-Welcome back to "Late Night."
We're here with Bob Odenkirk.
I have spent -- because my wife's family is from there,
I've spent a lot of time in Albuquerque.
It's a very beautiful place.
I haven't spent a lot of time in the summer months.
And I feel like you had some real desert work
over the last couple of seasons. -Yeah, season five,
there's a huge episode
that takes place entirely in the desert.
Do you know it, anybody? [ Cheers and applause ]
Me and Jonathan Banks, Mike, we're out in the desert.
We're trying to -- We're getting chased by some people.
And we actually shot for 14 days
in 110-degree heat in the desert.
And I'll tell you what. Here's how hot it was.
When we shoot outside in Albuquerque
and the surrounding areas, we have a snake wrangler
who comes out and checks around and finds the little fellas.
They're everywhere. And puts them in a bag for you.
And then holds onto them while you act
and then let's them go back to their business.
[ Laughter ]
'Cause snakes don't want you acting on their land.
-They have no appreciation for the art form.
-They don't care about thespianism.
[ Laughter ]
And so the snake wrangler's working,
and he's not finding any snakes,
which is kind of concerning, right?
Like, we don't have a good snake wrangler, maybe.
And we go ask him, "Why are there no snakes in your bag?"
And he goes, "It's too hot for snakes."
[ Laughter ]
That's pretty hot. -Yeah.
-When the snakes are like, "Yeah, no, no, not --"
[ Laughter ]
-You worked at "SNL" as a writer.
-Yeah. -And I think a lot of people --
I certainly remember the first time I met Lorne Michaels.
And you, in your head, have this burden of,
"I hope I don't say anything that might blow it,
'cause I've gotten this close."
You played it slightly differently.
-Well, yeah.
Well, Lorne is a busy man.
And oftentimes, when it's your first time to be interviewed,
you do have a waiting period.
-There's a bit of waiting on the couch outside.
-A couple hours. -Yeah.
-And for me, it was about an hour and 45 minutes.
And that time was not good to me, because I was, like,
thinking, "How do I work this? I want this job.
How do I get this? You know what?
This guy doesn't want his ass kissed."
[ Laughter ] "He's had that.
He doesn't need to hear that.
He wants to hear there's a critical mind at work."
[ Laughter ]
So, "It's your turn, Mr. Odenkirk,
you little nothing guy from Chicago,
who's not even a waiter yet."
They wouldn't even let me wait on tables at the restaurant.
And I come in, and I'm like -- Lorne's like,
"Well, now, uh, what do you think of the show?"
And I'm like, "It's not great."
[ Laughter ] "It's not -- It's not great."
But without the smile. I'm totally serious.
"Yeah, I don't like it. I like 'Monty Python.'
Yeah, that's better. Better."
"Well, you know, we're thinking about having writers here."
"Okay. Well, sure, the show could be a lot better."
You know, I'm critical, very harsh,
and for some reason, he still hired me."
-It's crazy. It worked.
-I think he meets a lot of crazy young people.
-Yeah, I think that's true, and I do think --
I mean, I think youth and a little bit of craziness
are actually very key.
-Yeah, especially in a comedy writer.
-Yes.
-They should be a little unhinged.
-Well, because this is really interesting to me.
So one of the -- I love "Mr. Show,"
which is your fantastic, you and David Cross,
your fantastic sketch show. -Yeah.
Everything I learned at "Saturday Night Live,"
I got to use making "Mr. Show."
-There was, I will say, a fascinating thing you said
about writers bringing in ideas and that you would not
hear an idea and dismiss it as being a bad idea.
-No. -You as a group of very talented
writers would just drill down and find the comedy in it.
-To a torturous extent, if somebody pitched an idea,
any idea, we would work it over until we found something.
And I was tenacious and unpleasant in pushing it.
But you know what? It really worked for us.
I mean, my theory was, "We got a bunch of
supposedly funny people here.
I'm paying them, right?" -Yeah.
-"There's something in there. If you said it,
there's something in there, and I insist upon it."
[ Laughter ] And we did.
We did a great job with that. We wrote --
Some of the funniest sketches came out of dead-dog pitches.
-Yeah. -Just garbage pitches.
-You obviously knew this season was the last season
when you started filming it. -Yeah.
-You know, a character you spent more time with
than any character you've ever played?
-Yeah. -Did you feel like you had to
emotionally say goodbye as you filmed the last few episodes?
-Not really. I think I'm saying goodbye
as I watch the final season of "Better Call Saul" play out.
I certainly know where the story goes,
but there's something about the closure of watching it,
because it's you -- if you've been with us,
if you've been watching "Better Call Saul,"
I can almost assure you you're gonna love where it goes.
The writers did a marvelous job, and so I know when I watch those
final scenes is when I'll really confront the fact
that this character is past, for me.
It's been the greatest character you could dream of.
It's funny on one page, and three pages later,
it's heartbreaking.
And so, I don't know, I got very lucky here.
-That's amazing. The last thing I want
to ask you about, because this seems like a dream to me.
Your son is comedy writing, and the two of you did
a podcast together with a lot of your old friends.
-"Summer in Argyle," and it's on Audible.
And it's got David Cross and Tim Robinson is on it
and so many funny people.
Stephanie Courtney, just the best, Brian Posehn.
-Do you feel like you're different when your --
-It's pure comedy, and he reminds me
of working with a young me. It's like falling through
a time warp, and it's pure, insane silliness,
the kind of stuff you loved when you were 20.
-So that must make you intensely proud.
-It makes me intensely proud and worried for him.
[ Laughter ]
-Hey, thank you so much for all the years of Saul
and for being here tonight. Really appreciate it.
-Thanks, man. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Bob Odenkirk. "Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama"
is out now, and new episodes of "Better Call Saul"
air Mondays on AMC and AMC+.