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Surprising things you never knew about 'Breaking Bad'


The show wasn't originally supposed to be filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, but there were financial incentives to do so.

In a 2010 interview with Slant magazine, the show's creator Vince Gilligan said he had originally planned for "Breaking Bad" to be set in Riverside, California.

But Sony approached him with the idea of moving it to New Mexico due to financial incentives. 

"They said New Mexico has a tax rebate for film and television production, and it's a pretty substantial one," Gilligan recalled.

"And really, it's a hard carrot to turn down ... and so New Mexico very quickly became the place we decided to shoot our show for strictly financial reasons. We wanted our limited production budget to go that much farther," he added. 

"Breaking Bad" ended up helping Albuquerque become quite famous — and it boosted the city's economy and tourism business.


The city has plenty of places that still serve "Breaking Bad"-inspired dishes. AMC/"Breaking Bad"

It wasn't just the show that saw benefits from choosing New Mexico as the shooting location. The city itself saw dividends that are paying out to this day. 

The show's now-famous shooting locations also continue to be a major draw for tourists from all over the world, and local business owners are taking advantage of the "Breaking Bad" hype. 


Rebel Donuts in Albuquerque creates "Blue Sky" donuts modeled after Jesse and Walt's blue meth.

 The Candy Lady, the local candy shop that originally created the prop "meth" rock candy for the show, still sells "blue meth" rock candy alongside tons of show-related merchandise.

A home that was used as a shooting location for the show has been turned into a "Breaking Bad"-themed Airbnb. Local souvenir shops sell "blue meth" bath salts, "Breaking Bad" T-shirts, and much more. 

There's even a website dedicated to listing every single known filming location in Albuquerque, making it easy for travelers to plan their "Breaking Bad" sightseeing trips.

Top sites include Walter White's house, Saul's office, and a restaurant that served as the set for villain Gustavo Fring's Los Pollos Hermanos.  

The real-life owners of the house that Walter White lived in on the show are not happy about how popular the show made their home.


The house belongs to real people — it's not part of a set. AMC

The filming location for Walter White's house in "Breaking Bad" became a tourism must-see in Albuquerque. But for the occupants, the sensation around their home became so frustrating they ended up building a fence around it. 

In 2017, the homeowner's daughter Joanne Quintana told KOB4 News in Albuquerque that the number of visitors to her home was ridiculous and that she lost count of how many people would come to take a photo each week.

She also said that tourists would do things like take rocks from her landscaping, get demanding about their photos, and even toss pizzas on the roof just like Walter White did in the now-iconic moment from the show. 

Quintana said she had a 6-foot-tall wrought-iron fence installed in 2017, but told KOB4 that during construction she still had fans climbing the fence to get their photo.

That said, the house is someone's actual home — not a movie set — so you'll want to skip it if you choose to visit "Breaking Bad" filming locations. 


The iconic shot of Walter White tossing the pizza on the roof of his house was shot in one take and was only possible because the pizza was unsliced.

Bryan Cranston had been allotted hours to get the shot right, but he didn't need them. AMC

On the second season of "Breaking Bad," Walter White famously throws a pizza onto the roof of his home.

In an interview on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Cranston said the production team had set aside hours to get the shot, which he ended up completing in one take. 

When fans saw an unsliced pizza swirl into the air to land perfectly on the roof they were a little confused, wondering what pizza place sells unsliced pizza.

But, in a 2017 Reddit AMA, Gilligan explained that he and the production team knew eagle-eyed fans would catch this, so they added a scene to explain the situation. 

You might remember the scene, which takes place in Jesse's apartment. Badger and Skinny Pete show up with a pile of unsliced pizzas and Badger tells Jesse they're unsliced because "that's the gimmick … they don't cut the pizza, and they pass the savings on to you."

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking

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