The last season of AMC's "Breaking Bad" begins this summer, but the network is attempting to get the most bang for its buck by airing the final episodes in two segments, with the final stretch not arriving until next summer.

The first run of eight episodes begins July 15. The next group of eight episodes will premiere sometime during the summer of 2013. Keep in mind, that won't be a new season, just the second half of the same season.

Following the fourth season finale last year, which featured longtime villain Gustavo "Gus" Fring getting half his head blown off, expectations are high. How will series creator Vince Gilligan wrap up the series?

Costar Aaron Paul raised those expectations even higher in March when he tweeted, "Just read the first episode of breaking bad S5 and words can not express. ... is about to get crazy. Get ready my friends. Love you Vince!"

He continued, "The teaser alone in episode 1 S5 will have you screaming more then when someone got blown up last season."

AMC also announced the premiere date for its latest unscripted series, "Small Town Security." The series follows the exploits of a small, family-owned private security company in rural Georgia. The first season runs for eight half-hour episodes beginning on July 15, following "Breaking Bad."

The second season of "Hell on Wheels," the post-Civil War drama about the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, begins Aug. 12. The second season runs for 10 episodes.

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— Patrick Kevin Day

Photo: Bryan Cranston in "Breaking Bad." Credit: Lewis Jacobs / AMC.