Better Call Saul

Comedy-fail dross and an appearance in a Payneful, overrated movie might pay the bills but fronting your own series is a different matter and Fargo is also post BB.

Yeah, Odenkirk hasn't had the best luck making movies of his own but he's otherwise had a pretty solid (if generally low-key) career and a vast comedic community that rightfully respects the shit out of him. Plus he brought Tim & Eric into our hearts and homes. He's gonna do just fine.

Mr. Show = 'comedy-fail dross'. Okay.

ok whatever your assessment of his career or talents are - he understands the risks of Better Call Saul, he'll be fine if it doesn't work out, and it's not "his stand alone big shot".

The NYT interview seems totally level-headed:

“I was worried about what it would do to my family and worried about whether I would end up being the guy who” — um, screwed up — “the legacy of ‘Breaking Bad.’ ”

“And then I talked to my daughter, who is 13 and incredibly mature, she said, ‘It’s a big opportunity, we will be fine, and if it’s bad, really, how bad could it be?’ ”

“And I said well, it won’t be bad. It’s written by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould; the worst thing is it’s a really interesting misfire. If that’s the worst thing it is, I’d be more than happy to be part of that.”

There's a scene in Ep 1 at a security checkpoint where the guard waves the metal detector near a guy's privates and it goes off...the fact that McKean is in the cast made me think this was a homage to Spinal Tap

i loved the cold open so much

― gr8080, Tuesday, 10 February 2015 13:35 (2 hours ago) Permalink

Me too!

AAAAAAAAAAAA

That was some nasty comedy, it's rare I genuinely lol while cowering

The second half was quite okay.

Enjoyed this thoroughly. The vibe is hard to pin down; I can't think of many other things that hit this kind of dour anti-humor/slapstick balance. Reminds me of the book Miss Lonelyhearts more than anything, maybe a little Coen brothers too. The skitching/generic funk scene was a little cringe worthy but I'm excited for the rest.

I'm hoping we get to see more of what he's been up to post-Breaking Bad

Saul is sort of similar to Jesse in that he's basically a good person but poor choices mean that he gets involved in some really quite unpleasant situations

Jesse is a good person?

afaict the only good person in BB was junior

yeah, i hope there's more post-Breaking Bad stuff. Gilligan seems to like telling stories from opposite ends and flashforwards and stuff anyway, so might happen a bit.

Episode 2 is good - starting to gather pace.

lol:

credits shot of Saul staring balefully out across the North Dakota sunrise from his Cinnabon

― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:59 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

whoops didn't c+p the whole thing:

was waiting for post-credits shot of Saul staring balefully out across the North Dakota sunrise from his Cinnabon

― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, September 30, 2013 10:59 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is all very enjoyable, though it does feel a bit like The Hobbit to BB's LOTR; everything is broader and sillier, and there's a little too much fan service. It should ideally be a show that someone who's never seen it's predecessor could enjoy perfectly well and I'm not sure it is. I am looking forward to the rest, the ripping off the embezzlers plotline has potential, and the standard of storytelling was obviously very high.

Jimmy's foray into the HHM offices (ep. 1) was hilarious, man. His second interaction with the older fella on the ground floor was classic, sort of 'why are we engaging in hand shake' "Right." "yes."

First part of his Network bit in the meeting room, he kinda channeled both Larry David and Daniel Day Lewis.

loved and hated the all that jazz homage

i really really hope we've seen all the tuco we're going to see

tuco was without a doubt my least favorite character in the BB universe and even if raymond cruz's acting chops were a little better in monday's episode than they were in s1/s2 of BB he still grates on me

hoping the county treasurer character gets fully developed like walt did (without totally mirroring walt)

Didja ever get your shit pushed in?

loving this. It is v much BB part 2 the sequeling, but in some ways I already like it more just because I love Bob Odenkirk so much

i hope the b+w cold open isnt the last we see of nu-saul, even if we have to wait for the s2 premiere or something

xp it's so exactly breaking bad as a comedy! Like how many times did we see an abject, desperate Walt trying to wheedle his way out of being killed? But it has a diff feel cause saul's dialogue & performance are so firmly in the comedy register (which is why so many find him jarring in breaking bad). The Saul-Walt parallels in this show are at absurd levels but it seems to be working at a level of its own. The violence is on the farcical bathtub of gore, zombie necktie level and I hope it stays there. I found the desert scene horrific & hilarious but the date scene was even worse/better, I was wincing & laughing so hard (plus blackmail tributes always get props from me)

tbh I think Saul was key to making BBad's tragicomic tonal balance really work. The series didn't fully click for me till he was introduced.

Oh yeah, so many ≠ me, I love Saul & always have. Always funny and his edginess was a great barometer for how real things were getting. Loved his sadsack exit also, which is why I kinda think any more Omaha stuff would be redundant

the corpse-fucking case seemed a *bit* much but everything that came after made up for it. lol'd at the gratuitous Network and All That Jazz quotes. the rhythms of the episodes, the way they are set up and structured, is so consistent with BB - the montages, the tense confrontations, the quieter, more elliptical exchanges between two characters.

paranoid delusion over a tiki drink date set to Esquivel was like "hi gr80 we wrote a tv scene just for you"

maybe the cold opens will be a linked flashforward story like they often were in BB?

prefer that he stay in stasis in the present tbh

probably they will - but Gilligan is so into playing with narrative and multiple timelines, plus fucking with/rewarding viewer expectations... I hope that playful fluid storytelling comes into play again (not necessarily overlapping with BB timeline, just in general)

I usually hate guessing, but in this case I'll take a stab. This season will be the story of how Jimmy became Saul, and if the show goes over well enough and gets picked up for another season, they'll jump to the present day.

only one season of backstory? seems kind of abrupt

will be interesting if they get around to writing/introducing any decent female characters (the main weakness of BB imo)

Without the guarantee of a 2nd season, I think they at least have to get the name change done. I mean, planting the seed for it in S1E2 is indicator enough of that for me.

Plus, the show's not called "Better Call Jimmy." But yeah, they could do future seasons of post-Saul/pre-BB story, no problem.

is this available for streaming with an amazon prime subscription? or is is the same $3/ep ; $25/season as iTunes?

I expect he's gonna debut the name-change within the next couple eps. As soon as he starts representing drug dealers, his bro's *really* not gonna want him to use the family name

Without the guarantee of a 2nd season, I think they at least have to get the name change done. I mean, planting the seed for it in S1E2 is indicator enough of that for me.

― you make me feel like danzig (WilliamC),

Second season has already been ordered, hasn't it?

it has, they committed to it as a two-season project to start

oddly, while it always seemed clear what the ending of BB was gonna be (ie Walt dies), here - even though it's all basically a flashback - how they might end it seems way more up in the air

xp -- ok, I didn't know that, carry on then

i could see one of the skate bros bein all "s'all good, man" after an apology from Saul.

yeah that pun's gonna have to figure into his name somehow

lol I had totally forgotten that Michael McKean had previously shown up on Mr. Show as a law school professor

i could see one of the skate bros bein all "s'all good, man" after an apology from Saul.

oh my god

Saul Goodman is the name of a protagonist (a private detective) from the Illuminatus! trilogy of books that came out in the 70's. Would be great if that's where he pulls the name from.

Being a fan of Robert Anton Wilson, Mr. Show and Breaking Bad, if they do this my head will explode.

lol I had totally forgotten that Michael McKean had previously shown up on Mr. Show as a law school professor

Professor Peens!

the black & white cinematography was such an amazing device for Jimmy & Kim’s scenes, giving them that doomed romance of something like A Place In The Sun

Their final interactions together were like mini homages to all the old movies they watched together, knowing they’re stuck with the life they’ve made but wishing it could be more.

oh and jimmy giving chuck the hg wells time machine book i nearly cried <3

What is it with airports? I had the same in the airport lounge leaving to Iran.

Miss this tv show, wish it would go on forever

yeah I've tried a few other shows since but nothing is on the same level

plus it was really nice to have Bob Odenkirk on TV every week. regardless of what you thought of anything else

There was a link to the Critics Choice Awards (whatever they are) on another thread: https://variety.com/2023/awards/news/critics-choice-awards-2023-winners-list-1235488828/. Weird: Better Call Saul won Best Drama Series, Odenkirk won Best Actor, Giancarlo Esposito won Supporting Actor, and Carol Burnett was nominated (but lost) for Best Supporting Actress.

Rhea Seehorn was not nominated.

While I'm not quite as high on her work in the last couple of seasons as everyone else (as opposed to early on, when I thought she was great), that's egregious.

Maybe this time

This guy looks pretty beat up...BUT, HOORAY! and THANK YOU to everyone who enjoyed Better Call Saul, and for this Nom. We all cared SO MUCH everyday we made this show. It starts with the WRITING and I'm so thankful Peter Gould and Gordon Smith are nominated. RHEA being… https://t.co/aiTsW9qU4T

— Mr. Bob Odenkirk (@mrbobodenkirk) July 12, 2023

No idea how they determine such things, but isn't Rhea Seehorn a lead actress? I've seen the first three seasons of Succession, not the new one, but to me, Seehorn was at least as much of a lead as Sarah Snook.

iirc the actor (or sometimes production) themselves decides in which category to submit

I want an entire series about season 6 Kim.

otm