Better Call Saul is an American criminal drama television series. Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould invented it. It is a prequel to Gilligan's previous series Breaking Bad that takes place in the early and mid-2000s.1)
Better Call Saul recounts the narrative of Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), a con guy turned small-time lawyer, six years before the events of Breaking Bad demonstrating his transition into criminal-for-hire Saul Goodman.2)
Jimmy is hired as a lawyer for former beat officer Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), whose relevant skill set enables him to penetrate the criminal underworld of drug trafficking in Albuquerque, New Mexico.3)
On February 8, 2015, AMC debuted the program.4)
Jimmy is starting out as a low-paid solo practitioner, operating out of the back room of a nail salon as his home and office.5)
Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), his buddy and love interest, works as a lawyer at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Jimmy and she used to work in the mailroom there.6)
Jimmy's antagonist, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian), and his brother, Chuck McGill, are also partners at HHM (Michael McKean).7)
Mike engages in illegal drug operations alongside Nacho Varga (Michael Mando), as well as being the right-hand man for drug kingpin Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), who runs a fast food restaurant as a corporate front.8)
Odenkirk, Banks, and Esposito are all reprising their Breaking Bad roles.9)
Better Call Saul, like its predecessor, has gained critical acclaim, with special appreciation for its performances, characters, and cinematography. Many critics praised it as a worthy followup to Breaking Bad and one of the finest prequels ever produced. Some consider it to be better than its predecessor.10)
It has received a Peabody Award, 23 Primetime Emmy Awards, seven Writers Guild of America Awards, five Critics' Choice Television Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.11)
At the time of its airing, the series debut was the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history.12)
Breaking Bad writer Vince Gilligan hinted about a possible Saul Goodman spin-off in July 2012.13)
Over the course of Breaking Bad, Gilligan and his crew explored several “what ifs,” such as whether the program would win a Primetime Emmy Award or whether people would buy “Los Pollos Hermanos” T-shirts. The crew had not expected these events to occur, but when they did, they began to investigate a spin-off starring Saul as a thinking experiment.14)
Furthermore, despite only appearing in three episodes, Saul's character on Breaking Bad grew far more developed than the show's creators had anticipated. Gilligan recognized opportunities to deepen Saul's past as his character grew.15)