Search isn’t cooperating with me, so I’ll just barge ahead. Better Call Saul, the Breaking Bad spinoff starts tomorrow night on AMC, with the second episode airing on Monday night. All preliminary indications and reviews are that it’s going to kick ass. I’m hoping it lives up to the hype.
Rotten Tomatoes says that 27 of 27 critics gave it a good review. The New York Times, for instance, gave it a very positive review.
I’m just annoyed that they’re airing it on Sunday evenings, along with all of the other great stuff that night. I’m probably not going to be able to watch it until the rerun on Monday.
Odenkirk said on The Daily Show that Sunday is a one-off; it will air regularly on Monday evenings.
Good. There’s much less competition on Monday nights.
It’s already set as a series recording on my DVR. I hope I’m not disappointed-- I expect not to be.
I might have to watch it if it’s Monday evenings! I need a good new series.
Also glad it’s not on Sundays – Downton, Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones really fill up Sunday. And let’s not even discuss that I’m up for Talking Dead as well, and then the news, and…well, it’s a good thing I work from home on Mondays and can sleep “in” a bit.
I’ve never seen an episode of Breaking Bad. Will it be possible to understand this new series without having watched the first series?
I know I had the hardest time following Mork and Mindy until I binge watched all of Happy Days- only then did Mork and Mindy make sense.
From the creators of Breaking Bad and has a few of the same actors.
What’s not to like? I can’t wait!
Supposedly, yes. The review from the New York Times I linked to said, “Best of all, this is a series that can stand on its own. Fans of Walter White have a leg up on the outcome, but there is so much to this offshoot that viewers who have never seen ‘Breaking Bad’ won’t feel left out.”
But if you haven’t seen Breaking Bad, I’d recommend you do so, as it was a great show.
Just be prepared for some pretty dark comedy behind the drama. I’d watch BB just so you’re familiar with who Mike is.
Absolutely can’t wait to see what they do with this new show. And Breaking Bad was a delicious, dark confection – best series I’ve seen in years!
I watched a few of the 5 minute things they’ve aired and Bob Odenkirk, on one them, said that yes, you’ll be able to follow along just fine if you’ve never seen Breaking Bad. On the one hand, it’s a prequel and not just a prequel but it’s Saul’s former life, so that does make sense. OTOH, what’s he gonna say ‘nope, you’ll be totally lost, don’t even bother’.
That reminds me of something I was thinking the other day. Whenever a actor is being interviewed for a TV show they’re on a movie about to come out you’ll always hear statements like ‘this is probably the greatest group of people I’ve EVER worked with’ or ‘this is, easily, the most important thing I’ve ever done in my career’. Kinda loses it’s meaning after a while.
In article I was reading this morning Vince Gilligan said they didn’t want the show to be an “easter egg hunt” for Breaking Bad fans. So it sounds like except for a few cameos here and there, it should mostly stand on its own.
(I am still working my way through BB myself – halfway through S4 at this point – but I plan on watching BCS so hopefully there’s nothing spoilery in there.)
For Odenkirk, BB was easily the most important role of his life. The guy was a stand-up comic who pretty much labored in obscurity (although he was well-known among writers) and who had small parts on sitcoms. Why he was picked for that role is a mystery to me (perhaps because his face isn’t really well known), but he was perfect in it. He said his agent called him to audition and told him “Do NOT turn this down!” He had to have learned a huge amount about acting from the cast, so I can certainly understand any praise he would have for them.
Two questions.
I forgot how Mike and Saul “met” on BB. I might be wrong, but the first time I remember them in the same scene, it seemed as though they had skipped filming any introduction. Does anyone remember the episode of their “first” encounter? Could they have told Walter and Jesse that they’ve already been acquainted?
Also, anyone see Odenkirk on ‘The Larry Sanders Show’? He plays a talent agent, and he’s a lot like Saul in many ways.
Thanks! 
I don’t think there was any back story on their acquaintance.
I do indeed remember him on Larry Sanders (one of my all-time favorite comedy shows). He was also in an episode of Larry David, where he played a former porn star. David and his TV wife attend a dinner party there, where Odenkirk goes into agonizing detail about his porn days and calls his home “the house that cum built”.
BCS takes place 6 years prior to the beginning of BB.
The first sentence may be true, but the second is a total mischaracterization.
I, for one, was familiar with Odenkirk from most of the projects mentioned above before Breaking Bad (which I still have not seen) came along. And as far as I know, he’s never been a stand-up comic.
Go you youtube and search “bob odenkirk stand up” and you’ll find a few clips going back to the 90’s of him doing stand up. Maybe not his normal job, but it’s probably how he broke into the business.
I think “total mischaracterization” is over the top. I’ll give you Mr. Show, but he was a writer or producer in most all of those shows, not an actor. He did stand-up in his early days and was good friends with Jon Stewart during that time; I don’t think he was at all successful at it and moved to writing material for other comics. They reminisced about it on a very recent Daily Show.