AMC Renews 'Better Call Saul' for a Third Season

Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill in AMC's "Better Call Saul" which was renewed for season 3 ( Photo by AMC Networks Entertainment).

LOS ANGELES - AMC has renewed the "Breaking Bad" offshoot "Better Call Saul" for a third season, the network announced today.

The show, which has been burning up the ratings since its premiere last year, is set six years before small-time criminal lawyer Jimmy McGill meets Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, in "Breaking Bad." The new series means the return of Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy and his alter ego Saul Goodman, and his “fixer” Mike Erhmantraut, played Jonathan Banks.

The 10-episode season 3 will premiere in 2017.

"Better Call Saul" made its second season premiere last month with an estimated 2.6 million total viewers, which was a big drop from last year's much anticipated series premiere of 6.9 million total viewers. That series premiere benefited from having "The Walking Dead" as its lead-in on a Sunday night. This season, the show premiered on its usual Monday night time slot.