It might be over, but there's no denying that Breaking Bad was the biggest pop culture phenomenon of 2013. And according to Breaking Bad's creator Vince Gilligan, this wouldn't have happened without the help of illegal downloads:
“I see that there are two sides to this coin. If I’m being honest I see that the illegal downloading led to a lot of people watching the series, becoming aware of the series who otherwise would not have been... I see that in some ways illegal downloading has helped us, certainly in terms of brand awareness, so that’s a good side.”
Gilligan is no way promoting piracy, but at least he's acknowledging how torrenting indirectly helps TV shows.
Of course, he would still rather have people download TV shows legitimately so people "who worked on the show would’ve made more money". Guess you can't win them all.

[BBC via Torrent Freak]