‘Better Call Saul’ Sets Final Season Premiere Date

Rick Porter
·3 min read
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The final season of Better Call Saul has a premiere date.

The Breaking Bad prequel from Sony Pictures TV will open its sixth season on AMC on April 18 — almost exactly two years since the finale of season five aired on April 20, 2020. Production on the final season was delayed first by the pandemic, then again after star Bob Odenkirk suffered a mild heart attack on set in September. He was able to return to work six weeks later.

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The 13-episode season will be broken into two parts, though AMC isn’t going to stretch out the end too much. The first seven episodes of the season will run in April and May. After a six-week break, the final episodes will begin airing July 11. The split will allow Better Caul Saul to compete for Emmys both this year and in 2023, as eligibility for the latter begins in June.

The Saul premiere date is part of a wave of announcements AMC made during its Television Critics Association session Thursday. Also in the bundle: AMC’s sister channel IFC is mounting a new season of cult favorite Documentary Now! later this year, with Helen Mirren once again hosting and Saturday Night Live alums Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers executive producing.

AMC teased the return date of Better Call Saul in a brief teaser featuring the Salamanca cousins (watch it below). A number of viewers guessed the April 18 date based on the letters D (the fourth letter of the alphabet) and R (the 18th, thereby signifying 4/18) showing up as crime-scene markers.

“In my eyes, this is our most ambitious, surprising and, yes, heartbreaking season,” said co-creator and showrunner Peter Gould in a statement. “Even under incredibly challenging circumstances, the whole Saul team — writers, cast, producers, directors and crew — have outdone themselves. I couldn’t be more excited to share what we’ve accomplished together.”

Season six will trace the final steps in Jimmy McGill’s (Odenkirk) journey from being Jimmy McGill to the Saul Goodman viewers first met in Breaking Bad — as well as offering up the last glimpses at Omaha Cinnabon manager Gene Takovic, the alias Saul takes on after the events of the original series.

As for Documentary Now!, its fourth — or 53rd, in the show’s world — season will debut later in the year on IFC and stream on AMC+. Its three installments will pay homage to/send up the conventions of fashion documentaries a la The September Issue and 3 Salons at the Seaside with an episode titled Two Hairdressers in Bagglyport; sports docs in the tradition of When We Were Kings (How They Threw Rocks); and 2021 Oscar winner My Octopus Teacher (My Monkey Grifter).

Armisen, Hader, Meyers and Rhys Thomas created the series and exec produce with Lorne Michaels, Alex Buono and Andrew Singer. Thomas and Buono also direct.

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