I've been watching Breaking Bad with my parents. We just began season 4. Season 1 was interesting. It was slow, and mainly laid down the groundworks for the future story. But still, you struggled to see how this is considered one of the best series made. Then season 2 came, and it started kicking into gear. It was an awesome season, with a great finale. But that 3rd season...
omg wtf
I didn't know quality could improve so suddenly, and so steeply. And that final episode... holy shit.
Maybe I'm not objective because I read the books and so things hold less mystery to me, but still - and this is coming from a fan of Martin's world - in regards to TV series? I feel Game of Thrones isn't as enjoyable as Breaking Bad. The latter focuses on a much more local story, and I think that that is its strength - it doesn't spread far and wide, and accordingly, it can focus on what few characters it has with much more depth.
Maybe it also has to do with me growing disillusioned with ASoIAF/GoT, since realizing that thousands of pages will probably be wasted - everything is leading up to the ice zombies attacking, and to Daenerys returning. These two events will render almost everything that happened in the civil war moot. It basically feels to me like one big giant filler, or exposition, for the main story.
Anyway, Breaking Bad. Wow.