From “SNL” To “Breaking Bad”: 24 Surprising Facts About “Better Call Saul” Star Bob Odenkirk

Bob went into cardiac arrest in between shooting scenes for his hit AMC series. Thankfully, his costars Rhea Seehorn and Patrick Fabian were nearby to call for help. Thanks to their quick actions and the help of a set medic and their COVID-compliance officer, Bob was revived and made it to the hospital for treatment.

As costar Jonathan Banks bluntly put it at the recent PaleyFest Q&A for Better Call Saul, "Bobby was dead." After 12 minutes of CPR, an AED (automated external defibrillator) was used to try to "shock" Bob back to life.

As Bob himself stated in a February Howard Stern interview: "When the defibrillator doesn't work once, that's not good. When it doesn't work the second time, that's kinda like forget it. But then they jacked it up a third time, and it got me back to a rhythm."

"SNL and I just weren't meant for each other."

One of Bob's earliest paying jobs was as a comedy writer on the juggernaut Saturday Night Live. This is a dream job for many, including Bob, but he did not enjoy much of his tenure, finding the environment stressful, feeling out of place, and rarely being satisfied with the work he was bringing to the table. By his own admission, he did not seem to get along well with producer Lorne Michaels, to whom Bob was not shy about conveying his feelings that the show had not been funny in years.

However, there was a silver lining for Bob...

Before (and during) work at SNL, Bob sharpened his funny bone performing at Chicago's legendary improv theater the Second City. He worked for years with his good friend Jeff, long before he would cement his place on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Newcomers Tim and Chris shared the stage with Bob before they were invited to star on SNL in 1990 and '91, respectively.

When asked by his daughter, "What's the best time you ever had doing your job?" Bob answered, "Doing a scene with Chris Farley seven times a week at Second City."

Chris's sweaty swagger and exuberance inspired Bob to go home and create a character for his friend to play, breathing life into, arguably, one of the most iconic sketches in TV history...

Although it only lasted for 13 episodes in 1990–91, MTV's sketch comedy program The Ben Stiller Show left an indelible mark and has gained a rabid cult following over the years. It was canceled, then won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program; go figure. 

Though people may not remember the show itself, surely they have enjoyed the talent that rose from its ashes. In addition to its namesake, comedy great Ben Stiller, the show also paved the way for actors Andy Dick and Janeane Garofalo, and writers like Judd Apatow and David Cross.

Speaking of David...

Jeneane introduced Bob to her friend David one day at his apartment. Dave was new in town, and she suggested the two meet and play a game of one-on-one basketball to break the ice. Bob politely declined because he had just made a great-looking sandwich.

Years later, the duo would meet again and hit it off right away, sharing similar comedic sentimentality and loving humor that lives outside the norm. Their relationship and writing efforts would one day bloom into HBO's sketch comedy show Mr. Show With Bob and David.

Much like The Ben Stiller Show before it, The Dana Carvey Show burned bright and fast, airing only seven of its eight episodes in 1996. With humor that was a combination of too dumb and too smart for its own good, the show failed to find an audience. But nevertheless, its inhabitants would soon find their place in the world:

Costar Stephen Colbert would eventually take over for David Letterman on The Late Show.

And another newcomer named Steve Carell would go on to star in that little show called The Office. Speaking of which...

While casting was commencing for the US version of The Office,  Bob was told by a good source, "It's between you and Steve Carell."

Bob is a genius and would have worked great as the self-absorbed Michael Scott, but it is hard all these years later to imagine anyone besides Steve as the boss who can't keep his foot out of his mouth.

In addition to writing and performing, Mr. Odenkirk has spent a fair amount of his career in the director's chair, both for television and the big screen.

IMDb.com lists 21 different titles that Bob has had a hand in directing, some of the projects multiple times — everything from Mr. Show segments to feature film comedies like The Brothers Solomon with Will Arnett and Will Forte. He even won some awards with his indie darling Melvin Goes to Dinner.

She has also produced many movies, including Bob's first feature film, Melvin Goes to Dinner. The couple acknowledges that being married and working together has its challenges, but Bob seems to appreciate that Naomi doesn't pull any punches and gives her uncensored opinion about a project, even if it goes against how he feels about it.

After spotting them at a club, Tenacious D (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) were invited by David Cross to play one of the earliest Mr. Show test shows, and of course they killed it. 

After the duo gained steam out in the "alternative" club scene, the industry was starting to show interest. Bob and David coproduced a series of short films with "the D." The shorts were cobbled together into half-hour episodes for HBO in 1997, though they only ended up airing the first episode.

Nevertheless, the universe had bigger plans for J.B. and K.G.

Back in 2004, an unknown duo named Tim & Eric sent an unsolicited envelope to Bob, one of their comedy heroes. Inside was a T-shirt, a DVD, and an invoice...yes, an invoice for the unrequested goods. This tactic got the attention of old Bob, so he gave them a call. 

In order to help them try to get their particular brand of comedy out there, Bob contacted Adult Swim, and miraculously...they passed. But coincidentally, unbeknownst to Bob, Tim & Eric had also sent their DVD to a different contact at Adult Swim, and miraculously...they were interested!

So, even though Bob's efforts to get them a deal did not land, their success still owes a great deal to him. He was their first champion, helped the boys flesh out their content, acted and voiced characters in sketches, and ended up being a creative consultant (*cough* executive producer) on their program Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! The boys may have eventually made it on their own, but it seems worth mentioning that things would not have gone the same without Bob in their corner.

Bob had heard of the new AMC show when he was offered a guest arc as the lawyer in Season 2 but had never actually seen any episodes. He knew the gist and had seen the ads showing Bryan Cranston in his underwear, but he had no idea of the future pop cultural phenomenon he would be stepping into. It took the excited coaxing and high praise of a good friend to convince him to take the job.

Even after he was added as a regular to the show by Season 3, he had still not seen any of it. He recalls a time reviewing script pages with Bryan: 

"So Gus is...your friend, right?" Bob had no idea that Bryan's Walter White and Giancarlo Esposito's Gus Fring were, in fact, nemeses. 

Bryan confirmed, "You've never seen this show, have you?"

Soon after, Bob caught up on all the episodes.

It may see like a foregone conclusion that of course Bob would reprise his role from Breaking Bad on the spinoff show Better Call Saul. He initially told executive producers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould that he was on board in the early stages of the project. But when it came to locking in the offer that would transplant Bob to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for five months out of the year, that was a deal breaker, and he had to decline the job of a lifetime. 

It seems that Bob was not interested in leaving his wife and his teenage children going through their formative years for that long a stretch. When his kids got wind of this, they had a good heart-to-heart with their dad and convinced him that, in fact, he would be letting down a lot of people by not taking the job — some of those people being their own friends. It took his family to convince him that they would get along without him for those long stretches and that he should absolutely take the job. The world is indebted to Bob's family.

Larry David must like Bob.

In Season 8 of Seinfeld, Bob played medical student Ben whom Elaine dated in order to fulfill her dream of "dating a doctor."

As Curb's "Porno Gil," he was tasked by producer Larry with improvising the raunchiest story of "working on set" he could come up with.  Bob concocted a very NSFW story involving Tabasco sauce and his ass.

When the producers of the 2021 film could not clear an image of the original 1978 actor who played Michael Myers victim Bob Simms, they were forced to improvise.

As told by Blood Disgusting, director David Gordon Green explains:  "Somehow we couldn't clear an image of Bob for our television news broadcast. And so I was frustrated by that because I wanted to acknowledge Bob's death, but we couldn't get footage of Bob. So I googled 'Bob 1970s high school,' and a photo of Bob Odenkirk popped up that looked just like Bob! So I thought, He's probably easier to find; let's go get him!"

Coincidentally, young Bob O. was wearing glasses in the pic, which was a big selling point to pawn him off as bespectacled character Bob Simms.

Bob signed off on the photo, and a horror film Easter egg was hatched.