Okay, so the title’s not official, but what else are you going to call a Saul Goodman-based Breaking Bad pre-spin-off, other than Better Call Saul?
Yes, the happy news that Odenkirk will lead his own hour-long, slightly more comedic tale of mischief in ABQ has arrived via an AMC press statement:
AMC and Sony Pictures Television confirmed today that they have reached a licensing agreement for a spinoff of Vince Gilligan’s landmark AMC/SPT series Breaking Bad. As conceived, the new series is based on the show’s popular Saul Goodman character with the working title Better Call Saul. Plans call for Saul to be a one-hour prequel that will focus on the evolution of the popular Saul Goodman character before he ever became Walter White’s lawyer.
So there you go, the joke became the idea became the show, and apparently the dealing was hot, with Netflix interested in snapping this up if one of the other studios didn’t (according to Deadline). This all breaks as Breaking Bad itself appears to be taking its inevitably ugly, unhappy turn in the final half of its ultimate season. Kind of like the Harry Potter spin-off news this morning, it’s nice to know we’ll be able to get more from a great universe without interfering with the conclusive ending of the story.
I’m really happy for Bob Odenkirk, who deserves this much attention for a great performance and his dedication to alternative comedy that came before it. Couldn’t happen to a better guy.
Vince Gilligan has made it clear in the past that he will help get this show off the ground but largely leave it to the creator of the character, Peter Gould, to run. I’m sure we’ll here much more official news once Breaking Bad has ended, though with the actors and crew free to talk about it, more details will come before then.