‘Breaking Bad’ Earns Two Directors Guild Of America Award Nominations

Breaking Bad has earned two Director’s Guild of America award nominations.

Both director Vince Gilligan and star Bryan Cranston are nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Dramatic Series. Gilligan is nominated for the series finale, “Felina,” while Cranston is nominated for the midseason premiere, “Blood Money.” Gilligan was previously nominated for the season four finale, “Face Off.”

Cranston is also nominated in the Comedy Series category for the Modern Family episode “The Old Man and the Tree.” He was previously nominated for the “Election Day” episode of Modern Family last year.

In the Dramatic Series category, Gilligan and Cranston are up against David Fincher for “Chapter 1” of House of Cards, Leslie Linka Glatter for “The Star” episode of Homeland, and David Nutter for “The Rains of Castamere” episode of Game of Thrones.

In the Comedic Series category, Cranston is up against Gail Mancuso for the “My Hero” episode of Modern Family, Beth McCarthy-Miller for the “Hogcock!/Last Lunch” episode of 30 Rock, and Anthony Rich for “The Love Spell Potential” episode of The Big Bang Theory.

Noticeably absent is a nomination for Rian Johnson for “Ozymandias,” which many critics considered the best episode of Breaking Bad. Vince Gilligan agreed, calling it the best episode of the entire series in the Breaking Bad Insider podcast. The episode, named after the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem of the same name, marked the final appearance of Hank Schrader (Dean Norris) and Steve Gomez (Steven Michael Quezada).

“This is one of those moments that we talked about a lot, the writers and I… It’s something that we debated for many, many hours,” Gilligan said of the episode.

“Emotionally, it felt like the right direction to take. Because, at the end of the day, Walter White has to reap what he has [sown]… Hank being killed is a direct result of Walt’s choices that he has made. I think [Walt] realizes this in this moment. He is beyond inconsolable.”

Rian Johnson won the DGA for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for the fourth episode of season five, “Fifty-One.”

Breaking Bad is also nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama (Bryan Cranston), Best Television Series – Drama, and Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film (Aaron Paul). The series is also nominated for four Satellite Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Writers Guild of America Awards.