World-famous horror writer Stephen King has revealed an iconic Netflix series he has labelled as his favourite show of the 21st century. It was an eye-opening fashion choice from the show's first scene that initially caught his attention.
The mastermind behind Carrie, The Shining and IT told the Rolling Stone how Breaking Bad was in fact the series he believes is the single greatest TV production of this century. He revealed: "I knew it was great from the first scene you see [Bryan Cranston] wearing jockey shorts.
"I thought it was amazingly brave since they look so geeky." The five-season series, which first aired back in 2008, follows chemistry teacher Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston) who discovers he has cancer.
In order to repay his medical debts, he starts a meth-making business with student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). In 2013, Breaking Bad entered the Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed TV show of all time.
It joined Netflix before the release of its penultimate season in 2011, further boosting its popularity. All five seasons remain on the streamer, but not for long, as the entire show will be taken off in 2027.
From the series stemmed a larger Breaking Bad franchise including prequel series Better Call Saul and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, a sequel film.
Season four of Breaking Bad actually pays homage to Stephen King as the camera takes a brief shot of one of his books.
Fans took to Reddit to explain it was Everything's Eventual - a 2002 collection of 11 short stories and 3 novellas by the writer.
Further making the connection, friedlock68 said: "There's also a scene where you can see a few of his books on Hank's bookshelf. IIRC it's when Walt Jr. is staying with Hank and Marie.
"That and the fact that Gray Matter is the title of an early King story makes me think Vince Gilligan could be a King fan, which would be cool since SK is a huge BB fan."
There are similar themes in Breaking Bad and Stephen King novels, most notably the comparison between Walter White and one of King's most famous leads - Jack Torrance in The Shining.
Both men have a health concern that brings out their worst side and they drag their family down with them as they continue on their spiral.
Slashfilm explained: "Jack and Walt are both everyman characters faced with the primal fears of men (not living up to your potential, letting your family down) and those stressors make them snap.
"Their descents are meant to be extra unsettling because of how closely they resembled 'you' at the story's beginning."
Breaking Bad is on Netflix
