--- description: The AMC show was the big winner of the 2014 awards title: 'Breaking Bad' Ends Emmy Run on a High Note image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96574920627f3c56/6986a0e4810bbbf7f3c932a2/b135f2b370b94e9da5b4d66c60edee3f-0.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Breaking Bad_ Ends Its Emmy Run on a High Note  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 3:59 AM CUT  Vince Gilligan, center, and the cast and producers of “Breaking Bad” accept the award for outstanding drama series at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles. Vince Gilligan, center, and the cast and producers of “Breaking Bad” accept the award for outstanding drama series at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, in Los Angeles.Vince Bucci—Invision/AP  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 26, 2014 3:59 AM CUT Seth Meyers joked in his [opening monologue](http://time.com/3178098/emmys-2014-seth-meyers-opening-monologue/ "undefined") that the 2014 Emmys marked the year cable television really felt the heat from Netflix, but it was still AMC’s _Breaking Bad_ that was the night’s big winner — both in terms of major awards and in terms of the show’s most viral moments. The hit series, which concluded its fifth and final season last fall, took home most of the night’s most important trophies on the drama side, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor (Bryan Cranston), Outstanding Supporting Actress (Anna Gunn), Outstanding Supporting Actor (Aaron Paul) and Outstanding Writing. Though _Modern Family_ continued its winning streak with yet _another_ Outstanding Comedy Series award (and has more wins overall), the ABC sitcom didn’t quite dominate its categories the way _Breaking Bad_ did in the drama department: _Bad_ wrapped up its run with 16 wins and 58 total nominations. But numbers aside, _Breaking Bad_ still provided plenty of the show’s most memorable moments. The most GIF-worthy of all was [Cranston’s lip-lock with _Veep_‘s Julia Louis-Dreyfus](http://time.com/3179451/emmys-2014-julia-louis-dreyfus-bryan-cranston-kiss/ "undefined"), whose two-part set-up was funnier than most, if not _all_ of Seth Meyers’ jokes. The speeches, if far less outrageous, stood out as well: Anna Gunn’s admiration for her co-stars, Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman-like reaction to winning and Cranston’s inspirational pep talk (“Take a chance, take a risk, find that passion”) reminded _Breaking Bad_ die-hards that the cast probably had just as difficult a time saying goodbye to the show as fans did. It may have been a show about murderous meth dealers — and many would argue _True Detective_‘s Matthew McConaughey deserved Cranston’s trophy more — but it’s not a stretch to say _Breaking Bad_ helped give the 2014 Emmys a real heart. You almost don’t feel bad that Jon Hamm [still doesn’t have an Emmy](http://time.com/3179507/emmys-2014-weird-al-yankovic-tv-theme-songs/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/"},"headline":"Breaking Bad Ends Its Emmy Run on a High Note","datePublished":"2014-08-26T03:59:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:51:09.696Z","description":"The AMC show was the big winner of the 2014 awards","url":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/","keywords":["Television","breaking bad","Aaron Paul","emmys","Jon Hamm","Bryan Cranston","emmy awards"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96574920627f3c56/6986a0e4810bbbf7f3c932a2/b135f2b370b94e9da5b4d66c60edee3f-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt96574920627f3c56/6986a0e4810bbbf7f3c932a2/b135f2b370b94e9da5b4d66c60edee3f-0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Vince Gilligan","caption":"Vince Gilligan","creditText":"Vince Bucci—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/","name":"Breaking Bad Ends Its Emmy Run on a High Note"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 2014 Emmys in 75 Seconds","description":"The 2014 Emmys in 75 Seconds","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dzhliUjO/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-08-26T03:20:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dzhliUjO.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/","duration":"PT1M15S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3179800/emmys-2014-breaking-bad-bryan-cranston/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```