Saul Goodman exploded onto our television screens back in 2009. But the Breaking Bad character almost didn't get that far, with Bob Odenkirk's at-all-costs lawyer being the subject of a script note that wanted him cut from the AMC series.
As revealed in an Entertainment Weekly excerpt from Alan Sepinwall's upcoming book Saul Goodman V. Jimmy McGill, one "unnamed" executive wasn't too keen on Saul Goodman's antics in season 2 episode 'Better Call Saul'.
Upon writing for his debut episode (which saw Saul enter the orbit of Walt and Jesse's fledgling criminal empire), Better Call Saul co-creator Peter Gould said he was "worried that we were going to break the show by making a character that was too silly", a feeling that only intensified after the first round of network feedback.
"[Creator] Vince [Gilligan] and I were on a conference call, and the question came up, basically, 'We don’t like this character. Could we start again and come up with a different story for this episode?'" Gould revealed.
Thankfully for Saul and viewers everywhere, Gilligan stood his ground – and the rest is television history.
"He was strongly advocating for the script and for the character. And, to their credit, the person or persons on the call backed down, because they had to trust Vince. But, you can think about what an alternative universe would be where we had had to throw that episode out," Gould said.
Saul Goodman, of course, went on to become one of Breaking Bad's big breakout hits. A spin-off series, diving into the past of 'Slippin' Jimmy', premiered in 2015 and ran for six seasons – largely to the same universal acclaim as Breaking Bad.
For more, check out our rankings of the best TV shows of 2024.
