Better Call Saul trivia: 57 facts about the Breaking Bad spin-off

Better Call Saul is a spin-off of the commercial and critical hit Breaking Bad. It is created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Bob Odenkirk reprise his role of Saul Goodman.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this TV series!

1. Better Call Saul is an American television crime drama series
2. It is created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould
3. It is a spin-off prequel of Gilligan’s prior series Breaking Bad
4. Set in the early and mid 2000s
5. Better Call Saul follows the story of con-man turned small-time lawyer, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), six years before the events of Breaking Bad
6. Showing his transformation into the persona of criminal-for-hire Saul Goodman
7. Jimmy becomes the lawyer for former beat cop Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), whose relevant skill set allows him to enter the criminal underworld of drug trafficking in Albuquerque, New Mexico
8. The show premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015
9. The 10-episode fourth season aired between August and October 2018
10. The show has been renewed for a fifth season
11. It is planned to premiere in 2020
12. Jimmy is initially working as a low-paid solo practitioner
13. With the back room of a nail salon as his home and office
14. His friend and romantic interest, Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) works as a lawyer at the firm of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM)
15. There Jimmy and she were once employed in the mailroom
16. Partners at HHM include Jimmy’s nemesis, Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian), and brother, Chuck McGill (Michael McKean)
17. Mike conducts illegal drug-related activity with Nacho Varga (Michael Mando) in addition to becoming right-hand man for drug lord Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) who runs a fast food restaurant as a business front
18. Odenkirk, Banks, and Esposito are all reprising their roles from Breaking Bad
19. Like its predecessor, Better Call Saul has received critical acclaim
20. With particular praise for its acting, characters, and cinematography
21. Many critics have called it a worthy successor to Breaking Bad
22. And one of the best prequels ever made
23. Some have also deemed it superior to its predecessor
24. It has garnered many nominations
25. Including 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
26. The series premiere held the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history at the time of its airing
27. In July 2012, Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan hinted at a possible spin-off about Saul Goodman
28. Gilligan noted that over the course of Breaking Bad, there were a lot of “what if”s their team considered, such as if the show won a Primetime Emmy Award, or if people would buy “Los Pollos Hermanos” T-shirts
29. The staff did not expect these events to come to fruition, but after they did, they started considering a spin-off featuring Saul as a thought experiment
30. Further, Saul’s character on Breaking Bad became much more developed than the staff had originally planned
31. As he was originally slated to appear in only three episodes
32. With the growth of Saul’s character, Gilligan saw ways to explore Saul’s backstory
33. In April 2013, Better Call Saul was confirmed to be in development by Gilligan and Gould
34. The latter wrote the Breaking Bad episode that introduced the character
35. In December 2013, Netflix announced that the entire first season would be available for streaming in the U.S. after the airing of the first-season finale
36. And in Latin America and Europe each episode would be available a few days after the episode airs in the U.S.
37. However, the first season was not released on Netflix in the U.S. until February 1, 2016
38. Internationally, episodes of the second season became available the day after they aired in the U.S.
39. Netflix is the exclusive video-on-demand provider for the series and makes the content available in all its territories
40. Except for Australia and New Zealand
41. In Australia, Better Call Saul premiered on the streaming service Stan on February 9, 2015, acting as the service’s flagship program
42. In New Zealand, the show is exclusive to the New Zealand-based subscription video-on-demand service, Lightbox
43. The episodes were available for viewing within three days of broadcast in the U.S.
44. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was acquired by Netflix on December 16, 2013
45. And the first episode premiered on February 9, 2015
46. With the second episode released the following day
47. Every subsequent episode was released each week thereafter
48. In India, the series is broadcast on Colors Infinity within 24 hours of the U.S. broadcast
49. The series premiere drew in 4.4 million and 4 million in the 18–49 and 25–54 demographics, respectively
50. And received an overall viewership of 6.9 million
51. This was the record for the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history
52. Until it was surpassed later the same year by another AMC series, Fear the Walking Dead
53. AMC has released two digital comic books for Better Call Saul
54. The first, titled Better Call Saul: Client Development, released in February 2015, in advance of the series premiere
55. It details the history of Saul and Mike
56. Acting as a spin-off of the Breaking Bad episode that introduced Saul
57. In February 2016, in advance of the second-season premiere, AMC released Better Call Saul: Saul Goodman and the Justice Consortium in the Clutches of the Judgernaut!