FX had a shot to add AMC’s Breaking Bad to its line-up of shows in 2007. Unfortunately, the cable network passed on Vince Gilligan’s exceptional show because it was too much in line with what they were already offering.

“We had three dramas with male antiheroes and we looked at that script and said, ‘Okay, so here’s a fourth male antihero,’” Landgraf recalled  in an interview with Kim Masters on KCRW’s The Business. “The question was: ‘Are we defining FX as the male antihero network and is that a big enough tent?’”

FX had The Shield, Rescue Me, and Nip/Tuck. Actually, looking back, that was a pretty good era for FX, but it was also a period of growing pains too. For all the good shows they had, the network had a tough time finding places for Damages, Dirt, The Riches, and Thief.

It’s possible Breaking Bad would have suffered and not blossomed as it has on AMC. It’s also possible the show would have been paired with Sons of Anarchy, released in 2008, to form the next era of FX, along with Justified, which droppedin 2009.

Anyway, this is basically my way of reminding you that Breaking Bad returns on July 15. Now, gimme some of that blue stuff. [via ew]