Wisecracking Bad: The First ‘Better Call Saul’ Teaser Is Here
Breaking Bad‘s Saul Goodman-centric spinoff, Better Call Saul, premieres on AMC in February 2015 – and while the wait continues to be painful, the network appeased hardcore fans with a 10-second Saul teaser during Sunday night’s Breaking Bad marathon.
In the above clip, a less grizzled version of the wisecracking criminal lawyer (Bob Odenkirk, sporting a rich, full head of hair) tells a prospective client about the benefits of having an experienced attorney in your back pocket: “Lawyers: we’re like health insurance. You hope you never need it, but man oh man, not having it? No, phew.” (This guy’s sales pitches are the stuff of legend. In one episode of Breaking Bad, he noted, “If you’re committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it.”)
Though the teaser doesn’t offer any new plot info, Saul co-creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould shared an array of tantalizing new details back in July during an appearance at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gilligan hinted that the show’s timeline will be flexible, a continuation of the “nonlinear storytelling” used on Breaking Bad. “We like jumping around in time,” he said. “I would definitely point you in the direction of ‘anything that was possible storytelling-wise on Breaking Bad is possible on Better Call Saul.”
But Gilligan did note that the series will be based in a starting year of 2002. “I hesitate to say it, but it is indeed a period piece,” he said. “I can’t believe it myself – it’s like it was yesterday, but it was 12 years ago.”
He also blamed himself for the delay in the series premiere, which was pushed back from November until February. “We could have made the deadline, but I am slow as mud,” he said. “I still feel I’m very slow for television.”