During the first few days of this Thanksgiving week, the Crime Story Podcast is taking a look back at some of the themes that have emerged in the posts at CrimeStory.com. Today we look at the origins of three great Crime Dramas. 

The list of “Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time” was published in October 2016. It was based upon a tally of ballots cast by entertainment industry professionals. The top three shows on that list were Crime Dramas. Breaking Bad was third on the list, The Wire was second on the list, and The Sopranos came in at number one.

We have hosted each of the creators of those three shows on The Crime Story Podcast, and in this special reprise presentation, we offer the origin stories for all three shows, straight from the Creators mouths.

We begin with David Chase, who first offers a bit of background on how he learned to write bad guys or “heavies” when he worked for Stephen J. Cannell on The Rockford Files, and provides fascinating context to the birth of The Sopranos.

Then David Simon tells how he envisioned the first season of The Wire and then how he conceived moving forward beyond the initial season, inspired by the work of a leading American Sociologist.

And finally Vince Gilligan tells us how a conversation between him and a fellow writer provoked the seed of thought that sprouted into Breaking Bad.

You can find the audio and transcripts of my interview with David Chase by clicking here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

You can find the audio and transcripts of my interview with David Simon by clicking here for Part 1, here for Part 2, here for Part 3 and here for Part 4.

You can find the audio and transcripts of my interview with Vince Gilligan by clicking here for Part 1 and here for Part 2.

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