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‘Breaking Bad’ spin-off to star on Stan

Rebel Wilson is the face of movie streaming service Stan. Photo: Getty

Rebel Wilson is the face of movie streaming service Stan. Photo: Getty

‘Better call Saul’ is a tagline any Breaking Bad fan will know intimately.

The multi Emmy Award-winning show’s questionable lawyer Saul Goodman was so popular with audiences that he now has given a spin-off show, titled Better Call Saul – what else?

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Produced by Sony Pictures Television for US cable TV station AMC, the first 10-episode season will begin airing in mid-February 2015, and serves as a prequel to Breaking Bad, introducing us to the dubious legal practice of shady criminal lawyer Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk.

Set around five years before Walt, Jesse, Skylar et al enter the scene, we find Goodman dealing out legal advice to criminals, wayward spouses and general misfits, alongside colleague Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks, from Breaking Bad) and brother Chuck, played by Michael McKeen (This Is Spinal Tap, The X-Files).

For a little flavour teaser, check out Saul’s website here

AMC network executives were whipped into such a frenzy at the thought of returning to Saul’s money-laundering, legal loophole-exploiting ways, that a second season was given the green light less than three weeks after the first began filming.

With Breaking Bad pedigree behind it – such as producers Peter Gould and Thomas Schnauz, creator and executive producer Vince Gilligan, and executive story editor Gennifer Hutchison – this comes as no surprise.

While there are rumours that Gilligan is in talks with various Breaking Bad lead actors, no cameos have been confirmed as yet. Those of you holding your breath for a Walter White/Heisenberg (Bryan Cranston) appearance may be waiting a while.

The series will be available to watch in Australia on new streaming media service Stan; a co-venture between channel Nine and Fairfax. The service has first-run rights for the series, which will air within hours of screening in the US.

Who’s Stan?

Rebel Wilson is the face of movie streaming service Stan. Photo: Getty

Rebel Wilson is the face of movie streaming service Stan. Photo: Getty

For a monthly fee, Stan boasts “thousands of hours of entertainment, first-run exclusives, award-winning TV shows, blockbuster movies and kids content”. The service will be one of many in the Australian video-on-demand market to choose from in 2015.

Launched by CEO of StreamCo Mike Sneesby with the “face of Stan”, Australian actress Rebel Wilson, Sneesby said the new service is “is a game-changer for entertainment in Australia”.

Wilson added: “Australians will now have a streaming service like the kick-ass ones we already have in the US.”

There’s no word yet on how Stan actually differs from existing Australian services, like Quickflix, Foxtel’s Presto or Ezyflix.

Quickflix founder and CEO Stephen Langsford said the Stan announcement “comes as no surprise that broadcasters are seeking to enter the streaming sector, which Quickflix has pioneered in Australia”.

“Over the last 10 years we have sought to bring about more choice in consumers’ access to movie and TV show entertainment in Australia; first in online DVD rental and then streaming.”

Stan will also offer full seasons of Breaking Bad, so you can catch-up on the entire science-teacher-gone-bad saga or simply re-watch the entire series to get in the mood.

Provided Netflix Australia hasn’t launched by that time, this may be the only way to view Better Call Saul, unless you’re one of 200,000-odd Australians who currently access the US-based subscription video on demand service via a VPN service.

For a rundown on various ways to watch video on demand in Australia, check here.

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