I just had the scariest dream

November 17, 2013 9:08 AM

Breaking Bad - the alternative ending. The Bob Newhart ending - Breaking Bad / Malcom in the Middle version.
posted by caddis (37 comments total)

"I'm the one who's knocking."

:)
posted by Fizz at 9:11 AM on November 17, 2013

Cute. I feel like it could have been a lot funnier, but it's cute.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 9:16 AM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]

Cool, a ten second joke stretched out 30 times longer than it needs to be.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:20 AM on November 17, 2013 [8 favorites]

In the last scene, Walter wakes up in the middle of the night with a start. He turns on the light and says to a sleeping Skylar, "I just had the weirdest dream." Skylar rolls over, revealing she's really Jane Kaczmarek, who says, "Go back to sleep, Hal."
posted by Room 641-A at 4:05 PM on September 27
posted by Room 641-A at 9:24 AM on November 17, 2013 [16 favorites]

I, personally, would like to see a dr-do of the ending of Newhart, where it's done like the ending of Breaking Bad.
posted by Cookiebastard at 9:27 AM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]

I'd settle for an animated finale to Hogan's Heroes.
posted by juiceCake at 9:28 AM on November 17, 2013

I was hoping when he told the guy to say his name that Jane Kaczmarek's voice would be dubbed in screaming, "Hal!"
posted by MaritaCov at 9:32 AM on November 17, 2013 [4 favorites]

Where is the obligatory "Say hello to my little friend" joke?
posted by Elsa at 9:33 AM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

It's funny; it could have been funnier. It's a shame they couldn't have figured a way to film it after he shaved the beard. I know it's a tiny nitpick, but it only takes one little think to pull the funny down from "HA!" to "Heh."

(And yes, Newhart worked brilliantly because it was a prime example of brevity being the soul of wit, which this is not. This does go on a bit long. Though I'm quite fond of the "man-child waif in his older brother's clothes" description of Jesse.)

For something funnier, check out the gag reel from the final half of the final season.
posted by tzikeh at 9:44 AM on November 17, 2013 [5 favorites]

Ha! Just saw this somewhere else. And there was me thinking I couldn't love Bryan Cranston any harder. Even after years of watching BB, when Walt did something particularly terrible I couldn't stop myself from ocassionally saying "But...it's HAL!!" The fact that he can play two such polar opposites with total believability is amazing. I miss MITM, and I never let an opportunity to link to this clip of Hal pass me by.
posted by billiebee at 9:49 AM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

A really great joke would've been if Hal woke from a nightmare and shook his spouse awake and it was Bob Newhart.
posted by gompa at 9:50 AM on November 17, 2013 [15 favorites]

I'd like to take credit for being the first to make a Newhart/Breaking Bad comparison when I made this joke in a Facebook status update in September:

"Hi, I'm Skinny Pete. This is my brother Badger; And my other brother Badger."

I don't have much. Give me this.
posted by Skwirl at 9:51 AM on November 17, 2013 [8 favorites]

Yeah, that was as bad as the show was good.

Really sick of tired "I am the one who knocks" jokes.
posted by Imperfect at 9:51 AM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

I'm not taking credit for this -- don't pin this one on me, Jack!
posted by mazola at 10:03 AM on November 17, 2013

I'm amazed how old and out of date and no longer relevant to the cultural atmosphere of the present this feels. Apparently a month and a half is a very, very long time.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:10 AM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]

Who produced this?
posted by Nelson at 10:15 AM on November 17, 2013

Judging by the copyright notice at the end (©2013 BY SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC.), it's probably fair to assume this is from the DVD.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:28 AM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

(Which doesn't come out for a couple of weeks... Hmmm...)
posted by Sys Rq at 10:30 AM on November 17, 2013

it's probably fair to assume this is from the DVD.

I originally saw this on Raw Story:

An alternate ending to be included in the Breaking Bad: The Complete Series box set — which will not be released until November 26 — was leaked online last night.

posted by Room 641-A at 10:49 AM on November 17, 2013

Metafilter is one tough crowd to please.
posted by aught at 10:59 AM on November 17, 2013 [8 favorites]

Metafilter is one tough crowd to please.

I often agree with this sentiment but as someone who really wanted to love this, I can't deny squirming as they kept going on and on. It seemed like a weak SNL bit.
posted by jeffen at 11:31 AM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]

I do love Lois' perspective on the dangers of growing a beard.
posted by sonika at 11:36 AM on November 17, 2013

I, personally, would like to see a dr-do of the ending of Newhart, where it's done like the ending of Breaking Bad.

You obviously do not recall the scene before the ending, which I do, in which Dick/Bob is knocked out by a golf ball bouncing off his forehead and is seen lying lifelessly on the inn's lobby floor. That's the way I recall it, and every time I've seen a 'main character lying lifeless' ending on a TV show (including "Lost"), I've held my breath waiting for him to awaken next to Suzanne Pleshette.
posted by oneswellfoop at 11:41 AM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

Good but laboured. Didn't even need a script, just a shot of Walter/Hal waking up next to a confused Lois would have done it. Anyway...inevitable and fun.
posted by Caskeum at 12:03 PM on November 17, 2013

I think the framing of the post was unfortunate. People here might have had more fun with this here if the punch line hadn't been completely spoiled in advance.
posted by bowline at 12:13 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]

Good but laboured. Didn't even need a script, just a shot of Walter/Hal waking up next to a confused Lois would have done it.

and then slow pan to Jesse, Badger and Skinny Pete smoking a bowl and gazing into a snow-globe (inside: a beat-up RV).
posted by Auden at 12:14 PM on November 17, 2013 [8 favorites]

This was funnier in my head.
posted by NedKoppel at 12:29 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Now do Peggy Bundy waking up after a dream in which she was a one eyed purple haired alien traveling galaxies in the distant future with a slacker Gen X pizza delivery boy and an asshole robot.
posted by sweetkid at 12:36 PM on November 17, 2013 [3 favorites]

This was funnier in NedKoppel's head.
posted by mazola at 1:46 PM on November 17, 2013

I wonder what Vince Gilligan thinks? Or the rest of the cast? Does anyone get a minor whiff of grandstanding on Cranston's part?
posted by glaucon at 2:17 PM on November 17, 2013

Seems to have been taken down. Are there any mirrors?
posted by shivohum at 2:31 PM on November 17, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvO0pyIgIZc
posted by caddis at 2:52 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

I think the most awesome thing about it was just that it was made in the first place, and in that regard it's terrific. The execution was a bit clunky, but if it was made for a DVD extra there was probably a minimum length they were going for, and that would explain why it seems to go on longer than it has to.
posted by JHarris at 5:07 PM on November 17, 2013 [2 favorites]

Does anyone get a minor whiff of grandstanding on Cranston's part?

Seriously? Even though I still don't quite understand the universal love of Breaking Bad, Cranston deserves all the praise he gets. It was a phenomenal performance from beginning to end.
posted by crossoverman at 9:06 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh no, Brian Cranston would never grandstand...
posted by oneswellfoop at 9:27 PM on November 17, 2013 [1 favorite]

Good but laboured. Didn't even need a script, just a shot of Walter/Hal waking up next to a confused Lois would have done it.

and then slow pan to Jesse, Badger and Skinny Pete smoking a bowl and gazing into a snow-globe (inside: a beat-up RV).

and then keep panning to the bathroom, where Bobby Ewing is in the shower.
posted by jbickers at 6:06 AM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Alternate link from Slate.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:33 AM on November 18, 2013 [1 favorite]