Better Call Saul ends on AMC this summer, but that doesn’t mean Bob Odenkirk is going anywhere. It has just been reported, per Variety, that Odenkirk will lead the network’s upcoming dramedy series Straight Man. The series is reportedly on the fast track to development, so it appears that AMC does not want to waste much time before getting Odenkirk back on the small screen. While not just yet officially greenlit, the goal is to get the show in front of viewers in 2023.

Straight Man is based on the Richard Russo novel of the same name and features Odenkirk in the lead role. The series is described as a “mid-life crisis tale set at Railton College” and follows Odenkirk as William Henry Devereaux Jr., the “unlikely chairman of the English department in a badly underfunded college in the Pennsylvania rust belt.”

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Aaron Zelman and Paul Lieberstein are the show’s creators and will serve as co-showrunners. The pair is also executive producing alongside Odenkirk, as well as series director Peter Farrelly, Russo, Naomi Odenkirk, and Marc Provissiero. TriStar TV and Gran Via are producing.

“Bob Odenkirk is just as good as it gets,” Dan McDermott, president of entertainment of AMC Studios for AMC Networks, said in a statement. “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.”

Odenkirk added, “I loved Paul and Aaron’s take on Richard’s excellent, entertaining novel. 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.”

Bob Odenkirk Says Goodbye to Saul Goodman

     AMC

This casting information comes as Bob Odenkirk says farewell to Jimmy McGill, aka Saul Goodman, the role he’s been playing since 2015 after first debuting the character on Breaking Bad. The spinoff series Better Call Saul is set to end this year with a sixth and final season, the first half of which arrives on AMC on April 18. The second batch of the final season’s episodes will then start airing on July 11.

Meanwhile, Odenkirk has also been lining up some other work with his time as Saul Goodman finished. He’s reuniting with his Mr. Show partner David Cross for Guru Nation, a comedy series starring the two as rival cult leaders. Odenkirk has also been teasing a sequel to his action film Nobody, so we may not have seen the last of him in his grittier roles yet, either.