Vince Gilligan may be many things: Spinner of a riveting yarn, creator of one of the best television shows in the medium’s history … but apparently, he won’t be adding clairvoyance to his list of accomplishments anytime soon.
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“Breaking Bad” creator Gilligan was on hand at the Television Critics Association summer tour at the Beverly Hilton hotel Thursday to discuss the upcoming CBS police drama “Battle Creek,” which will finally come to gestation in the 2014-2015 season, 12 years after he first conceived of it.
During the panel for the show, Gilligan was asked if, when he first came up with “Battle Creek,” he could have imagined that it would eventually come to fruition thanks to the eventual success of “Breaking Bad.”
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“Yes, I saw it all come together,” Gilligan joked, before getting serious about the topic. “Absolutely not even remotely did I see the success of ‘Breaking Bad’ … I thought, ‘Man, in 12 years I’ll be lucky if I’m not living in half of a double wide.’”
So, no crystal ball?
“I did not see it coming,” Gilligan reiterated.
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While Gilligan has an executive producer credit on the series, his involvement in the show will be limited, with “House” bigwig David Shore — also an executive producer on the series — guiding the show. During the panel, Gilligan, who’s currently working on the “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul,” expressed regret that he wouldn’t be more hands-on with his creation.
“I’m sorry that I’m not a bigger part of this show as I would like to be because of my duties on ‘Better Call Saul,’” Gilligan said, adding that he’s “proud to be a part of this.”
The series stars “Rescue Me” alum Dean Winters as a cynical cop in Battle Creek, Michigan, and Josh Duhamel as a seemingly flawless FBI agent. And while crime will be at the forefront of the series, Shore vowed that there would be plenty of laughs mixed in with the police work.
“It was a very funny script that Vince gave me and we’re turning that forward. I want to have as much humor as possible in this. I think it’s really important to the show,” Shore said, while emphasizing that “Battle Creek” is “not a sitcom in any way, shape or form.”
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Shore added, “I would be very proud if this is as funny as I think it is.”