Submitted by MoonSpawn12 t3_115ctws in television
Go and look at the viewers of Season 1 of Breaking Bad compare them with The Last of Us. If TLOU continues on this upward trajectory, I could see it dethroning Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and maybe even The Walking Dead (some of y’all underestimate how big TWD is in other countries)
Thoughts?
Well you can thank Netflix for that. Plus television streaming wasn’t even a thing when it first started airing. It’s different times. Breaking Bad would have been a big deal probably by the end of season one at least
Or it would have been canceled after one season.
Nothing has gotten cancelled after anywhere near as good a season 1 as Breaking Bad had. As much as people complain about Netflix cancellations, they don't cancel the truly great shows (of which they produce very few these days tbf). Shows got cancelled at a similar if not higher rate in the age of cabke, and they often got less than a season
Also, S1 of Breaking Bad was probably a lot cheaper to make, in comparison to something like 1899 or the Dark Crystal series.
Almost definitely imo
Should be a message to give shows a chance if they're receiving critical attention. I think Bryan cranston winning those emmys nearly every year kept it going
It's not even close to being as good as BB. It's not a bad show, but tbh I don't really get the hype
Seems like OP is just talking numbers. Way too early to talk about quality being one of the greats. And since the story seems to be a scene for scene version of the game the surprise element of wowing will be a hurdle to overcome.
As someone who’s not really a gamer and know nothing about the story, I’ve been completely captivated so far! The big mushroom monster in the latest episode is the only time I felt, ok that’s a bit hokey feeling like a video game boss.
You can’t compare numbers vs quality. The Wire is and was a fucking force. People watched Sopranos and the lucky few who stayed up later watched the wire. It’s a pinnacle of story telling.
I think that, taking Bill’s storyline into consideration, we can expect some parts to be very different.
>!I hope that means that a certain scene in Season 2 will be pushed to happen later in the story, but that’s just me!<
Yeah. There's a lot of money behind it and it's got a ready-made fanbase that LOOOOOVES the source material, but at the end of the day it's yet another show about a post-apocalyptic dystopian America. There's nothing we haven't seen before. There's no new ideas. No fresh perspective.
Of course, I'll keep watching it because I love that kind of show, but there's not much to it other than that it looks cool. Maybe even really, really cool. But that's it.
> There's nothing we haven't seen before. There's no new ideas. No fresh perspective.
Yet.
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Oh but it is. U just don’t like it as much. Simple as that
nope
In terms of popularity and quality it isn't touching Game of Thrones.
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Can someone please tell me what I’m missing with game of thrones? I love all the goats, the wire, breaking bad, sopranos, etc, but game of thrones just seemed so shit to me. Watched 6 full seasons and all I could deduce was that shock value and nudity were 60% of the substance of the show and the rest left me completely and totally underwhelmed. Actors were good, set design and world was amazing, but the rest is all soapy and excessive.
Too bad quality left in the last few seasons
Ok, maybe not. But definitely the other shows mentioned
I think people greatly overestimate how popular Breaking Bad was during it's run. TLOU is already much more popular than Breaking Bad was until it's final episodes. BB never got more than 3 million viewers until S5 and the only episode to hit 10 million viewers was the series finale. TLOU had already hit 10 million viewers by episode 4.
But that's not really a fair comparison. Breaking Bad was on a cable network and paying for that was the only way to watch the show. Even with AMC on a basic cable package, that was still more expensive then than paying $15 for HBO Max. The numbers are more for TLOU because more people have access to watch it today than they ever did.
BB was also airing during a time when there were a handful of really good shows worth watching, even on network channels. TLOU is on an island against a barren sea right now, so the fact that it doesn't have much competition is another reason why the numbers are better.
I"m not really sure what your argument is here. OP made the comparison, not me. The numbers aren't lying. The BB wiki page shows the number of viewers for each episode. I watched it from the beginning as it aired and it was not a popular show at that time though it did receive a lot of critical acclaim.
Walking dead, in terms of pacing, Last of Us would definitely dethrones it. I was a fan of Walking Dead and even the games too. But I stopped watching it because of how it felt the same for me each time I watch it.
Season 1 of the walking dead is equal to BB in quality.
Well, maybe not equal, but certainly able to be talked about as one of the greats. It’s interesting how universal everyone’s experience of the rest. Everyone hated the pacing of S2, and I as with many others gave up in the Neigan season.
But let’s not forget the absolute heartbreak when that little girl came out of the barn as a walker! Jesus.
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It doesn't take much to be better than The Walking Dead. That show was hot garbage for most of its run. I stopped watching after five or six seasons, and I loved and read all the comics.
sure, but the first season was fantastic.
can't compare both S1 of Walking Dead and TLoU until TLoU is over, but it's a really high bar to pass.
No.
This is the right take here.
Breaking Bad is still massive, hell they just aired a Breaking Bad commercial at the Superbowl!
Nope.
Of course not. TLoU isn't bad, but it's so far from being the masterpiece that many people want to make it out to be. This sub is lacking good and innovative shows or is very sensitive to mass marketing. What a shame.
Honestly i think its more the fact that there are so few good shows nowadays. Im really enjoying TLOU. Its better than 95% of shows on right now. Its still nowhere near breaking bad or game of thrones though. the bar has really been lowered in the past few years. We are all stranded at sea close to death from dehydration. When you give us a glass of pretty good water it makes us think its the best thing in the world.
Absolutely not. Look, I love The Last of Us. I’ve played both games and will probably replay them soon. But it doesn’t even come close to Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones and it never will.
You’re right it’s already miles past both of those shows in tv viewership at this point in their first seasons. Other than that totally /s
It’s got a massive advantage on word of mouth considering it’s already based on one of the best selling and widely acclaimed PlayStation games of all time, while GoT was based on a decently popular book series and BB is an original IP. It would be much more apt to compare it to House of the Dragon which holds HBO records despite the incredibly sour taste GoT left in people’s mouths, and despite being an original spin off story and not a se/prequel. Breaking Bad couldn’t even do that for the incredible product that was Better Call Saul. It’s an amazing feat that TLoU is so popular and it’s probably gotten the closest out of all the shows that debuted in this late stage era of streaming platforms but you’re either severely underestimating GoT’s cultural cache or severely overestimating TLoU’s if you think it beats it out.
It could inherit the crown from Walking Dead, genre-wise.
Breaking Bad was a rare example of a show building year after year and ending brilliantly. Best to aspire to that rather than beat it.
I think it's already stolen the zombie apocalypse crown from The Walking Dead. TWD has been terrible for the most part after the first season. It's had some fun moments, but overall the quality has been pretty low and the production values unimpressive. The Last of Us has more visual variety in single episodes than TWD did over full seasons, and is telling a better, tighter, more artistic story about a similar setting. It's more comparable to McCarthy's The Road than to The Walking Dead.
Nope. Not even close.
Legacy will be that video game stories are great and handed to the right crew can make money. If anyone gets their hands on Bioshock (hopefully HBO), and they are heavily influenced by the novel it will be gold
I would love a BioShock game. I’d also love to see proper adaptations of Horizon and God of War, but I’m not optimistic given it’s Netflix and Prime working on those.
God of war could be done on a cheaper scale. Horizon, most the game is random mechanical animals. Too much cgi to make it worth watching and profitable.
The God of War series is basically defined by the giant set-piece fights with the gods, which is why I'm very dubious about it working on TV.
It would be easy. Half of the first season due to budget awareness would be backstory and his son being there. Most cgi would be the first, mid, and season finale.
Well there's not just the machines in Horizon even as it's a huge centrepiece. They appear to be adapting the past if the description is true which is an unusual choice.
Netflix is making a Bioshock movie, directed by Francis Lawrence. Considering the quality of most Netflix movies i'm not very optimistic about the project, but who knows... This game definitively deserves a good adaptation.
If you read the book my god the backstory is 110% better than the game
Pretty sure someone is working on a Bioshock game but it will just be set in universe and not a direct adaptation
Most video game stories are dogshit, in the grand scheme of things very few are great and fewer still would work well as TV series or movies.
Disagree. It's a great medium to tell some crazy stories. Which would never of been green lit in Hollywood.
You disagree with which premise? That most videogame stories suck ass, which they do? Or that most of the best ones wouldn't work that well as an adaptation for film/TV?
Most of the best videogame stories work due to being interactive, it's a different type of immersion that solely filmed media can never provide. And while video games can be a great medium to tell stories, most players likely play games to have fun, not for stories.
People said that shit about comics as well. It's a great Avenue to find a story that works for adaptation
Nobody says that shit about comics bc it doesnt apply to them at all wtf, they are not interactive. Video games are not a great avenue to find stories that work well for adaptation. You need specific ones like TLOU that are great stories in the first place and practically tailor made to be adapted to TV. Those are very few and far between.
Nah, great games with great stories that got mistreated on the big screen. My argument is strong son
Is it a good show? Yes. Masterpiece? No.
There is no way it dethrones GoT or BB tbh. And i think its not even close imo
I don’t see how it will since there will likely be only 3 seasons max. If they make game 1 into season 1 and split up game 2 into seasons 2-3 then it’s over. GOT was on for 8 seasons. That’s a decade being talked about in pop culture. Similar thing with breaking bad. Walking dead too.
TLOU is def high quality but I don’t think it will have the same lasting impact as the shows you mentioned. Also look at westworld. It was extremely popular during season 1. It’s too early to make those claims of TLOU.
I think there’s a chance we ge Part III in the next few years and it gets adapted into Seasons 4 and 5.
That’s possible I guess. But I recall reading that the show runners said specifically they will not run into a game of thrones situation where the show exceeds the material. I just assumed that was their way of saying the source material was complete.
You’re right they won’t make story up. But there has been heavy speculation of a Part III for a couple years now so it’s possible the game releases before the show gets there and they can adapt it. The way Part II ends doesn’t require a sequel just like Part I didn’t but imo a final game would cap the series nicely.
too early to say if it will or won’t. Also this is a much bigger deal than westworld s1
>TLOU is def high quality but I don’t think it will have the same lasting impact as the shows you mentioned. Also look at westworld. It was extremely popular during season 1. It’s too early to make those claims of TLOU.
I agree it's too early to tell, OP might have a recency bias. But TLOU has more chances to have a lasting effect than Westworld. Westworld was a puzzle, more of an intellectual exercise, once the tricks got old and there was nothing more for viewers to cling to - the popularity fizzled. TLOU is tapping into emotional stuff, it speaks of the human condition on a similarly ambitious and grand scale to other great TV shows like Breaking Bad.
Theyre not going to jump 5-6 years ahead like part 2. With how successful the show is i think they milk the in-between years.
I think they are really trying to not add or subtract greatly from their existing story. The minute they start stretching out the story or padding it with in between years is the moment they will start breaking a somewhat implied promise with the viewers. They’ve been very vocal about the fact they are adapting this specific story. Also the in between years would take on the effect of a prequel where all suspense is taken away since people know everyone must stay alive bc they are in part 2.
I know Bella Ramsey is 19 but i just can't imaging how they jump to her being 20 years old the next season. She's so convincing as a 14 year old.
I'm sure a little makeup work would go a long way seeing as she's already as old as Part II Ellie.
TWD obviously wasn't the first zombie story to hit the screen, but it debuted at a time when the zombie apoc stuff hadn't already been done to death. The helped spread the feeling that you were missing out on something if you weren't watching. Even if TLOU is a better product judged side-by-side, it loses some ability to make a cultural impact due to the timing.
A couple similar examples that a few of you may be able to relate with:
-Perfect Dark compared to Goldeneye64
-Diddy Kong Racing compared to Mario Kart64
The game released later was better, but the predecessors were what defined the generation.
I am a fan of both games. But the actual racing in Mario kart 64 is much better than diddy king.
And perfect dark was just reskinned goldeneye with better weapons and multiplayer options.
you're comparing the viewership of a show airing now to a show that premiered in 2008 and ended in 2013. it's insane even before you take into consideration the rise of streaming and unlimited personal device access
it would be like comparing the viewership of the first season of house of cards (2013) and wednesday. netflix had around 30 million US subscribers in 2013 and has approximately 74 million now. you also need to factor in that it's building on an existing fan base from the game which won't be an enormous viewership bump but it would help
basically it's pointless to compare them in this way
No
I think the major advantage the last of us has is being on a streaming platform that most people have access to. In comparison breaking bad was on a lesser known channel during it's show run. I think the last of us will get more viewership during it's run, but compared to breaking bad I don't expect as many people to watch after it ends.
Nobody will
Considering they are barreling towards a very controversial storyline in season 2 I'm not optimistic.
For anyone who hasn't played the second game I won't spoil anything but they said they will be following that game's plot and it was very polarizing.
Nothing is going to take the pop culture crown from Game of Thrones any time soon. Everyone watched that show. My parents knew what it was, and had even seen episodes, although it was a bit too adult for their tastes.
It also took Game of Thrones a few seasons to build up the kind of momentum it did, and The Last of Us may only be looking at a three season run.
Oh fuck off
I don’t think it will. I like the show but Breaking Bad is really about as good as TV gets. Also it only looks like this will be a 2 season show, so it won’t be on very long. One season of TV that isn’t even done yet makes it hard to judge though.
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It would have to contend within its own generation with Stranger Things first. That show is very popular.
It can really only be 2 seasons for now - limited series like that rarely take over the way the shows you named did.
I'd be surprised.
Likely going to be three seasons and done.
Part 1: Season 1
Part 2: Seasons 2&3
I love the show and glad it is doing well.
I do like that it gives more credibility to the depth and detail that a video game story can have, more than enough to support a full dramatic show in the right hands with the right cast. It will probably win a good amount of awards so that’s about its peak but it’s not going to be revolutionary in the TV space like GOT, BB, or even TWD was just because streaming is different than TV audiences and the range of available options.
I'm not familiar with the videogame so maybe I'm off but Breaking bad and GOT were both 60+ episodes, can they really squeeze that much juice out of this story? cuz that feels unlikely
Way too early to say
It's like saying Patrick Mahomes could overtake Tom Brady after last week's Super Bowl
I mean we're way too soon to start this kind of conversation, we did this for Westworld and look at the mess that turned into.
No. I love the show but no…BB was just that good.
as a huge fan of both of the games, no lol. believe it or not this season is the happiest and least controversial the story ever gets
lol no. *laughs in Wayne Cambell* ... no.
if that ever happens I'll be even more grateful to not belong to this gen
Never happen. This show won't even be able to wash Breaking Bad's ball sack.
No.
I don’t know what “generational crown” is even supposed to mean but: no.
LOL!!!
not even close.
gimme a break...lol, Breaking Bad is king
…we’re six episodes in. Feels way too early to speculate on this without it being total guesswork.
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>BB never took risks
It took the risk of being the greatest show of all time and a masterpiece
That's good enough for me!
I think a lot of comments in here are wrong. It IS a masterpiece so far and is on track to being in the same league as GoT or BB. The difference though is that the story is somewhat limited by the game series and so it will never have the complicated and immersive story that BB and the GoT had (not including TWD cause it's a trash show). The story is great for what it is and a masterpiece in its own right but comparing it to BB or GoT is just an apples and oranges comparison
DinosaurHotline t1_j90v02o wrote
Breaking Bad wasn’t even very popular with audiences until it was almost finished.