Old Breaking Bad script points to Hot Topic as Saul’s job instead of Cinnabon

Breaking Bad writer and producer, Peter Gould, uncovered an old draft of an episode indicating that the titular lawyer, Saul Goodman, could’ve been working at Hot Topic instead of Cinnabon. The problem was merchandise.

On Bluesky, Gould discussed the reworked script from the episode, Granite Slate, which was meant to set up his new job in Better Call Saul, the 2015 spin-off that lasted until 2022. In the old script, the public defender noted that the best case situation is he’s “managing a Hot Topic in Omaha.”

Now while this seems like a silly thing to introduce and question why it is the team shied away from the counterculture retail outlet, it’s more or less due to not wanting to feel like promotion. Whereas Cinnabon had nothing tying itself to Breaking Bad, Hot Topic was already selling merchandise plastered with the series’ icons.

After finding out about the Hot Topic merch, Gould twisted the script, with no one at Cinnabon supposedly knowing about it until the show aired.

Gabriel Stanford-Reisinger Editor-in-Chief

Gabe has been a gamer since he was young, playing games like Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish, Guitar Hero, and whatever looked cool on GameFly. Ever since 2018, he's been infatuated with the inner workings of the gaming and entertainment industries, covering a wide range of topics from video games to TV and film. Starting as a contributor for PSX Extreme, he's worked his way up to its Managing Editor. Using what's he learned over the years, he founded Smash Jump to remind everyone to smash jump.