has themes like ‘Breaking Bad’: secrets, lies, and figuring out right from wrong.
2. Snowfall
FX’s ‘Snowfall’ is a lot like ‘Breaking Bad’ with its story created by John Singleton, Eric Amadio, and Dave Andron. It’s set in the 1980s in Los Angeles and is about the crack cocaine epidemic. In the series, the main character, Franklin Saint, gets deep into the drug trade, much like Walter White, as the show looks at how drugs change people and their communities.
1. Metastasis
Last is ‘Metastasis,’ a Colombian version of ‘Breaking Bad’ from 2014. It’s pretty much the same story but set in Colombia. It follows Walter Blanco, who, like Walter White, turns to making meth but goes for a few changes in pacing, visual style, and subplot elements from time to time. The show covers the five-season ‘Breaking Bad’ storyline through 62 episodes.
