The story of Walter White and Heisenberg may be over, but we’ll still be seeing more of the seedy underbelly of Albuquerque, New Mexico on our TV screens thanks to the Saul Goodman-centric prequel spinoff “Better Call Saul.” Although we last heard the show was aiming for a November premiere, we may have to wait a little longer to see our favorite sleazy criminal lawyer.
THR reports AMC has pushed back the scheduled premiere of the “Breaking Bad” spinoff from this fall to early next year. While no specific reason was given for the move, it wasn’t done out of a lack of confidence for the show as the network has already renewed—with production still “underway on the 10-episode first season”—for a longer second season (13 episodes to be exact) that will premiere “in early 2016.” The first season will arrive in early 2015.
What’s with the vote of confidence? According to AMC president Charlie Collier, it’s partly due to both the network’s “strong history” with co-showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, and the recognition of how important the future success of “Better Call Saul” is. To put it in press release-speak: “When introducing any series, especially one with the DNA of ‘Breaking Bad,’ there are countless factors to consider in making sure the show gets the launch it deserves. We have a strong history with Vince [Gilligan], Peter [Gould], Bob [Odenkirk], the studio and so many involved with this production; we are enjoying the process on ‘Saul’ and all share a focus on making it a true television event. No half measures.”
Other than the facts that the series will take place before the events of “Breaking Bad” and that both Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks will reprise their roles, not much else is known. While we knew that Bryan Cranston was open to the idea of returning as Walter White pre-Heisenberg and that Aaron Paul was similarly interested, it seems that the spinoff will be devoid of America’s two favorite meth cooks. In an interview with Huffington Post, Paul snuffed out millions of dreams, saying “to be honest, it’s not gonna happen. There’s rumors floating around that I’m going to be doing it, but that’s simply not the case […] I mean, I’m trying to let it be on the record.”
According to the “Hellion” star, there was never any real discussion about returning, “I mean, we’ve joked around about it, but it’s a prequel. I have no idea how [Jesse] would show up. I’m much older now.” We hate to be the buzzkill but we’re actually kind of glad to hear that Mr. White and Jesse won’t be showing up as we think their appearance on the prequel would strain credulity—the two cooks never acted as though they had ever met Saul before his appearance in the second season—and we’re fine with how those characters left our lives in the finale. However, you’re more than welcome to disagree with us in the comments.
