YouTube Proves That ‘Breaking Bad’ Is Part Of The ‘Roseanne’ Cinematic Universe

As we’ve mentioned before, the fictional reality of the TV show Roseanne is a complex one, full of overlapping dimensions and pocket universes. Now things are even more complicated because it seems that Roseanne just might share continuity with another show about the relatable struggles of middle-class America: Breaking Bad.

It all boils down to the fact that Bob Odenkirk, who famously played Saul Goodman on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, once appeared in an episode of Roseanne. Of course, two Hollywood projects sharing an actor doesn’t necessarily mean that they exist in the same reality; otherwise, that would mean that Friends takes place in the same world as Se7en (AKA “That One With The Head in the Box”). 

But in the scene, which has been shared online by YouTuber AsturiasFamilyVideos, Odenkirk’s character pulls a low-key Saul Goodman-esque scam at Roseanne’s restaurant, the Lanford Lunch Box.  

Even curiouser, this grifter’s name is “Jim” – as in Jimmy McGill, Saul’s birth name? And while Roseanne takes place in the fictional town of Lanford, Illinois, Jimmy is from Cicero, Illinois – making it conceivable that he found his way to Lanford at some point before relocating to Albuquerque. That being said, Dan Conner mentions that Jim is in the “shoe business” – which could be explained away as either a lie, or maybe Jimmy worked at a shoe store before becoming a lawyer, and, eventually, the world’s sketchiest Cinnabon manager.

Complicating matters slightly, Rhea Seehorn, who played Kim Wexler on Better Call Saul, appeared as an animal shelter employee on a recent episode of The Conners, the newly Roseanne-less Roseanne. Although, that show takes place today, while the events of Better Call Saul only went as far as 2010, perhaps implying that Kim will change her name and profession in the interim. 

Also, it’s been suggested by some that Breaking Bad takes place in the same universe as The Walking Dead, thus paving the way for a season of The Conners in which Dan and Jackie have to fight their way through hordes of flesh-eating zombies. 

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Thumbnail: ABC/AMC