Because of their usual brevity and relatively low budget, most web series don’t normally garner the same attention of a big movie or season premiere, but any associated with “Breaking Bad” could certainly be the exception.
The first season of “Employee Training” premiered in advance of the first appearance of Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito) on the third season of “Better Call Saul.” Throughout ten episodes, Fring explains the dos and don’ts of working at Los Pollos Hermanos, the restaurant that serves as the character’s money laundering operation. While the series is presented as an in-universe production meant to educate new employees, each episode also contains numerous references to events in “Breaking Bad,” including quite a few mentions of Fring’s secret life.
“Employee Training” proved successful enough that AMC greenlit two additional seasons of similar content, each focused on different characters from “Better Call Saul.” Season 2 centers on the security skills of Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), while Season 3 provides viewers with an in-depth look at the ethical aspects of the law, courtesy of Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn). All three seasons of the web series earned Emmy nominations for “Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series,” with the first and the third ultimately earning wins. Notably, the second season’s nominations were disqualified as a result of the production running short of the running time required for the category (via TheWrap).
All three seasons of “Employee Training” are available for viewing online (via AMC). For its final season, “Better Call Saul” is switching up the web-series formula with “Slippin’ Jimmy,” a six-part animated series set to focus on Jimmy McGill’s early antics with Marco Pasternak (Mel Rodriguez).