‘Better Call Saul’ Gets A Premiere Date, Will Change TV Drama, Says AMC VP
The Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul has been given a premiere date.
AMC has announced that the series will premiere in November, although the network has yet to set an exact date.
AMC also announced that Mad Men will return for the first half of its seventh season on Sunday, April 13. The second half will air sometime next year.
In an interview with The Wrap, AMC executive vice president of programming, production and digital content Joel Stillerman said that writers are “just starting to break story” on Better Call Saul, and that Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is excited about rethinking the conventions of a drama.
“You know, taking an inherently funny character and surprising people in both directions,” Stillerman said. “It’s an hour show, it will be a drama, but it will also be very funny, as Bob’s character was on that show.”
Stillerman also said that Bob Odenkirk turned in a surprising dramatic performance in Nebraska, and that he is excited to see what he does with Better Call Saul.
“I think we were all blown away when we saw his work in ‘Nebraska,’ because we all knew he was a great actor, [but] Bob is in the movie in a very, very uncharacteristic role … nothing comedic about it,” he said.
“And not only does he hold his own, he’s really terrific,” Stillerman added. “He’s got a lot of depth and a lot of real acting chops. It’s gonna be fun to see what these guys come up with, to stretch the boundaries of what it means to be a drama.”
Last month, Vince Gilligan said there was a possibility that Better Call Saul could serve as a prequel and a sequel.
“We think, by and large, this show will be a prequel, but the wonderful thing about the fractured chronology we employed on Breaking Bad for many years is the audience will not be thrown by us jumping around in time,” he said. “So it’s possible that we may indeed do that, and we’ll see the past and perhaps the future. Nothing is written in stone yet, we’re still figuring it out.”
