January 20, 2008: "Breaking Bad" Premieres

January 20, 2008: Breaking Bad premieres on cable network AMC. The letters formerly stood for American Movie Classics, but now, they officially don't stand for anything.

Described as a "neo-Western," the series, created by Vince Gilligan, stars Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high school science teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who learns he has cancer. His teacher's salary has left him with nothing to leave his family after he dies, especially when his own health care costs are soon to skyrocket. So he puts his chemistry know-how to desperate use, and becomes a producer and seller of the illegal drug methamphetamine.

The joke is that, in any country but America, the one industrialized nation without a national health care service, Breaking Bad would have been a one-minute story:

Walt's efforts, assisted by his former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), cause him to run afoul of local drug gangs, but, being smarter than they are, he manages to beat them at their own game, becoming more and more evil -- "breaking bad" -- until he's just as cold-blooded a killer as the nastiest drug lord. "God bless America."

Thanks to his lawyer, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), he not only avoids legal trouble for most of the series' run, but, for a while, manages to hide this activity from his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn); his son, Walter Jr. (RJ Mitte -- like CC Sabathia, he doesn't use periods on his initials); and Skyler's brother-in-law, Hank Schrader (Dean Norris), who just so happens to be an agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The show was popular immediately. Walt's adoption of the code name Heisenberg (after Werner Heisenberg, a prominent 20th Century German scientist), his hat, his sunglasses, his one-time appearance in a dress shirt and underwear but no pants, and his throwing of a pizza, box and all, onto the roof of his house, all became Internet memes. It got to the point that the owner of the private home in Albuquerque that stood in for the White residence had to publicly ask fans of the show to stop throwing pizzas onto his roof.

Walt's quotes also became iconic. When Skyler first began to suspect that he was in trouble, and was worried that, one day, there would be a knock on the door -- from the police or criminals -- he told her, "I am the danger! I am the one who knocks!" On another occasion, after conning one of his rivals into killing another, Skyler sees a report of the murder on the news, and asks Walt what happened. He says, "I won." On another occasion, when making a deal, he demanded that a customer say his name:

"You're Heisenberg."

"You're goddamn right."

The show lasted 5 years, and won 16 Emmy Awards, despite its "hero" being a villain. Its fans were obsessed with the hope that the show would have a good ending, citing Seinfeld, The Sopranos and Dexter as shows they did not want it to emulate. Spoiler Alert: They got their wish, as Walt died having assured his victory over his competition, and also having assured that Jesse would get away clean.

Odenkirk has since starred in a prequel show, Better Call Saul, taking place before Saul met Walter. And Paul has starred in a sequel film, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story.

In a 2014 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist who played Walter, against "Nice" Peter Shukoff, who played Rick Grimes of The Walking Dead.

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January 20, 2008 was a Sunday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL had its Conference Championships. In the AFC, the New England Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 21-12 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxboro, Massachusetts. That made the Pats 18-0 on the season.

In the NFC, despite having to play the Green Bay Packers in the cold and the snow of Lambeau Field, the New York Giants won, 23-20, as Lawrence Tynes kicked a field goal in overtime. This set up Super Bowl XLII, and one of the greatest moments in NFL history.

I watched the end of this game, not at home, not in a bar, and not in Lambeau itself, but on the scoreboard at the Prudential Center in Newark, then in its 1st season hosting New Jersey Devils hockey. The Devils had beaten the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, thanks to 2 goals by John Madden (no relation to the football guru of the same name) and 1 by Travis Zajac.

Afterward, knowing that the majority of Devils fans were also Giants fans, they let anyone who wanted to watch the game on the scoreboard stay, and even had the concession stands keep serving food. Of the 15,291 of us who paid to see the game, I'd say about 2,000 stuck around. It was a nice gesture by team management.

There were 5 other games played in the NHL that day:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden. (The New York Islanders were not scheduled.)

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Ottawa Senators, 6-1 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-2 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-2 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the Colorado Avalanche beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

There was only 1 game played in the NBA that day: The New Jersey Nets lost to the Phoenix Suns, 116-92 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.