Better Call Saul, the spin-off to the iconic show Breaking Bad, almost had a different story when it was first conceived by creator Vince Gilligan. The show was initially planned to be totally different from the Walter White series in every aspect.
Vince Gilligan shared that he and his co-creator, Peter Gould, initially planned to make the spin-off in the lines of a popular adult-animated sitcom. But it was not long before the creators realized that the idea was too wild to be executed and abandoned it for good.
Better Call Saul almost became something wildly different from the final product
Sequels or spin-offs failing to match the level of the original iconic content are a recurring issue in pop culture. Better Call Saul is one of those rarest follow-ups that is even deemed superior to the main series by some critics.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Vince Gilligan elaborated that when he and Peter Gould (who also wrote the Breaking Bad episode “Better Call Saul”) came on board, they planned the spin-off as a half-hour show. They initially thought Saul Goodman would see various celebrity guests in his office throughout the season, like Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.
However, the creator-duo soon realized that sitcom was not their forte. Vince Gilligan was not convinced by the idea, and both he and Peter Gould decided to take a different route for the show.
When we first started concocting the idea of doing a spinoff, we literally thought it’d be a half-hour show. It’d be something akin to Dr Katz, where it’s basically Saul Goodman in his crazy office with the styrofoam columns and he’s visited every week by a different stand-up comic. It was basically, I guess, legal problems. We talked about that for a day or two. And then Peter Gould and I realized, we don’t know anything about the half-hour idiom.
Throwing away the initial plan, the duo decided to switch the format to hour-long episodes, but with a more humorous approach than Breaking Bad. While the humor-to-drama ratio in the Bryan Cranston-show was “25-percent humor, 75-percent drama”, the makers decided to reverse that in Better Call Saul.
Interestingly, with Bob Odenkirk‘s background as a comedian, the idea of a full-blown Breaking Bad sitcom spin-off sounds intriguing. But going forward, Better Call Saul added even more drama, and became as close to Breaking Bad as possible.
The comedy acts as a key element in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul
Although Better Call Saul was not made according to the very initial plans, it must be agreed that the show had numerous hilarious moments. The humor is placed cleverly in the storyline amidst the high octane drama.
When Peter Gould sat for a chat with The Ringer, he highlighted that people may not realize, but the comedy is an essential element in both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He compared comedy and drama to peanut butter and chocolate, and stated that one complements the other in both shows.
There’s always a comic element to both shows. And, we always say that it’s a little bit like peanut butter and chocolate. They make each other taste better. And I think if there is a secret sauce to both shows, I think that’s certainly part of it. Because, the drama makes the comedy funnier. I don’t think the comedy on either show would stand by itself as comedy, but the comedy certainly makes the drama more dramatic.
It is also notable that a full-blown comedic setting could limit Bob Odenkirk from showing his acting range. Jimmy McGill’s character faced varied challenges and evolved throughout the show’s trajectory. Limiting it to a sitcom could have cost us the opportunity to get a look at the impressive acting skillset of Odenkirk.
Better Call Saul can be streamed on Netflix.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
