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Saul Goodman

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Added by: DSkillz

Read more about Saul Goodman at: Wikipedia

Official Site: AMC

James Morgan "Jimmy" McGill, also known by his business name Saul Goodman and later by the alias Gene Takavic, is a fiction character who appears in the television series Breaking Bad and serves as the titular protagonist of its spin-off prequel series Better Call Saul. He is primarily portrayed by Bob Odenkirk, and was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.

The character is an Albuquerque-based lawyer who embraces his tendencies as a former scam artist and begins to represent criminals while he himself becomes increasingly involved in the city's criminal underworld. Saul is an Irish American but pretends to be Jewish to attract clients. His business name, "Saul Goodman," is a play on the phrase "it's all good, man."

The need for a character like Saul came from two paths of Breaking Bad s development around the second season. First, as Walt and Jesse got themselves deeper into the drug business, the writers felt they needed a character to be a guide for them. At this point, they had written that Jesse's dimwitted friends like Badger were selling their drugs, and needed to envision what type of lawyer Walt and Jesse would enlist when they run into trouble. This would later serve to introduce Walter to new concepts such as the disappearer services. Secondly, they were at a point in Hank's character arc where he had suffered a major trauma in seeing Tortuga's severed head, and he would no longer be able to serve as the series' bit of lightness. They thus made Saul more of a comical character to fill this void. The writers wrote this lawyer as loud, flashy, and over-the-top, as well as being a scammer himself. The creators decided on the name "Saul Goodman" as a play on the phrase "[It]'s all good, man", so that even his most simple-minded clients would remember his name when they get arrested. Gould credits Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan for initially suggesting this idea for Saul's name.

The Breaking Bad episode "Better Call Saul" was written by Peter Gould, and he has been ultimately credited with creating the character. Gilligan offered Odenkirk a four-episode guest role without the need to audition. Odenkirk at the time had been focused on mentoring upcoming actors in comedy, and, needing an opportunity, readily took the role at the encouragement of his friend Reid Harrison, having not seen any of Breaking Bad and thinking that it was only intended for a short stint. Odenkirk based the character's speaking style on producer Robert Evans, and spent time practicing speaking in Evans' style based on the autobiography The Kid Stays in the Picture. Bryan Cranston helped Odenkirk to learn more about what Breaking Bad was about and to coach him on dramatic acting, something which Odenkirk lacked from his comedy background. Odenkirk was scheduled to appear in the second season finale, but a prior commitment on How I Met Your Mother left him unable to do so; this led Gilligan to create the character of Mike Ehrmantraut, played by Jonathan Banks, to serve in place of Saul for that fourth episode.

Saul Goodman has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.