Every Tv Show Created By Vince Gilligan Ranked

Vince Gilligan is an American writer, producer, and director known for the AMC drama Breaking Bad, starring Bryan Cranston as a high school chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine cook extraordinaire. After the show’s massive success, Gilligan also created the equally popular prequel spin-off series Better Call Saul, featuring Bob Odenkirk in a leading role. However, before creating these breakout hits, Gilligan worked on other mainstream television series and films.

In his youth, Gilligan attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. During his time at NYU, Gilligan earned a Virginia Governor’s Screenwriting Award for his screenplay Home Fries, which was later turned into a film starring Drew Barrymore and Luke Wilson. In addition to Home Fries, Gilligan also wrote Wilder Napalm, Hancock, and El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which premiered on Netflix.

The accomplished writer, director, and producer has received a slew of awards throughout his career, including four Primetime Emmy Awards, six Writers Guild of America Awards, and two Critics Choice Television Awards. Gilligan has recently announced a new project starring Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) to stream on AppleTV+, though details remain limited. Here is every show created by Vince Gilligan, Ranked.

5 The Lone Gunmen

     Ten Thirteen Productions  

Gilligan once again teamed up with Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz to create The X-Files spin-off The Lone Gunmen. The series followed John Fitzgerald Byers, Melvin Frohike, and Richard Langly, a triplet of private investigators who also manage a conspiracy theory publication. The titular trio were regular guest stars on The X-Files and often helped assist Special Agent Fox Mulder on some of his more unusual cases. While its predecessor was more of a hard-hitting drama, The Lone Gunmen offered something more lighthearted and comedic. Despite receiving positive reviews, the show was canceled after only 13 episodes.

4 Battle Creek

     Shore Z Productions  

David Shore and Gilligan teamed up in 2005 to create Battle Creek, an entertaining buddy cop dramedy starring Josh Duhamel and Dean Winters as an ill-matched police detective and FBI agent duo, who rely on their sharp wit and cunning to solve crimes. The short-lived series stood out from traditional cop shows with its biting humor and darker tone. Despite being well-liked by audiences, the series was not renewed for a second season and ended after only 13 episodes. Die-hard Breaking Bad fans will notice some foreshadowing to Gilligan’s later work, particularly in the maple syrup sting operation in episode two of the series.

3 Better Call Saul

     High Bridge Productions  

In the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, Gilligan and Peter Gould pull off a monumental task, creating a successful spin-off to an already beloved show, that to some even surpasses its predecessor. In the series, Gilligan and Gould explore the fascinating backstory of Jimmy McGill and his eventual transformation into his Saul Goodman character. Bob Odenkirk delivers an award-winning and nuanced performance as the well-intentioned, downtrodden, and dubious Jimmy McGill as he tries to carve out a place for himself in an unforgiving world. The series was celebrated by audiences and critics alike, with The Guardian calling it “more profound than Breaking Bad”.

2 Breaking Bad

     High Bridge Entertainment  

In his hit crime drama Breaking Bad, Gilligan skillfully explored the dichotomy of good and evil through his main protagonist Walter White. Walter, a once mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher trying to provide for his family after a devastating cancer diagnosis, undergoes a complete transformation throughout the series’ five-season run into a self-aggrandizing drug lord, with little to no redeeming qualities. Even Gilligan recently stated that he becomes less fond of Walter White with time. The series inspired a spin-off titled Better Call Saul featuring the backstory of one of Breaking Bad’s lesser-explored characters Saul Goodman.

1 The X-Files

While technically created by Chris Carter, Gilligan’s involvement in The X Files was substantial: he wrote 30 episodes for the series and produced many more while quickly rising through the ranks to become the executive producer. Upon its release in 1993, the ground-breaking series took the world by storm. It was the first show of its kind and massively influenced pop culture. It inspired real-life conspiracy groups, one-to-one fan engagement, a spin-off series, two films, and a revival.

Gilligan’s work as a writer on the show also opened doors for his eventual breakout success with Breaking Bad. He has often stated that his work on The X Files greatly influenced his storytelling and that he learned to become a showrunner by watching Chris Carter work. Furthermore, in one of the episodes that Gilligan wrote, titled “Drive,” Bryan Cranston stars as a villain who kidnaps Mulder to help him escape a rather unique predicament. Gilligan told the New York Times, “We had this villain, and we needed the audience to feel bad for him when he died. Bryan alone was the only actor who could do that, who could pull off that trick. And it is a trick. I have no idea how he does it." Years later when casting for the complicated character of Walter White, Gilligan was met with the same dilemma and ultimately found the same solution.