The 7 Best And 7 Worst Bryan Cranston TV Episodes Ranked

Actor Bryan Cranston might be most well-known for playing Walter White in the AMC hit show "Breaking Bad," but his career as a television actor spans much further back than that. While his role as the former high school chemistry teacher turned meth cooker, along with his role as a producer on the show, has won him five Primetime Emmy Awards (via IMDb), it's far from the only celebrated performance the actor has delivered during his decades-long career.

In fact, despite Cranston's impressive accomplishments as a dramatic actor, many of his fans first got to know him through his comedic work on various sitcoms, such as his leading role on "Malcolm in the Middle" as Malcolm's father Hal, or his popular recurring role as dentist Tim Whatley on "Seinfeld." With Cranston starring as Judge Michael Desiato on the Showtime series "Your Honor," his impressive career on television seems to have no end in sight. But while Bryan Cranston has starred in some of television's best episodes, not every role has been a hit; with that in mind, here's a look at some of his absolute best and worst TV appearances.

Bryan Cranston barely appears in this season 24 episode of "The Simpsons," but his highly publicized cameo has become a famous example of some of the show's extravagant couch gags and pop culture references. Instead of the normal intro sequence leading into one of its standard opening couch gags, the episode begins with the "Breaking Bad" title card before proceeding to several scenes that are references to that show (such as Marge using a money counter). At the end of the sequence, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul make a live-action cameo as Walt and Jesse watching "The Simpsons" on TV.

While the couch gag itself is fantastic, the episode that follows is not. It's a pretty trope-heavy and uninspired chapter that relies heavily on classic sitcom misunderstandings and unrelated pop culture references. In particular, the episode references the Marlon Brando film "A Streetcar Named Desire." Unfortunately, it doesn't incorporate any elements of "Breaking Bad," nor does it further utilize the talents of Bryan Cranston — who had interestingly appeared in a previous "Simpsons" episode as Stradivirius Cain, an in-universe secret agent character who appears in movies.

No matter how great a sitcom is, and how fun it might be to revisit its best moments, clip shows tend to rank among the worst episodes of any series. The same is unfortunately true for "Malcolm in the Middle," and while fans of the show may still find a lot to like in "Clip Show," the heavy reliance on reused footage and messy editing still end up leaving it ranked among the series' worst episodes. "Clip Show" starts with a promising premise, as an angry Hal takes his three youngest sons to see a psychiatrist after his car is stolen, making it all the more disappointing when the episode devolves in a bunch of old clips.

Luckily, not everything is bad. Andy Richter is really fun as the boys' new psychiatrist, and Bryan Cranston definitely makes the most of the minimal screen time he has. The final realization that the boys didn't steal his car (and that it was damaged because he accidentally left the brake off) gives Hal and the boys a great comedic scene and the appointment with the psychiatrist is a decent connecter for the old clips.

Much like "Clip Show," "Clip Show #2" relies too heavily on old clips, which is the downfall of an otherwise surprisingly heartfelt episode. The setup involves Hal and his wife Lois secretly working on their will in the middle of the night so as not to worry the boys. Their disagreements over how the will should be set up cause them to argue, bringing up old memories in the process. The clips in "Clip Show #2" feel more disjointed than they did in the first one, making the episode feel lost and without purpose at times.

While the majority of the episode is filled with old clips, the connecting story actually gives Hal and Lois some great character development — in particular when Hal steps up to defend their oldest son, Francis, after Lois claims he'd be too irresponsible to take care of his younger brothers. Bryan Cranston really shines in these moments, making it all the more disappointing that each great scene is undercut by a quick jump into another clip.

One of the more unfortunate entries to appear on Bryan Cranston's acting resume, "Glenn Martin, DDS" is a stop-motion animated sitcom that ran on Nick at Nite for two seasons and received largely unfavorable reviews from critics. Cranston made two appearances on the show, and neither episode managed to bring consistent laughs or sufficiently utilize the talents of its incredible voice cast, which also included Catherine Tate, Kevin Nealon, and Judy Greer.

In "Vegas Strip," Glenn Martin and his family go to Vegas, where his son Conor becomes addicted to second-hand smoke. While going to a meeting to help him break his addiction, he becomes handcuffed to Bryan Cranston's secret agent character, Drake Stone, who is also looking to quit smoking. The episode is full of jokes that haven't aged very well — all in all, it often feels like a pale imitation of better shows like "Family Guy" and "South Park."

"Date With Destiny" marks Bryan Cranston's second appearance on "Glenn Martin, DDS" as secret agent Drake Stone — and it's also the final episode of the series, though it's clear from its story that it wasn't intended to be such. It follows Drake as he attempts to prove to President Barack Obama that he has a heart by reconnecting with his ex-girlfriend and teen daughter. The Martin family also has a minor side plot where they are trying to quarantine sick family members so as not to ruin their vacation.

Oddly, the two plots do not meet up until the very end of the episode, leaving the final installment of the series focused almost entirely on a minor side character with only one previous appearance and barely giving the titular family anything to do. While Bryan Cranston has a lot more to do as Drake Stone in "Date With Destiny," none of it is any better than before, with his character annoyingly spouting bad one-liners while winking at the camera. The poor writing and execution of the episode earned "Dare With Destiny" an impressively low 3.2/10 score on IMDb.

"Yacht Rocky" features Bryan Cranston in the recurring role of Peter Griffin's boss, Bert. The episode begins with Bert announcing that the Pawtucket Brewery will be firing one employee the following day, and Peter is one of three candidates who might be let go. The stress causes Peter to pass out, after which his doctor recommends yacht rock music, which prompts Peter and his friends to board a yacht rock cruise that nearly sinks due to the captain's inattention to a rogue wave.

As a whole it isn't terrible, but it certainly isn't among the better episodes of "Family Guy." Many of the gags rely too heavily on stretching a joke out for way too long, such as the uncomfortably long scene that involves Chris trying to throw a head up to Meg and constantly missing. It's also unfortunate that after setting up a plot early on that seems poised to heavily involve Cranston's Bert, the remainder of the episode just drops the character off to focus on the cruise, leaving Cranston's talents feeling wasted here.

A lot of people have likely forgotten that forget that there was a television adaptation of the "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" franchise, which ran for three seasons between 1997 and 2000. The show follows the Szalinski family from the film series, and takes place between the first film in the franchise ("Honey, I Shrunk The Kids") and the first sequel ("Honey, I Blew Up the Kid"). While the show does include some highlights — including Peter Scolari, who adeptly takes over the role of Wayne Szalinski from Rick Moranis — as a whole, it ultimately ends up feeling like more of a cash grab than a legitimate continuation of the franchise.

"Honey, I'm the Sorcerer's Apprentice" is one of the show's worst episodes, not just because of its lackluster plot, but in its introduction of a purely magical item into the previously (somewhat) science-driven universe of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." Bryan Cranston guest stars as main antagonist Ronald Meezy, who's after a magic stone that can turn items into gold. Cranston seems to be having fun hamming it up in the role, and is really fun to watch, but it doesn't save the vapid story, which ends in a fight between two greedy businessmen, one of whom can turn objects to stone and another who can turn things into Swiss cheese.