WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT: Chemicals aren't the only thing being combined on Breaking Bad; no other show on television mixes drama and dark humor into a drug as pure as this. If excellent acting is what you seek, you can't miss Bryan Cranston as our anti-hero Walter White (though the whole cast is top-notch); his transformation is unbelievable and well worth the back-to-back Emmys he's won for the role. But for me, it's the writing of Vince Gilligan (The X-Files) and his crew. They take daring risks, and the results are astonishing; it's no wonder the show's been called the best drama on television.

WHY YOU MIGHT HATE IT: Let's face it, a show about drugs, terminal illness, and a life spiraling out of control won't exactly leave you chipper. It can be too dark for some.

THE PREMISE: A high school chemistry teacher (Cranston) finds out he has terminal cancer. Instead of confiding in his family, he opts to start making and dealing crystal meth on his home turf of Albuquerque, New Mexico. His wife is suspicious, his brother-in-law is a DEA agent, and his partner is a hood rat and former student. We watch as Walter goes from nervous wreck to tyrannical drug lord and wonder, is this good for him or not? Not everything is black and white.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: (Spoilers from the first two seasons ahead!) The seven-episode Season 1 introduced to the show's everything and everyone, and we saw Walter's first foray into the drug business. It wasn't an easy ride, and Walter was forced to do a few things he'd rather not, including strangling a drug dealer with a bike lock. In Season 2, Walter's drug empire grew, his brother-in-law began unknowingly hunting him down, and his wife became even more suspicious, eventually walking out on him in the finale. Walter was even indirectly responsible for a major airline crash and the death of his partner's girlfriend—all things that will rear their ugly heads in Season 3.