Platinum Award, Best Writer in Cable—Vince Gilligan

 

It doesn’t really matter who you are or what kind of TV you prefer. If you’ve got a pulse, you love “Breaking Bad”—not because it’s easy to watch (or even because you catch every single episode) but because the writing is just so bloody good. Each show peels more layers away from the souls of immensely flawed characters who seem to draw each other into a deeper pit of danger and despair every week. Is anyone looking up, trying to find a way out and back into the light? We’re never sure, and that’s what’s so addictive about this show. The idea that a boring science teacher could transform into a pseudo-mob boss as he stumbles through a well intentioned plan to sell enough crystal meth to take care of his family after he dies of terminal cancer… well, at some point those original intentions get clouded by the karmic justice that befalls those who spread misery to protect their own. It never works out well. And Gilligan’s incredible storytelling gives us a window into that ethos. It’s a masterful journey that’s as addictive as the drug binding together its characters. And we always need a fix.

 

 

• Matt Weiner – Mad Men, AMC

• Neil Cross – Luther, BBC America

• Terence Winter – Boardwalk Empire, HBO

• Paul Abbott and John Wells – Shameless, Showtime