‘Breaking Bad’: Bob Odenkirk to wait for ‘Better Call Saul’ with ‘Fargo’ gig

Is Bob Odenkirk still starring in “Better Call Saul”? You better believe it, but before this series starts to air on AMC, the actor is finding a different way to spend his time by joining FX’s limited series “Fargo.”

As some recent reports suggest, Odenkirk has been cast in the role of Deputy Bill Olson, a man who may have a great deal of experience, but not necessarily an equal amount of ambition. This in itself makes the character somewhat interesting, and a little bit different than a man in Saul Goodman who was certainly ambitious, but also completely insane with the people that he chose to get himself involved with. That is the real beauty of waiting to see how “Better Call Saul” turns out: Finding out just who in their right mind would be crazy enough to get into the business of helping criminals and storing away secret “Hello Kitty” phones.

“Fargo,” if you missed our earlier report on it here, is a ten-episode series based off of the hit Cohen Brothers film. The two are serving as executive producers on the project, so don’t feel the need to run around like headless chickens wondering whether or not someone is soiling all over the brothers’ good names. If anyone is going to mess up the legacy of the movie, it’s going to be themselves. At least they seem to be doing the right thing in casting, as Odenkirk joins a crew that includes Kate Walsh, Martin Freeman, and a half-dozen or so other names that you’re probably at least partially familiar with.

“Fargo” will launch on FX next year, while “Better Call Saul” does not have a premiere date attached to it just yet. The simple guess is that AMC would be bonkers to try and wait too long on getting the series out there to viewers, but who knows what they’re going to do? The top priority is to obviously make sure that you have a concept that makes sense to you, and then from there see if you can create something that, like “Fargo,” doesn’t ruin the original too much.

We’ll hold out hope that both of these new projects are going to be amazing, mostly because we just feel like the creators have earned at least that much respect with their careers. Granted, that will make it into even more of a letdown if they start out with a thud rather than a bang.

Photo: AMC