Breaking Bad is a crime drama franchise created by American filmmaker Vince Gilligan, primarily based on the television series Breaking Bad, its prequel/sequel series Better Call Saul, and its sequel film El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie. The fictional universe is sometimes informally referred to as the "Gilliverse", and is the main subject of this wiki project.
Breaking Bad revolves around chemistry teacher turned-methamphetamine drug lord Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and his former student and fellow cook/dealer Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). Better Call Saul follows the past lives of criminal lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), when he was a modest lawyer named Jimmy McGill, and of former cop-turned-hitman Michael Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks). El Camino focuses on Jesse after the events of the Breaking Bad finale. Gilligan believed all three works could be seen independently from one another, but existed in the same framework and needed to be viewed together to receive the full experience.
The three works are about the topic of change and metamorphosis, with the protagonists drastically changing as their stories develop: Walter White becoming Heisenberg for Breaking Bad, James McGill becoming Saul Goodman for Better Call Saul. Although he does not acquire an alias, Better Call Saul also shows how Michael Ehrmantraut "breaks bad" by showing his transformation from a beat cop in Philadelphia to Gustavo Fring's number one hitman. The shows and film are set in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The franchise is owned by Sony Pictures Television and has garnered numerous awards for Breaking Bad, for Better Call Saul, and for El Camino. The two series originally aired on AMC, while the film premiered on Netflix. They were produced at Albuquerque Studios which emboldened success for the media in Albuquerque and film in New Mexico.
The franchise has since expanded across several different mediums and multimedia platforms, with contributions from the series' and film's cast and crew.
Television series[]
Breaking Bad[]
A drama about Walter White, a cancer-stricken chemistry teacher that became involved in cooking and dealing methamphetamine, alongside Jesse Pinkman, one of his former students. The show aired on AMC from January 20, 2008, to September 29, 2013, consisting of five seasons for a total of 62 episodes.
Better Call Saul[]
A crime and legal drama about Saul's life taking place six years before he became Walter's lawyer as Jimmy McGill, a more earnest lawyer trying to turn away from his troublesome con-man days. The show also features scenes which take place after the events of Breaking Bad, that reveal Jimmy's new job as a Cinnabon manager.
The show aired on AMC from February 8, 2015, to August 15, 2022, consisting of six seasons for a total of 63 episodes. Better Call Saul has received similar critical praise as Breaking Bad, and was considered as a prime example of how to produce a spinoff work that defies the usual expectations of such forms.
Film[]
El Camino[]
A sequel film to Breaking Bad focusing on Jesse, following the events of the series finale "Felina", as he searches for his freedom. The film was released exclusively on Netflix on October 11, 2019, and was broadcast on AMC on February 16, 2020.
Web series[]
Breaking Bad: Original Minisodes[]
Breaking Bad: Original Minisodes is a web series based on the television series Breaking Bad. A total of 17 "minisodes", which are more comedy-oriented than most full episodes, were released over the course of three years.
Better Call Saul Employee Training Videos[]
From 2017 to 2022, AMC has released four separate short series that feature a mix of live action and animated segments in conjunction with the last four seasons of Better Call Saul. Season three featured Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training with Esposito portraying Gus, season four featured Madrigal Electromotive Security Training with Mike Ehrmantraut with Banks as Mike, season five featured Ethics Training with Kim Wexler with Seehorn as Kim and side-voiceovers from Odenkirk as Jimmy, and season six featured Filmmaker Training with the film crew that helped Jimmy make his advertisements. These were released over the course of each season on YouTube and through AMC's social media. The first three series consisted of ten episodes, while the last consisted of six.
Both Los Pollos Hermanos Employee Training and Ethics Training with Kim Wexler received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series, and while Madrigal Electromotive Security Training had been initially nominated, the Academy had to pull the nomination after discovering the show was too short (less than two minutes), though stated the pull was "in no way a diminishment of the quality of Better Call Saul Employee Training or Mr. Banks's performance in it".
The Broken and the Bad[]
In June 2020, AMC announced The Broken and the Bad, a six-part true crime short-form docuseries inspired by Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The miniseries explored real-world stories and situations that mirrored the fictional worlds of both shows. Episode subjects included the psychology of con artists and hit men, the economics of massive drug operations, as well as a town in the United States that catered to those who suffered from electromagnetic hypersensitivity, a condition that Better Call Saul character Chuck McGill believed afflicted him. The miniseries was hosted by Giancarlo Esposito and premiered on the AMC app and AMC.com on July 9, 2020.
Slippin' Jimmy[]
Variety reported in March 2021 that AMC was developing an animated spinoff series, Slippin' Jimmy. The series, a prequel based on younger Jimmy and Chuck's time in Cicero, Illinois, was developed by Ariel Levine and Kathleen Williams-Foshee, who previously worked on the associated live-action web series. Voice actors include Chi McBride, Laraine Newman, and Sean Giambrone as Jimmy.
Slippin' Jimmy was later revealed as a short-form series; a six-part animated series to be released online during the sixth season of Better Call Saul. Told in the style of classic 1970s-era cartoons, each episode is an ode to a specific movie genre — from Spaghetti Westerns and Buster Keaton to The Exorcist. The series was produced by Rick and Morty animators Starburns and written by Levine and Williams-Foshee. Six episodes, each around 8–9 minutes in length, were released on AMC+ on May 23, 2022. It received mainly negative reviews from fans.
Digital shorts[]
No Picnic[]
On June 19, 2017, the night of Better Call Saul's third season finale, fans were able to access the three-minute short film No Picnic, which feature the characters Betsy and Craig Kettleman, who were not seen since the first season. The short, directed by Saul associate producer Jenn Carroll and written by the show's writers' assistant Ariel Levine, shows the Kettleman family organizing a picnic close to family patriarch Craig, who is seen picking up roadside litter with his fellow inmates as part of his prison sentence.
Snow Globe: A Breaking Bad Short[]
In conjunction with the television premiere of El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie on AMC, the network released a three-minute short film Snow Globe: A Breaking Bad Short on its official YouTube account on February 17, 2020. The short film features Todd Alquist looking at a snow globe.
American Greed: James McGill[]
In April 2022, a few weeks before Better Call Saul's sixth season premiere, the CNBC Prime YouTube account uploaded American Greed: James McGill. Written by Peter Gould's assistant Valerie Chu, the ten-minute short was a mockumentary done in the style of the documentary series American Greed. It featured interviews of several recurring Better Call Saul characters recounting their memories of Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler.
Podcasts and talk shows[]
Breaking Bad Insider Podcast[]
The Breaking Bad Insider Podcast is a pre-recorded series where series creator Vince Gilligan and editor Kelley Dixon host a weekly conversation with the cast and crew of Breaking Bad to discuss the newest episode. The podcast began during the third episode of the second season.
Talking Bad[]
From August 11, 2013, to September 29, 2013, eight episodes of the live talk show, Talking Bad, aired on AMC, following Breaking Bad. The host, Chris Hardwick, and guests—who included celebrity fans, cast members, and Breaking Bad crew members—discussed episodes that aired immediately preceding the talk show. Talking Bad was inspired by the success of Talking Dead (also hosted by Hardwick), which airs immediately following new episodes of The Walking Dead, and the talk shows share a similar logo and theme music.
Better Call Saul Insider Podcast[]
The Better Call Saul Insider Podcast is a pre-recorded series which the creators gather to discuss the episode recently broadcast. Originally started as part of the Breaking Bad series, the podcast discusses the production of the show and features actors discussing their decisions and process of the characters they play. The crew also details their methods in deciding how an episode was shot. The show routinely includes the major cast, director and camera crew of the respective episodes.
Talking Saul[]
Talking Saul is a live aftershow hosted by Chris Hardwick, which features guests discussing episodes of Better Call Saul. The show uses the same format as Talking Dead and Talking Bad, other aftershows hosted by Hardwick. AMC announced that Talking Saul would air after the second season Better Call Saul premiere on February 15, 2016, and again after the second-season finale on April 18, 2016. It returned following the season 3 premiere and finale. The show did not return for Better Call Saul's fourth and fifth season, with no word from AMC on its status. This caused some to believe the show was cancelled. Talking Saul returned for the mid-season finale of Better Call Saul's sixth season.
Broadcast period[]
Chart legend: "BB" for Breaking Bad, "BCS" for Better Call Saul, "E" for El Camino.
| Month | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | BB S1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | BB S2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | BB S3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | BB S4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | BB S5A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013 | BB S5B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015 | BCS S1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | BCS S2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | BCS S3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | BCS S4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | E | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | BCS S5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | BCS S6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||