Lesser Known Connection Between How I Met Your Mother and Breaking Bad
How I Met Your Mother was probably the last of its kind. The sitcom, aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, gained popularity among the masses due to its unique structure, humor, and dramatic elements. Although the reviews went from positive to mixed as the seasons continued, it continues to be one of the most beloved sitcoms. After all, it gave us Neil Patrick Harris in a suit and the spin-off How I Met Your Father.
How I Met Your Mother gave us another big thing. One that would have deprived us of a major character in the popular TV series Breaking Bad. No one could have ever thought in their wildest dreams that the relationship-based sitcom could have contributed to a series as dark and sinister as Breaking Bad, but it did and we couldn’t have been more thankful.
How I Met Your Mother Led to The Creation of This Breaking Bad Character
Bob Odenkirk‘s Saul Goodman debuted in the second season of Breaking Bad. He was also supposed to star in the last episode of the series. However, the blank left by his absence due to his commitment to his character Arthur Hobbs in How I Met Your Mother had to be filled by Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ehrmantraut.
Mike Ehrmantraut was one of the most complex characters in Breaking Bad. Banks’ debut in the series was as a guest star. However, he became a prominent part of the series when his character was bumped to the next season.
Read More: “It’s such a big f***king deal”: Better Call Saul Star Bob Odenkirk Wants to Win an Emmy at Any Cost
Mike was the middleman between Saul Goodman and Gus Fring. He was a private investigator who started keeping track of many of Walter White’s dealings. Initially, he considered Walter his enemy. As the series progressed, they were forced to start working together.
Once he had the upper hand, Walter got rid of Mike by the end of the series. However, that was not the last of Jonathan Banks’ character as he appeared in the spin-off series Better Call Saul. Banks was nominated for several awards and even won some due to his impeccable performance as Mike.
Bob Odenkirk is Grateful Mike Ehrmantraut Was Created
Bob Odenkirk played the role of Arthur Hobbs, Marshall Eriksen’s boss in How I Met Your Mother. He played the role in a total of eight episodes between 2008 and 2012. In 2009, he was playing the role of Arthur and Saul at the same time.
The point to be noted here is that if Odenkirk had appeared in that fourth episode of Breaking Bad, Mike’s character probably wouldn’t have existed. The actor admitted as much in a video interview with Wired:
“[I was in] the final four episodes of the second season [of Breaking Bad], and I was only in three of them because I had to do How I Met Your Mother. And because I had to do How I Met Your Mother, they had to invent another character to pull that plot along, and they invented Mike Ehrmantraut. So thank God I was on How I Met Your Mother because they could invent Mike, and then me and Jonathan Banks could do Better Call Saul.”
It is actually quite hilarious that the absence of a character led to the creation of another one, and everyone involved won at the end. Not to mention that Walter White probably paid the debt by reprising his role as Hammond Druthers in How I Met Your Mother in 2013 when he was done playing the role of Walter White.
