Extrapolations, a drama that touches on climate change in the near future, begins on Apple TV Plus March 17. Featuring eight connected stories that depict how climate change has become embedded into everyday life, the show comes from Scott Z. Burns. The cast includes Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Kit Harington, Daveed Diggs, Matthew Rhys and Edward Norton, among other A-listers. 

Episodes “about love, work, faith and family from across the globe will explore the intimate, life-altering choices that must be made when the planet is changing faster than the population,” Apple TV Plus said.

At the TCA Press Tour, Burns said stories that touch on climate change focus on the end, which no one really knows. “But we do know enough science now to know that there are a lot of steps between where we are today and the end,” he said. 

He aimed “to tell a series of stories that allow you to go on this hopefully amazing thrill ride between where we are today and where we might end up, and what we can do to change any of those steps along the way.”

Rhys was drawn to a compelling story with an important message. “It was great to read something that contextualizes it,” he said, “and can actually show it in a very real and human way how that will affect us.” 

Bob Odenkirk Gets ‘Lucky’ With New Project

Lucky Hank, a mid-life crisis tale with Bob Odenkirk as Hank Devereaux Jr., chairman of the English department at a janky Rust Belt college, debuts on a batch of AMC Networks channels, including AMC and BBC America, March 19. Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein adapted the project from the Richard Russo novel Straight Man. 

Odenkirk was finishing up Better Call Saul when he saw the script. “I liked it a lot,” he said at the TCA Press Tour. “Then I read the novel, and then I read it again, because translating something from a novel to television or a movie is always a trick. I wanted to see what it shared with the novel and where it went. And I liked it very much, especially in connection with the work I’d been doing on Saul.”

While Saul was often flying solo, Odenkirk liked that Hank had his family to lean on. Mireille Enos plays his wife, Lily. 

Zelman and Lieberstein are co-showrunners and executive producers. Lieberstein, who played Toby on The Office, wanted to set a show at a college. “I love this idea about tenure where you are trapped in success,” he said. “You can’t leave that job. So it just allows people to behave very badly in a semi-protected way. It really felt like this was a great opportunity.” ■

Season two of offbeat animated dramedy Undone premieres on Prime Video April 29. From Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Undone offers eight new episodes.

The series “explores the elastic nature of reality through its central character, Alma (Rosa Salazar), a 28-year-old living in San Antonio, Texas alongside her mother Camila (Constance Marie) and sister Becca (Angelique Cabral),” according to Prime Video. “After getting into a car accident and nearly dying, Alma finds she has a new relationship to time. She develops this new ability in order to find out the truth about her father Jacob’s (Bob Odenkirk) death.”

In season two, Alma realizes there are deeper mysteries in her family’s past. No one is interested in digging them up, until Alma convinces Becca to help her poke around. The sisters unpack a bunch of memories that have shaped who they are. 

Undone uses rotoscope animation, which Prime Video said is a first for episodic television. Rotoscoping involves animators tracing over motion picture footage frame by frame, capturing the movement of the actors and producing footage that is distinctively realistic.   

Purdy and Bob-Waksberg executive produce along with Noel Bright, Steven A. Cohen, Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting, Bruno Felix and director Hisko Hulsing. Undone is produced by Amazon Studios and Tornante Productions.

Purdy and Bob-Waksberg both worked on BoJack Horseman, which Bob-Waksberg created. 

An Undone review on RogerEbert.com said, “Just when it felt like Undone could not top its first season, its second has it firing on all cylinders. It is a tragic but poignant story of how to live with past guilts, pains and scars from generation to generation. While a life where you don't have to live with the traumas forced onto you by fate seems better, true happiness can still come from how you process and heal from that trauma. When you begin to heal on a personal level, the rest of the world will feel like it's healing as well.” ■

AMC Networks is moving forward on a Bob Odenkirk series called Straight Man. Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein, who adapted the project from a Richard Russo novel, will be co-showrunners. The show is scheduled to premiere next year, with eight one-hour episodes.

Straight Man will be Odenkirk’s third series on AMC, following Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. It is a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College, told by William Henry Devereaux, Jr. (Odenkirk), the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.

“The saying goes ‘the third times a charm,’ but when it comes to Bob Odenkirk on AMC, the first and second times were about as charming, captivating and viscerally entertaining as it gets,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “As Better Call Saul begins its epic sixth and final season, we could not be more excited by the prospect of keeping Bob at home on AMC and watching him breathe life into another nuanced, complicated and unforgettable character. The chance to collaborate once again with our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Mark Johnson’s Gran Via is even more icing on a very satisfying cake.”

Zelman, Lieberstein, Odenkirk, Peter Farrelly, who is on board to direct, Mark Johnson, Richard Russo, Naomi Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero are executive producers.  

“I am thrilled that AMC is embracing the unique scenario and characters in Paul and Aaron's adaptation of Straight Man,” Odenkirk said. “I have loved the mix of comedy and drama in Better Call Saul, and this is another story with a unique dynamic, and the kind of closely observed character writing and exploration that AMC has become the touchstone for. It’s going to be fun to play and watch!” ■

AMC Networks, holding its upfront presentation in New York Wednesday evening, said it bringing back some of its most popular properties and personalities. 

The programmers said it is developing a new series called Straight Man that will star Bob Odenkirk, who was featured in AMC’s riveting Breaking Bad and starred in its prequel Better Call Saul, which is starting its final season.

AMC also said it has greenlit Orphan Black: Echoes, a series described as being set in the universe of Orphan Black, the popular BBC America show.

The extension of audience favorites comes as AMC’s monster hit, The Walking Dead, comes to an end later this year. The original version of the zombie drama, one of the highest-rated series in the history of cable, has spawned a franchise that remains undead with an expanding roster of series and movies.

Odenkirk’s new series, Straight Man, is based on the book by Richard Russo about the chairman of the English department at a Pennsylvania college having a mid-life crisis.

“Bob Odenkirk is just as good as it gets” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “We feel so fortunate to be developing a new show that would keep him at AMC after Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad, two iconic series that have been beloved by millions of fans and helped define AMC and its reputation for unforgettable characters and high-quality storytelling for adults. We’re also thrilled to be working again with our partners at Sony Pictures Television and Mark Johnson’s Gran Via to explore this compelling material.”

If it gets picked up, Straight Man would premiere on AMC Plus and AMC in 2023. 

Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein are adapting the novel and will be executive producers along with director Peter Farrelly, Russo, Odenkirk, Naomi Odenkirk and Marc Provissiero.

“I loved Paul and Aaron’s take on Richard’s excellent, entertaining novel. Once again a project with AMC with a focus on character depth and sensitivity,” said Bob Odenkirk. “This milieu (academia) seems very pertinent to the conversations we’re all having. I am drawn to the tone of humanity and humor in the novel and I look forward to playing this role — something lighter than my recent projects but still closely observed and smart.” 

Orphan Black Echoes is being produced and distributed by Boat Rocker, the company behind the original Orphan Black series. 

“Orphan Black had a remarkable run on BBC America, attracting millions of dedicated and highly engaged fans, captivated by a smart and engrossing story and a star-making and Emmy-winning performance by Tatiana Maslany,” said AMC's McDermott. “We can’t wait to dive back in with Anna, John and our partners at Boat Rocker and deliver an all-new version of this rich world that is worthy of the #CloneClub.”

The show’s 10-episode season is expected to premiere on AMC’s linear networks in 2023.

Anna Fishko is creator, writer, showrunner and executive producer of Orphan Black: Echoes, with John Fawcett, co-creator of the original series who also directed 17 episodes across all five seasons, signed on as director and executive producer. David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, executive producers from Boat Rocker on the original Orphan Black series, return as executive producers on the new series. Katie O’Connell Marsh, Nick Nantell and Kerry Appleyard will also executive-produce for Boat Rocker. 

“Embarking on a new saga of Orphan Black with Anna, our partners at Boat Rocker, and AMC could not be more exciting,” Fawcettsaid. “For all our dedicated OB fans out there, I am thrilled that we can bring this new chapter to them. Without our fans, this new show certainly wouldn't exist and for that I am deeply grateful. I can't wait to ‘follow the crazy science’ for them.” ■

Bob Odenkirk’s Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama details the performer growing up obsessed with sketch comedy, and making a name for himself in that world before shifting to the more serious realm of drama. 

He writes about coming up in the Chicago comedy scene, including Second City: “There was no obvious route to fame, or even a ‘career’ … Every day was just, write something funny today, then see what happens.”

Odenkirk made his way to New York for Saturday Night Live. His time in the writers’ room was not particularly happy, but he does offer intriguing looks at Lorne Michaels, Chris Farley and other key comedy figures. Adam Sandler, he said, “made me see the show, and comedy, in a new and better way, because Adam was having a good time.”

Odenkirk then headed to Los Angeles, where he worked on The Ben Stiller Show and Mr. Show. He also describes what he calls “development heck” — loads of projects and few seeing the light of day. When The Office was being cast, the Michael Scott role was between Odenkirk and Steve Carell. Development heck continued. 

Breaking Bad is not mentioned until page 200, but Odenkirk offers entertaining and enlightening details about it and spinoff Better Call Saul, which saw him master his dramatic chops in playing Saul Goodman. 

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is a lively narrative. There are quips on every page, many of them quite funny.

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama, a memoir from Bob Odenkirk, star of Better Call Saul, is published March 1 by Random House. As its title suggests, the book details Odenkirk growing up in the comedy scene, including writing for Saturday Night Live and starring in HBO sketch program Mr. Show, before shifting to drama on Breaking Bad. 

Odenkirk grew up in suburban Illinois, one of seven children. His father had a mean streak and his mother was quite funny. “She was always a big fan of not thinking too highly of yourself, or anyone else for that matter,” he wrote. “This is a base component for good comedy thinking and writing–a lack of respect for the world and one’s place in it. Thanks, Mom.”

Young Odenkirk, raised on Monty Python, kicked around with various sketch comedy troupes in Chicago, including Second City, and became pals with Robert Smigel. He followed Smigel to New York to write for Saturday Night Live in 1987, when he was in his mid 20s. Odenkirk praises Smigel’s comedic chops. “When I sat in a room with him, even over the phone when I was still living in Chicago, pitching lines, Robert showed me by example how to find the best part of a comedy idea and make the most of it,” Odenkirk said. 

He shares about working alongside Dana Carvey, Phil Hartman, Al Franken, Victoria Jackson, Ben Stiller and other SNL cast members. 

Toward the end of his four-year run, Odenkirk split time between SNL in New York and Second City in Chicago, where he worked with a young comic named Chris Farley. “Chris was on a mission every night: to crack up the other performers, everyone onstage, and the audience would follow,” said Odenkirk. 

Odenkirk said his time on SNL was frustrating and stressful, but still taught him tons. “I had quietly, excruciatingly learned the components of a good sketch and developed a sense of structure that gave me confidence and led to all my best sketch work still to come,” he said. “Lorne [Michaels] had subsidized my education in sketch writing, and now he would see NONE of the benefits. Poor fella. I took my diploma and ran.”

Moving to Los Angeles, Odenkirk worked on short-lived Chris Elliott comedy Get a Life, then was in the cast of the also short-lived Ben Stiller Show, along with Stiller, Andy Dick and Janeane Garofalo, with Judd Apatow producing. He soon met David Cross, and the two hatched Mr. Show on HBO. “Python through an American lens, a bit more rough and direct,” is how Odenkirk describes the series, which ran from 1995 to 1998. 

Next in the book is a chapter called “Development Heck,” during which Odenkirk details the many, many projects, film and TV, that failed to take flight. 

Around page 200, he starts on Breaking Bad. He notes how the AMC show, beloved as it is today, did not really take off until it began streaming on Netflix around season three. ”I had heard of Breaking Bad, and I vaguely recalled the image on the billboards–a guy in his underwear in the desert?” Odenkirk wrote. 

In the makeup trailer to prep for Saul Goodman, Odenkirk asked star Bryan Cranston a dopey question about the Walter White character. 

“You’ve never seen this show, have you?” Cranston asked. 

Shooting his first scene as the sleazy lawyer, the cast and crew got a sense that Odenkirk’s character might stick around for a bit. 

“Can I get a job on the spinoff?” one crew member yelled out. 

The career comic actor shifted to drama, albeit drama with some good laughs, as Better Call Saul took off. 

“Better Call Saul would have been intimidating to take on if I’d thought about it for too long,” said Odenkirk, “so I didn’t. I just got down to work, line by line, scene by scene. Surrender was the only way forward. That first season was something I barely survived at times. It beat me up and left me by the side of the road, gasping for breath, but I gave it everything I had–and I was surprised how much of me it took.”

Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama is an entertaining read, full of glimpses inside Hollywood, and peeks at a few series that upended popular culture, told by a lively, funny–and dramatic–narrator. ■ 

AMC will launch the final season of its Emmy-nominated drama series Better Call Saul with a two-episode premiere April 18, the network announced as part of its Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour session.

The final season of the series, a spinoff of AMC’s Breaking Bad starring Bob Odenkirk, concludes the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, Jimmy McGill (Odenkirk), into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Better Call Saul’s sixth season will roll out in two parts, with the first seven episodes debuting April 18 and culminating with the series’ final six episodes beginning July 11, said AMC. 

Three new original short-form series connected to the world of Better Call Saul will also debut this spring, including the animated series Slippin’ Jimmy; Cooper’s Bar, starring Saul’s Rhea Seehorn; and new episodes of the Emmy-Award winning Better Call Saul Employee Training Video series.

Along with Odenkirk, Better Call Saul also stars Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Mando and Tony Dalton. The series is executive produced by Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Diane Mercer, and Michael Morris. 

“Vince, Peter and Bob took the question, ‘Why would you ever try to follow one of the most celebrated and beloved shows in television history with a sequel,’ and they answered it on every possible level, with truly extraordinary results,” said Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks in a statement. “Saul Goodman has been a central character on AMC for more than a decade, and he really livens up the place.”

The six-part Slippin’ Jimmy animated series follows the misadventures of a young Jimmy McGill and his childhood friends in Chicago, Illinois. Told in the style of classic 70s-era cartoons, each episode is an ode to a specific movie genre — from spaghetti westerns and Buster Keaton to The Exorcist, AMC said. ■

Cooper’s Bar, led by Rhea Seehorn, is a six-episode digital series that follows the antics of character actor Cooper, played by Lou Mustillo (Mike & Molly) and the unique group of LA natives who frequent his neighborhood bar.  

Better Call Saul’s Emmy Award-winning Employee Training Video series will also return this summer and will teach viewers how to make commercials the Better Call Saul way.  The videos will feature cameos from Better Call Saul characters and be penned by Better Call Saul writer Ariel Levine. ■ 

Bob Odenkirk opened up Friday about recently collapsing on the set of AMC's Better Call Saul, saying on Twitter that he "had a small heart attack" and is "going to be ok."

The tweets marked the first time Odenkirk spoke publicly about the Tuesday incident, after which he was admitted to an Albuquerque, New Mexico hospital. 

"I had a small heart attack," he wrote on the social media platform. "But I'm going to be ok thanks to Rosa Estrada and the doctors who knew how to fix the blockage without surgery."

He also thanked fans for the "outpouring of love."

"To my family and friends who have surrounded me this week. And for the outpouring of love from everyone who expressed concern and care for me," he wrote. "It’s overwhelming. But I feel the love and it means so much."

The cause of Odenkirk's Tuesday collapse and subsequent hospitalization was first reported by TMZ, which at the time cited sources as saying Odenkirk had had a "heart related incident."

Odenkirk is currently filming the sixth season of Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul.

Read Odenkirk's full tweets below:

AMC will premiere a new season of its Emmy-nominated series Better Call Saul in February across two nights, the network said Wednesday.

The series, which stars Bob Odenkirk, will debut its fifth season on Feb. 23, followed by a second new episode on Feb. 24, according to the network. Subsequent episodes will air on Monday nights at 9 p.m.

AMC Networks has called for a third season of Better Call Saul from Sony Pictures Television. The network and studio said Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould will be back as co-showrunners for 10 more episodes of the noirish comedy drama, a prequel to Breaking Bad that stars Bob Odenkirk as the man who will become "criminal" lawyer Saul Goodman. The ensemble also includes Jonathan Banks (reprising his role as Mike Ehrmentraut, the "fixer" in Breaking Bad), Michael McKean and Rhea Seehorn.

Thus far in season two -- in which Odenkirk, as Jimmy McGill, tries to adapt to becoming a lawyer at a straight-laced firm in Santa Fe, N.M., while suppressing his natural con-man tendencies -- Saul has averaged 4.4 million viewers per episode over three days' viewing, including 2.7 million adults ages 25-54 and 2.5 million adults ages 18-49, AMC said. That ranks among the top current cable primetime dramas, though it's below the full-season average of 5.9 million viewers set in season one. Saul also received seven Emmy nominations in 2015. 

Bob Odenkirk and David Cross are reuniting for another sketch comedy series.

Netflix has ordered four half-hour episodes plus an hour-long making-of special of With Bob and David. The series is described as: After being dishonorably discharged from the Navy Seals, Bob and David are back serving our country the way they do best, making sketch comedy. Odenkirk and Cross became cult favorites with their 1995 sketch comedy series Mr. Show with Bob and David, which ran on HBO for four years.

For more of this story, see broadcastingcable.com.