The Better Call Saul Sitcom We Never Got To See

"Better Call Saul," the prequel to the critically acclaimed drama "Breaking Bad," premiered in 2015 and quickly became just as well regarded as its predecessor. Created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the series follows Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) as he goes from being a well-meaning new lawyer — looking to move on from his past of a being a con-artist — to the shady criminal defense lawyer Saul Goodman, whom we know will one day help out Walt (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) throughout "Breaking Bad."

While the character of Jimmy certainly has his fair share of comedic lines — just as he did in "Breaking Bad" — there's no question that "Better Call Saul" is very much a drama show. From Jimmy's tense relationship to his brother Chuck (Michael McKean) to the drug cartel association that Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) becomes involved with, the situations of the series aren't exactly lighthearted.

With all this in mind, some fans may be surprised to learn that Gilligan and Gould didn't originally picture "Better Call Saul" as the drama that it came to be — in fact, they had a very different vision.

In a 2018 interview with Rolling Stone, Vince Gilligan discussed the development of "Better Call Saul," following the massive success of "Breaking Bad." Notably, he and Gould's initial idea looked a lot different than what viewers ultimately watched: namely, they envisioned the concept as a half-hour sitcom.

Gilligan explained, "When we first started concocting the idea of doing a spinoff, we literally thought it'd be a half-hour show. It'd be something akin to [Comedy Central's adult animated series] 'Dr Katz,' where it's basically Saul Goodman in his crazy office with the styrofoam columns and he's visited every week by a different stand-up comic. It was basically, I guess, legal problems."

However, the two of them then realized that neither of them really understood how to make a 30-minute sitcom work, due to lack of experience in that genre. However, they were still picturing a straight comedy. Gilligan continued, "And then we thought, okay, well, so it's an hour ... but it's going to be a really funny hour. I said, ”Breaking Bad' is about 25-percent humor, 75-percent drama and maybe this will be the reverse of that.' Well this thing, especially in Season Four, is every bit as dramatic as 'Breaking Bad' ever was. I just didn't see any of that coming. I didn't know how good it would all be. I really didn't."

As entertaining as a "Better Call Saul" sitcom likely would've been, fans would probably agree that the drama of the series is too compelling to pass up.