Bob Odenkirk Lands New Role Ahead of 'Better Call Saul' Series Finale

By Stephen Andrew

Bob Odenkirk has already landed a new TV role, ahead of the forthcoming Better Call Saul final season. AMC has announced that Odenkirk is attached to Straight Man, which would mark his third series with the network, after Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. The new show is described as being "a mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College, told in the first person by William Henry Devereaux, Jr. (Odenkirk), the unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt."

Straight Man is being adapted by Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein, from a novel of the same name by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo. If the show is picked up for a full season, the pair would also serve as co-showrunners. "I loved Paul and Aaron's take on Richard's excellent, entertaining novel," Odenkirk said in a press release statement. "Once again a project with AMC with a focus on character depth and sensitivity. 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."

In addition to Odenkirk, Dan McDermott — president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks — also issued a statement on Straight Man. "Bob Odenkirk is just as good as it gets. 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."

In addition to the final season of Better Call Saul, and his new series, fans can also check out Odenkirk's work on the new Audible Original Summer in Argyle, which he stars in and co-created with his son Nate. In an exclusive conversation with PopCulture.com, Odenkirk said of the narrative podcast, "Summer in Argyle is pretty crazy and unhinged... and that allows a lot of freedom when you know that you don't have a network executive sitting there going, 'Wait a second, I've never heard of that!' or, 'That doesn't make sense,' which a lot of comedy doesn't make sense. That's why it's comedy. But we just had such total freedom." Fans interested in check out Summer in Argyle can do so by clicking here.

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