While Breaking Bad is uber-successful, its spin-off series is nearly as popular, as reviews for the TV show Better Call Saul have been glowing. As it enters its sixth and final season, fans who have been present since Saul Goodman's first appearance in the hit show Breaking Bad are anticipating an explosive and exciting finale that will take the audience back to the events at the start of Breaking Bad.
Even better news for Breaking Bad fans is that it has been confirmed that Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will appear in Better Call Saul's final season, which will also include reprisals from other Breaking Bad cast members such as Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito.
Vince Gilligan, the creator of both shows, has said that piecing everything together for Better Call Saul was a big challenge, especially since the plot needed to follow what Breaking Bad released, given that Better Call Saul acts as a 'prelude' to Breaking Bad.
What has helped merged the shows together is a flawless performance Bob Odenkirk, who plays the main crossover character Saul Goodman. But what was Odenkirk's life like before he became the infamous shady lawyer?
Why Did It Take Bob Odenkirk So Long To Become 'Famous'?
Better Call Saul has proved itself to be so much more than a preface to something else, and is a masterpiece in its own right. The Times calls it "one of those shows that reminds you that you are observing an art form" and The Independent dubbs it "TV's best slow-burner".
These glowing reviews make fans of Bob Odenkirk, who plays Saul Goodman, wonder why it took the actor so long to become a familiar face.
Bob Odenkirk started off as an incredibly talented and successful writer, as shown by the Emmies he won for writing scripts for Saturday Night Live back in the seventies and eighties, and for The Ben Stiller Show, which he acted and wrote for in 1992.
But working behind the scenes meant that no one saw Bob Odenkirk's face, meaning he wasn't recognizable like he is today, and despite his Emmy wins, Odenkirk still struggled with his fair share of failure.
Odenkirk had trouble getting his work on the air, hence why he would team up with other people and become writers for them instead. A lot of the shows he wrote for ended up getting canceled later down the line, such as The Ben Stiller Show and Get A Life (1990). In other words, he was a comedian's comedian for several years - until becoming Saul Goodman.
How Bob Odenkirk Became Saul Goodman
Bob Odenkirk told the New York Times that he accepted the role of Saul Goodman for Breaking Bad back in 2009 because he "needed the money!"
He jumped on a plane from Los Angeles to Albuquerque and watched Breaking Bad for the very first time during the flight. He didn't even bother to memorize the script, suspecting that the lines and lines of dialogue would be changed before he reached the set.
The rest is history, as Breaking Bad went on to change Bob Odenkirk's life, with Odenkirk still playing the ex-con-man turned shady lawyer twelve years later for the highly successful spin-off Better Call Saul.
Odenkirk opened up to the NY Times about the failures of his career, such as the shows he worked for getting canceled, directing films that received mixed results and projects he just couldn't get off the ground. The saying "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach," seems unfortunately true for Odenkirk's early career, as he became a mentor to younger talents in the comedy industry.
“I’ve done all these different things, and there’s been a great degree of failure,” Odenkirk told the NY Times, “I don’t wanna be a dilettante. I would feel horrible if that’s how I was characterized.” Then he went on to joke, “Or! Am I the best dilettante that ever lived?”
It's been one heck of a struggle for Bob Odenkirk to come out of the "unknown comedy legend" category and be recognized for the talented actor he truly is, with the outstanding comedic timing that he has.
Fans of Odenkirk's work and of Vince Gilligan's shows are excited to discover what will become of Saul Goodman. The first half of Better Call Saul's sixth and final season premiered on 18th April 2022, and the last half will premiere in July, with the last ever episode airing on AMC on Aug. 15.
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