Warning: There are some spoilers ahead for season 5 and from the comic book.

"The Walking Dead" fans may have been surprised this season when the new big villains this season, a group of cannibals, were quickly and brutally killed off in episode three.

It seemed like we were in for the long haul (or at least a little while) with this storyline. The leader of the cannibals, Andrew J. West's Gareth, seemed like the successor to the show's previous popular villain, The Governor (David Morrissey). 

The Governor was on the series for two seasons. The cannibal crew lasted about a total of five episodes after heavily being teased over the course of season 4.

Now that they're gone, the group doesn't have any main antagonist. Sure, Beth (Emily Kinney) was taken by a group of mysterious survivors, but they don't seem like any real threat Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his group of survivors can't handle by the close of season 5.

What's next?

Any one who reads the comic knows there's a huge fan favorite villain coming eventually to the series named Negan.

Who's Negan?

If you thought the one-eyed, prison slaughtering Governor was awful, Negan's at least 10 times worse. The character is the leader of a large group of survivors coined "The Saviors" made up of mostly violent men. Negan delivers his own brand of justice with the swing of a bat wrapped in barbed wire he calls Lucille.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman confirmed to MTV News in April he's coming eventually.

There's just one problem. 

The character isn't the easiest to bring to life on screen. Negan is known for throwing around the "f-bomb" in nearly every panel of the comic.

While at New York Comic Con last month, we caught up with "The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman and asked him when we could expect to see Negan on the series and how the character would be adapted to screen.

It doesn't sound like we should be gearing up to see Negan in the rest of season 5.

"Negan says a word that you can't say on television. I understand that. I think that there are ways around that," Kirkman tells Business Insider. "Luckily, we're not going to have to work that out for some time. I'm not going to say when Negan will possibly show up on the show, but it's not any time soon."

How do you adapt a character who appears virtually unadaptable?

It's not even clear Kirkman's sure yet.

"We'll figure that out along the way," Kirkman added. "Maybe AMC can change the rules on TV."

NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

SEE ALSO: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from HBO's hit show "The Wire"

AND: "The Walking Dead" actress tells us the hardest part about season 4

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Sunday night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” revolved around two fan favorites, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride).

The two headed out on a rescue mission to save a kidnapped group member, Beth (Emily Kinney), from another unidentified group of strangers.

Along the way, the two come across a van hanging off a bridge which leads to one of the episode’s huge practical effects.

Last chance to head back before spoilers.

To avoid an oncoming group of zombies, the two jump inside the unstable van, strap on seat belts, and decide to dive headfirst off the bridge while hoping for the best. 

Here’s how the scene plays out in the episode.

You can clearly see the van starts to flip in this first GIF.

However, the scene cuts and in the next shot, viewers see the van crash right side up on all four wheels. 

What happened? The van was clearly ready to flip over, right?

Yes, it was. 

According to “The Walking Dead” after show “The Talking Dead,” the series used a total of four identical vans to complete the scene, two of which made the 50 foot drop.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette on the episode, “The Walking Dead” crew shows how they faked the van crash to make it look like the duo landed pretty safely.

The first time they dropped the van from the bridge, the team attempted to just roll it off after loading the vehicle with a lot of extra weight on the rear end.

That didn’t go as planned. 

The van flipped 180 degrees onto its top.

“The drop itself was a bit of a challenge,” explained co-executive producer Denise Huth in the featurette. “The first drop we did the van landed upside down which we did not want it to do.” 

The team tried it out again a second time in order to get the look they wanted. During a second drop, another van was dropped from a cable.

The second drop gave the crew the shot they needed for Carol and Daryl to survive the crash.

Here's what you end up seeing on the show. 

In case you were wondering, while Carol and Daryl did do some filming in the van, the actors had their own stunt dummies on board for the actual crash to show their point of view.

You can watch the entire featurette below.

SEE ALSO: Here's when the next big villain will appear on "The Walking Dead"

AND: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from "The Wire"

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HBO is known for hits including "True Detective" and "Game of Thrones"; however, there's one show CEO Richard Plepler wishes the cable network was able to snag.

During a panel at the Paley Center's International Council Summit in New York City Thursday, Plepler was asked what one show makes him go "Oh man, I wish we had that one."

"I'm an unabashed fan of 'Mad Men,'" said Plepler. "You know I love the show. I think Matt [Weiner] is a gifted writer and producer. I was a big fan of the show all through its incarnation.”

HBO and Showtime both passed on the series about admen in the 1960s before it was picked up by AMC.

According to a 2009 Vanity Fair article, HBO originally wanted to make the show under the condition David Chase ("The Sopranos") was an executive producer. While Chase "championed the script," he wanted to move away from weekly television.

Is HBO sour about the loss? Plepler says not at all. 

“Honest to god, we don't spend time lamenting what we don’t have or mistakes," he said. "We spend all our energy and time focusing on, 'What do we want to do now?' 'Who’s out there that we want to work with?’” 

Plepler added it has been that attitude which led to HBO landing John Oliver on the network.

"Mad Men," starring Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks, will start the second half of its final seventh season next spring.

SEE ALSO: HBO blew its chance to air "Breaking Bad"

AND: HBO is finally going to let you pay for a standalone web service

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AMC debuted two new teaser trailers for "Better Call Saul" which give us our first real look at the "Breaking Bad" spin-off.

The prequel, which will premiere on AMC in February, will star Bob Odenkirk as he reprises his role of everyone's favorite sleazy criminal lawyer Saul Goodman. Jonathan Banks will also return to play his "Breaking Bad" character Mike Ehrmantraut. 

AMC has been rolling out a few new teasers for the show's premiere in February.

One of the newest, featuring Saul's dry-cleaned shirt at a laundromat, gives fans a real-working phone number they can call which leads to Goodman's voicemail. 

It's a real treat for fans of the show and goes on for a little while.

Dial 505-503-4455 for the Easter Egg. Diehard fans will notice it's a New Mexico number, which is where "Better Call Saul" takes place.

"Better Call Saul" will have a two-part premiere. The first episode will premiere Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. following the return of "The Walking Dead." The show will then air the following night Monday at 10 p.m. which will become its regular night on the network.

Here are a few images of Goodman from the new teasers:

It doesn't look like things are going over so well for Goodman, here.

That looks like the confident lawyer we know.

There are a few images of Goodman in the courtroom showing off his charm.

Brownie points if you noticed Saul's real name taped to this door: Jimmy McGill.

SEE ALSO: All the new shows coming to TV next year

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If you’re a fan of “Breaking Bad” like us, you’re probably counting down the days until the series premiere of prequel “Better Call Saul!” on AMC.

The network has been sending out a press kit for the show, and it’s pretty clever.

Secured in a legal folder, we had no idea what we received until flipping it over to see a little “Better Call Saul!” logo. 

A coffee table book inside (more on this shortly) contains a series of images from the upcoming show and a note from showrunners Vince Gilligan (“Breaking Bad”) and Peter Gould.

It felt weird to read the message and not share it with fans of the series, who the message was clearly intended for. 

Here's the letter in full: 

Welcome to the world of James M. McGill, Esq.

For viewers of Breaking Bad, there's much that will be familiar in this series: the bright Albuquerque skies, the dark humor, and -- most of all -- the passion and devotion to detail from cast and crew. 

Having said that, Better Call Saul is a brand new show. We're telling a different story here -- one with its own rhythm, its own look, its own tone. We're excited to share it with you.

This show has been a crazy ride for us. The character of Jimmy McGill has taken us places we never expected. Jimmy's not yet Saul Goodman: he's his own man, and he's messy and struggling and still finding himself. One day he'll transform into Albuquerque's favorite criminal lawyer, but right now he's a more or less law-abiding underdog on the bottom rung of the legal system.

We're loving every moment of Bob Odenkirk's deeply human performance as unstoppable, inventive Jimmy races through an ethical slalom course, trying to make a name for himself.

We hope you enjoy it.

Vince & Peter

Here are a few shots of the press kit we received.

The kit came inside a giant legal folder.

Let's empty it out.

Here's the extra wide "Better Call Saul" press book. 

Inside are images from the first few episodes of the show like this one with Jonathan Banks who reprises his role of Mike Ehrmantraut from "Breaking Bad."

The kit is extremely well thought out. See that card right there. It comes out.

Clever calling card.

We almost missed this postcard tucked in the legal file.

No message from Saul on the back, but we think this makes up for it.

Here's everything together.

We've checked out the premiere and really enjoyed it. 

AMC has already renewed the show for a second season.

"Better Call Saul" debuts Sunday Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. after the midseason return of "The Walking Dead" before moving into its regular Monday night schedule Feb. 9 at 10 p.m.

SEE ALSO: Our initial review of "Better Call Saul"

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If you were hoping for a cameo by Bryan Cranston or Aaron Paul on "Breaking Bad" spin-off "Better Call Saul," don't get your hopes up.

"Better Call Saul" executive producer Peter Gould confirmed Walter White and Jesse Pinkman won't appear in the first season of the show during a panel for the new show at the Television Critics Association Saturday (TCA).

"We want this to really stand on its own," said Gould, according to Hitfix. "We don't want to mislead people into expecting something that's not going to happen... Having said that, everything else is on the table."

According to Los Angeles Times reporter Stephen Battaglio, star Bob Odenkirk joked he asks about Cranston every time he comes into the office of the show.

"Has Walter White called yet," Odenkirk recalled.

Bob Odenkirk: Every time I come into the office on this show I say "Has Walter White called yet?"#TCA15#BetterCallSaul

— Stephen Battaglio (@SteveBattaglio) January 10, 2015

It was also noted during the panel that Pinkman's character, played by Aaron Paul, would be in late middle school or high school at this point. 

Creator Vince Gilligan told press that doesn't mean we won't see other characters from "Breaking Bad." However, you'll never see a character cameo just for the sake of a cameo.

Via Hitfix:

"Any of these characters from 'Breaking Bad' could theoretically appear in future seasons, but our hope is that when they do, it'll feel proper and organic. If it feels like a stunt, then we in the writers room have done something horribly wrong," said Gilligan.

"You also don't want to have the detail in the background distract you from what's going on in the foreground," he added. "We're trying to keep our eyes on the prize."

"Better Call Saul" takes place six years before Bob Odenkirk's lawyer Saul Goodman ever meets Walter White and his meth-making partner Jesse.

As for Cranston and Paul, it's not impossible to see them somewhere down the line on "Better Call Saul." Odenkirk told us a while back he'd love to have both of them on the show even if it meant in a background cameo.

"I don't know whether their characters matter that much or if we just need to hire you know Bryan and Aaron to walk behind me at the golf course or walk across the street when I'm driving my car around town. I don't know if they'll engage with the story, but they could," Odenkirk previously told Business Insider.

Though we won't see Walter White this season on "Better Call Saul," Cranston will be on set of the new AMC series directing a future episode.

Cranston previously directed three episodes of "Breaking Bad"— "Seven Thirty-Seven,""No Más," and 2013's "Blood Money." We're looking forward to it.

"Better Call Saul" premieres on AMC Sunday, February 8 at 10 p.m. 

SEE ALSO: Vince Gilligan's love letter to "Breaking Bad" fans about "Better Call Saul"

AND: Watch a trailer for "Better Call Saul"

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“Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” premieres on AMC next month, and it’s everything you could possibly want from a spinoff of the hit series — musical montages that pull at your heartstrings, cameos from some of your favorite Albuquerque natives, and plenty of Saul trying to talk his way out of trouble.

We’ve previewed the first two episodes of the spinoff series featuring lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk), and hands down, it's one of the best midseason premieres we’ve seen so far.

There’s an incredible amount of payoff for fans of the original series, with subtle nods and references to the parent show. For those of you who may be groaning and rolling your eyes, don't worry. The show doesn’t overdo it. If you're not looking for the references, you most likely won't even see some hidden in plain sight.

It is absolutely imperative that you do not miss the first minute of the series. "Better Call Saul" opens with a brilliant black-and-white sequence. It may throw you off at first, but once it’s revealed where the scene is heading, fans are going to lose it ... in a good way. I cannot emphasize how much I’m looking forward to fellow “Breaking Bad” fans' reactions online, so don’t tune in late.

The series itself follows Saul in 2002, six years before he has ever met Walter White and before he’s the big-shot criminal lawyer we’re introduced to in “Breaking Bad.” There’s no trace of sidekick Heull and Goodman’s not driving around a fancy Cadillac DeVille (though there’s a nice reference to it in the opening episode that fans will notice).

Instead, Saul is a down-on-his-luck lawyer just trying to get by. He’s not the confident, cocky counselor we’re accustomed to seeing. He doesn’t even go by Saul Goodman at this point. He’s just Jimmy McGill, a lowly lawyer hungry for clients who drives around a Suzuki Esteem.

Odenkirk never misses a beat. He’s so energetic as the spritely McGill, you could just sit and watch him talk the entire time he's in a courtroom, hashing it out with twin teenage boys or trying desperately to save his own skin. You don’t even need to know what he’s necessarily rambling about because, to be honest, no one else probably does either.

Here’s a line of dialogue from him as he’s representing a teenager: “Do you remember 19? Let me tell you. The juices are flowing, the red corpuscles are corpuscling. The grass is green, and it’s soft, and summer’s going to last forever.”

Do you know what a corpuscle is? McGill's talking about red blood cells.

It’s Saul’s usual bull, filled with grand hand gestures and priceless facial expressions, but it's not winning over many at this point in his career. One of the best parts of the premiere is a reintroduction to former characters like Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Gus Fring’s right-hand man on “Breaking Bad.” Mike is still the sarcastic, wisecracking curmudgeon fans love, but instead of waving around a gun, the former Philadelphia police officer is working as a pretty harmless parking-lot attendant at the local Albuquerque courthouse. 

He and McGill go back and forth a bit in the premiere, and we look forward to seeing their inevitable future interactions on the series. 

More interesting are the glimpses of Jimmy McGill’s backstory and his relationship with his older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), who is suffering from an illness.

It’s easy to see from the pilot that “Better Call Saul” is going to be a show about the rise and fall of Jimmy McGill, as much as its parent series is about the rise and fall of meth kingpin Walter White. 

So it makes sense that the show not only feels a lot like “Breaking Bad," it also looks a lot like it. Gorgeous visual shots take you back to the streets, deserts, and skies of Albuquerque, New Mexico (especially in the second episode). Some of the shots literally remind us of scenes from "Breaking Bad." (Sorry, no screengrabs.)

As we know from "Breaking Bad," creator Vince Gilligan has a way with closeup montages. Expect to see more of those on screen, from sweet treats getting baked in black and white to tomatoes getting sliced and diced.

In terms of content, the first two episodes also feel eerily similar to the early episodes of “Breaking Bad.” In "Breaking Bad," Walt and Jesse take a man captive, tie him up in a basement, and then discard his body. No one dies in the first two episodes of "Better Call Saul," but the parallels between the openings of the two series are a little uncanny. 

That's both good and bad. Since it's a prequel series, you know the stakes are a bit lower for some characters — Mike's not going anywhere — yet "Better Call Saul" still has the ability to fill you with excitement and laughs at one moment while tearing the rug out from under you in the next so that you're rocking back and forth in your seat, a bundle of anxiety-ridden nerves. In some ways, the show feels like something we may have seen before. 

Does the pilot episode stand up to that of “Breaking Bad”? No, but, to be fair, I don’t think many premiere episodes do.

The episode is a little slow at points, but when Jimmy runs into two young teens who try to scam him out of $500, the action starts to pick up, and the final minutes of the premiere will have you glued. The very final shots will make you wish you didn't have to wait an entire day to see what happens next.

It'll be worth it. The second episode, which airs the following evening, is pretty much nonstop action. I can't say much about it without spoiling anything, but there's one repeated word that should quickly catch on and be a big hit. You'll know it when you hear it, and it's sure to be all over Twitter.

"Better Call Saul" premieres on AMC Sun., Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. before moving to its regular timeslot on Mon., Feb. 9 at 10 p.m. 

Watch a trailer for the series.

SEE ALSO: Here's the "Breaking Bad" creator's love letter to fans about spin-off "Better Call Saul"

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While network television is still competing for as many eyeballs as possible, some of the cable networks are trying to resonate with viewers in other ways.

Recently, FX’s research department compiled a study of the Top 10 lists from critics and determined there are three networks that stand out on “best of” lists. It shouldn’t take too many guesses to figure out which networks those are, but we’ll just tell you: 

HBO
FX
AMC 

The short study yielded that HBO is in the lead in terms of critics love. The subscription cable network had the highest representation on 2014 critic top 10 lists, with 250 entries. This should be unsurprising, as HBO has long prided itself on being a network with quality shows. and currently has a lineup featuring the popular Game of Thrones, along with acclaimed shows ranging from Girls and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The network also puts together acclaimed miniseries like Olive Kitteridge. 

While FX was the one compiling the data, the network came in second place, with 213 entries on critic’s lists. FX has a nice balance of shows that do fairly well in the ratings like American Horror Story and shows with smaller audiences but extremely vocal critical fanbases like The Americans. And that’s not even including the shows that were shipped off to FXX, like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. AMC came in third place with 74 mentions. 

According to Adweek, FX CEO John Landgraf spoke out at the Television Critics Association press tour to talk about the network’s strategy, noting that he’s hoping the network has a bigger effect via shows that have cultural staying power rather than shows that are simply popular in the moment.  "We're not really a channel that's trying to be the highest-rated channel in television. We're trying as hard as we possibly can to be the best channel in television, whatever that means. If we weren't therefore supporting shows that would help us get there, just because [they weren't among the highest-rated], we'd be idiots."

In many ways this has paid off. American Horror Story: Freak Show broke ratings records over at FX when it premiered in October. The recently ended Sons of Anarchy was also a ratings smash at the network. Big winners like these have kept the network on the map and have allowed FX to also be the proud parent of critical winners like Fargo and The Americans, as well. 

Obviously, what critics think does not matter to the average TV viewer, but it’s nice to know that the critical voice can sometimes be a key factor in keeping some little-watched gems around. It’s certainly what is keeping The Americans on the air when other under watched shows like The Bridge get their walking papers. We’re lucky to live in a TV era where ratings aren’t the only thing that matters. In a perfect world, it would always be a balance between ratings and critical acclaim, and while many networks aren't there, it seems like FX has found the line. 

SEE ALSO: HBO Is Finally Going To Let You Pay For A Standalone Web Service Like Netflix

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So it goes with highly anticipated projects whose details are shrouded in secrecy, AMC’s The Walking Dead spinoff is the eye of a rumor hurricane as of late, and it’s only in the pilot stages. Despite the official denial of any crossover events between the pilot and the flagship series, that’s what conversations keep swarming around, and this is the dooziest info yet, as The Nerdist claims a spinoff character will be on The Walking Dead before the spinoff even airs. 

According to Nerdist’s sources, at least one of the leads from the offshoot (which will almost definitely get a series order) will appear in The Walking Dead for a six-episode arc in Season 6. That’s some serious future-scoopage if it’s true, post-dating what will undoubtedly be a lot of creative team hemming and hawing over the subject. Because Nerdist mastermind Chris Hardwick is the host of AMC’s chat show Talking Dead, it just seems like these guys would get good intel. 

The pilot, which now has the working titles Cobalt and Fear the Walking Dead (gleaned from a leaked part of the script), is reportedly set soon after the walker apocalypse occurs, when things haven’t quite gone rotted bananas yet. So that would necessarily mean that whatever character we get to know in the pilot is living on his or her own by the time Rick and his crew make it past the rest of Season 5’s deadly dangers. Unless it’s some kind of a weird six-episode flashback, a tactic popular series have been known to get mired in. 
Right now, we’ve got Kim Dickens as school guidance counselor Nancy Tomkins, who’s dating teacher Sean Cabrera, played by Cliff Curtis. Will either of them show up? Or will it be Nancy’s kids Nick (Frank Dillane) or the ambitious Ashley (Alycia Debnam Carey)? Or perhaps one of the as yet uncast characters, like Sean’s son Cody or his ex-wife Andrea? Whoever it is would need to get from Los Angeles across the country in however long it is between the two series, although it would probably be easier to drive in the early days before there were just corpses and broken vehicles everywhere. 

You can watch the Nerdist News video in its entirety below:

Bleeding Cool recently got a hold of some alleged script pages – which is where the newish working title came from – and they were asked by a legal team to remove the excerpts from the script, though you can still find them elsewhere. That doesn’t make them completely legit, but it certainly strengthens the argument. Nothing too exciting was posted, but it gives one an idea of what’s possibly to come with this expansion of the Walking Dead universe. 

But before all that, The Walking Dead will debut the second half of Season 5 on Sunday, February 8 on AMC. We still have other characters to meet first. 

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' Spinoff Casts Kim Dickens As The Lead

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Danny Trejo is best-known for his roles in "From Dusk Ill Dawn" and "Machete," but one of his most memorable parts was early in "Breaking Bad" when he played cartel member Tortuga (Spanish for turtle).

Business Insider briefly spoke with Trejo about the show's spinoff series, "Better Call Saul," and whether he'll be checking it out.

"Absolutely," Trejo says. "I was Tortuga!"

Fans know things didn't end so well for Tortuga on "Breaking Bad," but that doesn't mean he couldn't have another life on the upcoming AMC series.

The show will bring a few other former "Breaking Bad" alumni back from the dead including Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks).

When pressed if there's any chance of seeing him reprise his character, Trejo let out a laugh, but did say he would love the opportunity to appear on the spinoff.

"Oh sure, are you kidding? I loved that show ['Breaking Bad']," Trejo added, saying it was one of the best things he had ever been a part of.

Trejo gave a similar response to Uproxx:

"I’d love that! … Tortuga was pretty popular, so I’d love it. Let’s see what happens.”

The prequel series, starring Bob Odenkirk as lawyer Saul Goodman, will take place six years before the events of “Breaking Bad.”

"Better Call Saul" premieres on AMC Sun. Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. 

SEE ALSO: Our review of "Better Call Saul"

AND:  How Danny Trejo was convinced to play Marcia Brady in a Super Bowl ad

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"Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" is coming to TV in Feb. and it's probably one of the most-anticipated new series of the year. 

We've already seen it, and "Breaking Bad" fans should really enjoy it.

So it shouldn't be a big surprise the series has already been renewed for a second season.

If you can't wait for "Better Call Saul," but need to know a bit more before the show's premiere, here's everything you need to know about the spinoff.

Is this a prequel or a sequel?

The majority of the series is set in 2002, six years before Saul ever met Walter White. However, the show definitely has some elements of a sequel, too, as viewers will see in the premiere's first frew minutes. 

So, yes, you'll get to see what became of Saul Goodman after he left Walt and Jesse Pinkman.

When we spoke with Odenkirk a while back while he was doing press for his Oscar-nominated film "Nebraska," the star told us he wanted the show to be both a prequel and sequel. It looks like he got his wish.

Who will star in the spinoff?

Here's who's joining Odenkirk on the series:

Jonathan Banks will reprise his role as Mike Ehrmantraut.

Michael McKean will play Saul's older brother Chuck who is a partner at a law firm in Albuquerque.

Patrick Fabian plays Howard Hamlin while Rhea Seehorn ("Whitney") stars as Kim, two lawyers at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.

Michael Mando ("Orphan Black") plays a criminal named Nacho Varga. 

So, what will this be about?

The show will follow Saul Goodman before he's the cocky, confident lawyer, when he's just known as Jimmy McGill. 

McGill's strapped for cash and drives a rundown car. He's trying to make a living as an honest attorney. What should follow in the series is how McGill goes from a scrappy, hungry young lawyer to a well-known name in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Why did Saul get his own spinoff?

The show has been in the works for a while in the "Breaking Bad" writers room. Creator Vince Gilligan told Hitfix it kind of started off as a joke.

It started as a lark, which is another word for joke, in the writer's room. It started and it really came from the fact that I love working with Bob, just as we love working with really every actor on “Breaking Bad.” But we also loved the character. We love writing for the character. We love putting words in his mouth. And we had so much fun indeed doing that that it started as a lark; we'd come up with some great term or phrase and we'd laugh about it in the writer's room. And then we'd say, 'You know, when we're doing the Saul Goodman show we'll be able to blah, blah, blah, blah.' And we made that comment so many times that it started to dawn on us that it wasn't a lark; there was truth to it. It was not just a joke, but a potentially good idea.

If I like "Breaking Bad," will I enjoy it?

I think you will. From what I've seen in the first two episodes (I'm waiting out to watch the third at the moment), there are plenty of nods to the original series while not feeling forced. 

You'll see a few familiar faces including Jonathan Banks, and the visuals and montages will feel straight out of "Breaking Bad."

However, don't go into this show wanting another "Breaking Bad." You'll be disappointed. This will be its own show, focused on Goodman, er Jimmy McGill's, growth into a sleazy criminal lawyer. At this year's Television Critics Association press tour, co-creator Peter Gould has said they're not going do nods to the previous show and bring back former characters just because they can do it.

"We're trying to make something that stands on its own, that has an entertainment value that's not just seeing a series of old favorites, or 'Remember when?' It's not the series equivalent of a clip show,"said Gould. "We try to balance these things out."

When will it air on AMC?

"Better Call Saul" will premiere Sun. Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. after the mid-season return of "The Walking Dead." 

After that, it will head to Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting Feb. 9.

SEE ALSO: Our review on "Better Call Saul"

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"The Walking Dead" returns to TV Sunday.

If you can't wait until then for the season 5 mid-season premiere, AMC has released the first two minutes from the next episode, and they're pretty somber. 

If you're not caught up, you probably won't want to watch.

Warning: Some mini spoilers ahead. 

When we last left off, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his comrades were reunited. In the process, one of the show's main characters was unexpectedly killed off.

Season 5 episode 9 opens as the group copes with their loss and looks onward to finding a new place to call home for their growing numbers.

"The Walking Dead" mid-season premiere airs at 9 p.m. on AMC.

SEE ALSO: 'The Walking Dead' creator says the show could go on for 12 seasons

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"Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" premieres Sunday. and it's probably one of the most-anticipated new series of the year. 

We've already seen it, and "Breaking Bad" fans should really enjoy it.

So it shouldn't be a big surprise the series has already been renewed for a second season.

If you can't wait for "Better Call Saul," but need to know a bit more before the show's premiere, here's everything you need to know about the spinoff.

Is this a prequel or a sequel?

The majority of the series is set in 2002, six years before Saul ever met Walter White. However, the show definitely has some elements of a sequel, too, as viewers will see in the premiere's first frew minutes. 

So, yes, you'll get to see what became of Saul Goodman after he left Walt and Jesse Pinkman.

When we spoke with Odenkirk a while back while he was doing press for his Oscar-nominated film "Nebraska," the star told us he wanted the show to be both a prequel and sequel. It looks like he got his wish.

Who will star in the spinoff?

Here's who's joining Odenkirk on the series:

Jonathan Banks will reprise his role as Mike Ehrmantraut.

Michael McKean will play Saul's older brother Chuck who is a partner at a law firm in Albuquerque.

Patrick Fabian plays Howard Hamlin while Rhea Seehorn ("Whitney") stars as Kim, two lawyers at Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill.

Michael Mando ("Orphan Black") plays a criminal named Nacho Varga. 

So, what will this be about?

The show will follow Saul Goodman before he's the cocky, confident lawyer, when he's just known as Jimmy McGill. 

McGill's strapped for cash and drives a rundown car. He's trying to make a living as an honest attorney. What should follow in the series is how McGill goes from a scrappy, hungry young lawyer to a well-known name in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Why did Saul get his own spinoff?

The show has been in the works for a while in the "Breaking Bad" writers room. Creator Vince Gilligan told Hitfix it kind of started off as a joke.

It started as a lark, which is another word for joke, in the writer's room. It started and it really came from the fact that I love working with Bob, just as we love working with really every actor on “Breaking Bad.” But we also loved the character. We love writing for the character. We love putting words in his mouth. And we had so much fun indeed doing that that it started as a lark; we'd come up with some great term or phrase and we'd laugh about it in the writer's room. And then we'd say, 'You know, when we're doing the Saul Goodman show we'll be able to blah, blah, blah, blah.' And we made that comment so many times that it started to dawn on us that it wasn't a lark; there was truth to it. It was not just a joke, but a potentially good idea.

If I like "Breaking Bad," will I enjoy it?

I think you will. From what I've seen in the first two episodes (I'm waiting out to watch the third at the moment), there are plenty of nods to the original series while not feeling forced. 

You'll see a few familiar faces including Jonathan Banks, and the visuals and montages will feel straight out of "Breaking Bad."

However, don't go into this show wanting another "Breaking Bad." You'll be disappointed. This will be its own show, focused on Goodman, er Jimmy McGill's, growth into a sleazy criminal lawyer. At this year's Television Critics Association press tour, co-creator Peter Gould has said they're not going do nods to the previous show and bring back former characters just because they can do it.

"We're trying to make something that stands on its own, that has an entertainment value that's not just seeing a series of old favorites, or 'Remember when?' It's not the series equivalent of a clip show,"said Gould. "We try to balance these things out."

When will it air on AMC?

"Better Call Saul" will premiere Sun. Feb. 8 at 10 p.m. after the mid-season return of "The Walking Dead." 

After that, it will head to Monday nights at 10 p.m. starting Feb. 9.

SEE ALSO: Our review on "Better Call Saul"

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NOW WATCH: Bryan Cranston returns as his 'Breaking Bad' character in a Super Bowl ad

“Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul” premiered on AMC Sunday, and it’s everything you could possibly want from a spinoff of the hit series — musical montages that pull at your heartstrings, cameos from some of your favorite Albuquerque natives, and plenty of Saul trying to talk his way out of trouble.

We previewed the first two episodes of the spinoff series featuring lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) last month, and hands down, it's one of the best midseason premieres we’ve seen so far.

There’s an incredible amount of payoff for fans of the original series, with subtle nods and references to the parent show. For those of you who may be groaning and rolling your eyes, don't worry. The show doesn’t overdo it. If you're not looking for the references, you most likely won't even see some hidden in plain sight.

It is absolutely imperative that you do not miss the first minute of the series. "Better Call Saul" opens with a brilliant black-and-white sequence. It may throw you off at first, but once it’s revealed where the scene is heading, fans are going to lose it ... in a good way. *mini-spoilers* We see a future version of Saul, under the guise of Gene, working as a manager of a Cinnabon in Omaha, Nebraska. This is one that "Breaking Bad" fans will appreciate. In season 5 episode 15 of "Breaking Bad," Saul's character tells Walter White he'll be lucky if in "a month from now, best-case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha." Well, what do you know.*mini-spoilers*

The series itself follows Saul in 2002, six years before he has ever met Walter White and before he’s the big-shot criminal lawyer we’re introduced to in “Breaking Bad.” There’s no trace of sidekick Heull and Goodman’s not driving around a fancy Cadillac DeVille (though there’s a nice reference to it in the opening episode that fans will notice).

Instead, Saul is a down-on-his-luck lawyer just trying to get by. He’s not the confident, cocky counselor we’re accustomed to seeing. He doesn’t even go by Saul Goodman at this point. He’s just Jimmy McGill, a lowly lawyer hungry for clients who drives around a Suzuki Esteem.

Odenkirk never misses a beat. He’s so energetic as the spritely McGill, you could just sit and watch him talk the entire time he's in a courtroom, hashing it out with twin teenage boys or trying desperately to save his own skin. You don’t even need to know what he’s necessarily rambling about because, to be honest, no one else probably does either.

Here’s a line of dialogue from him as he’s representing a teenager: “Do you remember 19? Let me tell you. The juices are flowing, the red corpuscles are corpuscling. The grass is green, and it’s soft, and summer’s going to last forever.”

Do you know what a corpuscle is? McGill's talking about red blood cells.

It’s Saul’s usual bull, filled with grand hand gestures and priceless facial expressions, but it's not winning over many at this point in his career. One of the best parts of the premiere is a reintroduction to former characters like Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), Gus Fring’s right-hand man on “Breaking Bad.” Mike is still the sarcastic, wisecracking curmudgeon fans love, but instead of waving around a gun, the former Philadelphia police officer is working as a pretty harmless parking-lot attendant at the local Albuquerque courthouse. 

He and McGill go back and forth a bit in the premiere, and we look forward to seeing their inevitable future interactions on the series. 

More interesting are the glimpses of Jimmy McGill’s backstory and his relationship with his older brother Chuck (Michael McKean), who is suffering from an illness.

It’s easy to see from the pilot that “Better Call Saul” is going to be a show about the rise and fall of Jimmy McGill, as much as its parent series is about the rise and fall of meth kingpin Walter White. 

So it makes sense that the show not only feels a lot like “Breaking Bad," it also looks a lot like it. Gorgeous visual shots take you back to the streets, deserts, and skies of Albuquerque, New Mexico (especially in the second episode). Some of the shots literally remind us of scenes from "Breaking Bad." (Sorry, no screengrabs.)

As we know from "Breaking Bad," creator Vince Gilligan has a way with closeup montages. Expect to see more of those on screen, from sweet treats getting baked in black and white to tomatoes getting sliced and diced.

In terms of content, the first two episodes also feel eerily similar to the early episodes of “Breaking Bad.” In "Breaking Bad," Walt and Jesse take a man captive, tie him up in a basement, and then discard his body. No one dies in the first two episodes of "Better Call Saul," but the parallels between the openings of the two series are a little uncanny. 

That's both good and bad. Since it's a prequel series, you know the stakes are a bit lower for some characters — Mike's not going anywhere — yet "Better Call Saul" still has the ability to fill you with excitement and laughs at one moment while tearing the rug out from under you in the next so that you're rocking back and forth in your seat, a bundle of anxiety-ridden nerves. In some ways, the show feels like something we may have seen before. 

Does the pilot episode stand up to that of “Breaking Bad”? No, but, to be fair, I don’t think many premiere episodes do.

The episode is a little slow at points, but when Jimmy runs into two young teens who try to scam him out of $500, the action starts to pick up, and the final minutes of the premiere will have you glued. The very final shots will make you wish you didn't have to wait an entire day to see what happens next. 

It'll be worth it. The second episode, which airs the following evening, is pretty much nonstop action.

There's a huge cameo from another former "Breaking Bad" villain — *spoiler* Raymond Cruz returns as Tuco! *spoiler* — and it definitely had everyone talking on Twitter.

After Sunday, "Better Call Saul" will move to its regular timeslot on Mon., Feb. 9 at 10 p.m. 

Watch a trailer for the series.

 *Note: This review originally ran at the end of January. It has been updated to account for a few plot points in the series.

SEE ALSO: Here's the "Breaking Bad" creator's love letter to fans about spin-off "Better Call Saul"

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NOW WATCH: Bryan Cranston returns as his 'Breaking Bad' character in a Super Bowl ad

Warning: There are major spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the latest episode of “The Walking Dead.”

“The Walking Dead” returned from its winter hiatus with an unexpected surprise for fans. 

For the second time in two episodes, the AMC hit series has killed off a major character, showing that no one on “The Walking Dead’ is safe. 

Final chance to head back before spoilers.

On Sunday night’s episode, Chad Coleman’s character Tyreese gets caught off guard and is bit by a zombie walker in the arm. 

No big deal. As long as his arm is taken off in time, he should have a good chance at survival. After all, it’s something we’ve seen occur numerous times on the series in the past.  

However, things didn’t go so smoothly this time as Tyreese’s condition slowly deteriorated throughout the episode with callbacks to some of a few fan favorites returning from the grave briefly to welcome Tyreese into the light.

Tyreese’s death was a big surprise, considering “The Walking Dead” creator Robert Kirkman has said he always saw “The Wire” actor as someone he envisioned playing Tyreese. Kirkman told Business Insider back in October at New York Comic Con “The Walking Dead” team sought him out for the role. 

His death on the show comes one episode after Emily Kinney's Beth Greene was shocking killed off in the season 5 midseason finale last fall.

Coleman first joined “The Walking Dead” back in season three, and was one of many fellow actors from HBO’s “The Wire” to join the series. 

With a growing cast of characters on the series, and more newcomers expected in the latter half of season five, it shouldn’t be too much of a shock that we’ll have to lose some of the major cast members, but this certainly came out of left field for fans.

Executive producer Greg Nicotero explained to Variety why this was the right time to say goodbye to Coleman's character:

Why Tyreese and why now?
Tyreese has had a great story, he’s been on a great journey. Ever since the beginning of season four we’ve noticed that Tyreese was struggling. He’s standing at the fence talking to his girlfriend and he says, “Listen I don’t like killing (walkers) at the fence any more.” He goes out and the helicopter falls through the Big Spot roof and he comes back and says, “I don’t like killing them in here either.” He’s clearly having some issues. Then his girlfriend is murdered and her body’s burned up, and two little girls die. So Tyreese’s real reason for pushing so hard to survive was for the baby, for Judith. Now that he’s reunited with Rick… I think it’s a world where he’s having a hard time accepting that he would want to live there.

In addition, showrunner Scott M. Gimple told The Hollywood Reporter Tyreese's death "just seemed to be what the story dictated."

SEE ALSO: Why "The Walking Dead" casts so many actors from "The Wire"

SEE ALSO: Sunday's "The Walking Dead" was inspired by one of the earliest comics from 11 years ago

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NOW WATCH: There's A Good Reason 'The Walking Dead' Creator Doesn't Use The Word Zombie

The "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" debuted Sunday night on AMC to a bunch of fan fervor. 

The show centers on Bob Odenkirk's criminal lawyer character, Saul Goodman, in his early days of the profession.

As much as we are fans of Odenkirk's, you may be wondering why it was Saul who received a spinoff series instead of maybe Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) or even Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul).

"Better Call Saul" has been in the works for a long time, going back to the days of "Breaking Bad."

However, back then, the Saul spinoff was nothing more than an inside joke in the "BB" writers' room. Creator Vince Gilligan ("Breaking Bad") described to a few media outlets including Entertainment Weekly and Hitfix how the series started off as a joke.

Here is how it was described in Entertainment Weekly:

From the moment Saul Goodman broke onto Bad in season 2, the writers loved the underhanded jester with his crafty problem-solving abilities and drawerful of burner cell phones. Soon they were cracking wise about a Saul spin-off, perhaps with a lawyer lair featuring secret panels stuffed with cash and a bat phone that rang up Supreme Court justices. 'They say all great jokes have a kernel of truth to them," says Gilligan, "and the more we made this joke, the more it became clear that there really was something here."

Gilligan gave a longer explanation to Hitfix:

It started as a lark, which is another word for joke, in the writer's room. It started and it really came from the fact that I love working with Bob, just as we love working with really every actor on "Breaking Bad." But we also loved the character. We love writing for the character. We love putting words in his mouth. And we had so much fun indeed doing that that it started as a lark; we'd come up with some great term or phrase and we'd laugh about it in the writer's room. And then we'd say, 'You know, when we're doing the Saul Goodman show we'll be able to blah, blah, blah, blah.' And we made that comment so many times that it started to dawn on us that it wasn't a lark; there was truth to it. It was not just a joke, but a potentially good idea.

"Better Call Saul" airs Mondays at 10 p.m. on AMC.

SEE ALSO: Everything you should know about "Better Call Saul"

AND: Here's the "Breaking Bad" creator's love letter to fans about spinoff "Better Call Saul"

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NOW WATCH: Bryan Cranston returns as his 'Breaking Bad' character in a Super Bowl ad

Warning: There are spoilers ahead.

Sunday's episode of "The Walking Dead" left viewers with a big unexpected twist. 

However, if you dug a little deeper into the the latest episode of AMC's zombie series, diehard comic fans may have recognized the setting of the season five midseason premiere was inspired by one of the earliest issues of the comic series.

In the episode, Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Tyreese (Chad Coleman), Glenn (Steven Yeun), and Noah (Tyler James Williams) show up at a gated community Noah used to call home.

However, when the group gets there it's completely ravaged. Houses are burnt, bodies are dismembered and strewn across the ground, and the dead are walking aimlessly through the abandoned enclave.

AMC's "The Walking Dead" Story Sync, a companion app for those watching the live show, showed the origin for Sunday's episode came from issue 8 released in May 2004.

Look slightly familiar?

Just as the tiny Rick in the drawing suggests, despite some damaged homes and a few zombies, Michonne (on the show) thinks it's a place where they could potentially live.

In the comics, the caravan of survivors soon learn that's not the case. A snow covered sign prevents the group from seeing a giant warning telling them everyone inside is dead. 

On Sunday's episode, there's no sign, but it's not really needed. One of the walls to the compound is broken down, and many of the dead aimlessly wander around the barren streets. 

The zombie threat isn't as great as it was in the comics, but there are nods to the graphic in the television adaptation. 

One big change Sunday night from the comics centers around Chad Coleman's character, Tyreese. *spoiler* In the episode, we see the untimely, and unexpected, demise of Tyreese's character. In the comics, Tyreese isn't killed off this early. He was given a more brutal death at the hand of the Governor. Of course, we saw that exact scene play out in the TV show with a different character in Tyreese's place. *spoiler*

Sunday night's episode is the most recent example of the series backtracking to adapt earlier moments from the comic series that were skipped over in early seasons.

A few episodes back, the show referenced the entire "Fear the Hunters" storyline about a group of cannibals, which was adapted from issues 61-66.

Before that, Rick tore a guy's throat out with his bare teeth. That was another nod to a moment from issue 57.

What's going on? Is the series running out of ideas that it now needs to head back to the beginning of the comic series before it's in danger of catching up?

Not necessarily. 

Kirkman told us back in Oct. he has enough plans to carry on "The Walking Dead" for at least 11 or 12 seasons. That sounds like a tall order, but if you know where the comics are heading, it starts to make sense. We haven't even hit on one of the biggest storylines yet. 

The second half of season five should start to lay the groundwork for that, and the eventual introduction of one of the series' most beloved villains.

SEE ALSO: Here's when the next big villain is coming to "The Walking Dead"

AND: "The Walking Dead" had a shocking twist Sunday

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NOW WATCH: 'The Walking Dead' Creator Answers Our Burning Questions About The Future

You still haven't watched "Breaking Bad"? Even after the Emmys, the national obsession, and the feverish recommendations of anyone you ask? Oh, so you watched the first two episodes and thought they were cool, but the main character was unlikable, and it seemed like a little too much to get into?

Look. If you need to be convinced that AMC's masterpiece is worth starting and sticking with, then just look at the following graph. It comes from the very useful site Graph TV, which lets you plot the IMDB ratings of any show over time.

Site founder Kevin Wu said "Breaking Bad" had one of the most dramatic graphs he has seen. Not only does it get extremely high ratings, but it keeps going up.

"It seems to just get better within each season and season by season,"Wu wrote in an email.

SEE ALSO: You should watch 'Better Call Saul'

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AMC just released the first trailer for the final season of "Mad Men." Like the teaser montages that play at the end of each episode, it doesn't tell us much. And don't get your hopes up; there's no indication as to whether or not Don Draper will make it out alive.

The new season premieres on Sunday April 5.

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Vince Gilligan has had it with fans harassing the real-life owners of the home where Walter White (Bryan Cranston) lived in Breaking Bad.

Gilligan used a few minutes at the top of Tuesday's Better Call Saul Insider Podcast to urge Breaking Bad fans to be respectful when visiting the Albuquerque house now famous as the home of the White family.

See more Better Call Saul': 'Breaking Bad' Easter Eggs You Missed

The house, which was used for exterior shots of Breaking Bad, has become a tourist attraction, as have many other Breaking Bad landmarks. For the most part, its owners have been fine with fans stopping by to take photos, but things have deteriorated recently.

"Lately, we're hearing from the owner that folks are wandering on to her property, and are being rude to her when she comes out and basically says 'you're on my property,' " said Gilligan. "They are throwing pizzas on roofs and stuff like that. Let me tell you, there is nothing original or funny or cool about throwing a pizza on this lady's roof. It is just not funny. It's been done before. You are not the first."

Jonathan Banks, who plays tough guy Mike Ehrmantraut, added on the podcast, "If I catch you doing it, I will hunt you down."

See more 'Breaking Bad': 25 Most Badass Quotes

In season three's episode "Caballo Sin Nombre," Walter brought over giant pepperoni pizza to his home in an attempt to make amends with Skyler (Anna Gunn). When she rejected his overtures, he threw the pizza on the roof in frustration — with Cranston famously doing the move in one shot. The scene has become a fan favorite, but the reenactments of it have grown old fast for Gilligan and the homeowner.

"We love our fans. I don't love those fans. I don't consider them fans," said Gilligan.  

Listen to his remarks below. 

Here's the original scene:

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NOW WATCH: Bryan Cranston returns as his 'Breaking Bad' character in a Super Bowl ad