Television spin-offs are a tricky proposition; The road to Frasier is lined with a million Joeys, Cleveland Shows and Baywatch Nights. Regardless of how popular an ancillary character may by, there’s no guarantee they’ve got what it takes to hold together a show of their own. Still, oftentimes neither fans nor studios can bear to let their favorite shows/cash-cows (respectively) fade away completely – especially when that show/cash-cow is the universally acclaimed smash hit, Breaking Bad, which finishes its five season run this coming fall. Lately, BB creator Vince Gilligan has stoked the spin-off fires himself, claiming plans for a show based on Irishman-turned-“Jewish” lawyer Saul Goodman are moving “full speed ahead”.
When asked about the status of a Saul Goodman series in an interview with The Wrap’s Tom Molloy, Gilligan replied:
All my writers are wonderful writers. And they’re all ready to run their own shows. In this particular case, since Peter created the character, it felt more than right to be working with him on this, and we are plugging away coming up with a pitch and a take on it for the network and studio and hopefully everyone will agree that there’s a really fun show to be had here. And hopefully we’ll get it up and running, and then Peter will run it. I’d love to see that happen.
It’s not a done deal yet, but it’s definitely something we’re full speed ahead on trying to get going.
Later, when pressed on whether a Goodman-centric show would be a sequel, or prequel, to Breaking Bad‘s current storyline, Gilligan played coy, offering only:
…when the dust settles at the end of [Breaking Bad’s] final eight episodes, where everybody’s gonna be and who’s gonna be left standing. I can’t even say for sure that it could be a sequel. It may be, it may not.
Cryptic maybe-forshadowing aside, the prospect of “Better Call Saul” having his own show is enough to get us higher than blue crystal meth. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy some of Goodman’s greatest hits:
[via Splitsider]
[…] 1. Could the most diabolically interesting spin-off actually happen? There’s still a chance that it might, says Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Here’s hoping they forego the obvious “Better Call Saul” title in favor of the something with more wit, that on the surface seems expected and unexciting but hides a darkness underneath. You know, like Walter White. Allow me to propose the perfect title: […]
[…] 1. This National Geographic photo from Antarctica, 1911. Because there’s a heat wave across America and we need to think cool thoughts. […]