Faith Roswell is a Senior Writer on Screen Rant’s Classic TV team. Since earning her degree in Creative Writing over a decade ago, Faith has written articles on film and TV from a variety of different angles. Faith now combines her knowledge of psychology with her love of monster movies to give more insight into what makes the best ones.
You may have read her Screen Rant lists and features covering horror, sci-fi, and fantasy, or read her Amazon Top 10 book, “Movie Monsters of the Deep.”
Faith has had an extensive career as a writer, appearing on BBC live radio, researching true crime for Rotten Mango podcast, and writing for publications including Mental Floss, Atlas Obscura, and The Daily Jaws before beginning here at Screen Rant.
The TV landscape is currently full of dark and gritty crime dramas, but while gangster shows like MobLand are popular and often extremely high quality with the perfect mix of crime and action, there is one element that many of these shows lack. The crime genre does not always have to be funny, but when a great crime comedy arrives, it tends to make waves.
Breaking Bad is one of the greatest crime thriller TV shows of all time, and part of the reason for its success was the occasional hilarious moments, like Walter White’s infamous “pizza toss” scene. However, Breaking Bad was too brutal and disturbing to really be a comedy, so this is where Hulu’s 10-part crime comedy Deli Boys is thriving.
Breaking Bad’s creator, Vince Gilligan, described the show’s premise as “turning Mr. Chips into Scarface,” and the show follows the suburban dad, Walter White, as he becomes a drug lord. The main Breaking Bad characters find out the truth about Walter at different times, and his son, Flynn, learns about the meth business during the show’s final season, shortly before Walter is killed.
In a way, this is where Deli Boys begins. The show centers on two brothers whose father is killed, after which they discover that he was running a criminal enterprise. Despite knowing little about the drug world, the brothers have inherited their father’s business and set out to continue his work with the help of his consigliere.
Deli Boys is the first scripted series created by Abdullah Saeed.
Deli Boys’ plot would be similar to Breaking Bad’s premise, if Flynn discovered the meth empire after Walter’s death and took over from his father. Deli Boys riffs on the comedy of this idea, resulting in a hilarious crime thriller that took 2025 by storm. The show even has a Breaking Bad connection, as actor Poorna Jagannathan has a small role in Better Call Saul.
While Breaking Bad’s characters could have their funny moments, the show is generally extremely dark. On the other hand, many of the characters in Deli Boys are played by established sitcom actors, resulting in a very different main genre. If Breaking Bad was an outright comedy rather than a violent thriller, Deli Boys could have been the result.
Deli Boys’ first season earned the show a 96% positive critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83% audience rating. This is not too far removed from the debut season of Breaking Bad, which earned 96% and 97% from critics and audiences respectively. While Breaking Bad was occasionally criticized for its slow start, many viewers enjoyed the slow burn nature of its first season.
Even without comparing the show to Breaking Bad, Deli Boys cracked the top 10 streaming chart and was highly praised for its excellent casting choices and its potential for future seasons. The season 1 ending revealed that the family patriarch, Baba Dar, was not killed in an accident, but was murdered, and appears to show his sons preparing to hunt the killer down.
The shocking reveal of Baba Dar’s killer could take Deli Boys in a new direction that brings the show’s tone closer to that of Breaking Bad. However, the writers could also take a different direction and maintain the comedy aspect that makes the series stand out against other family crime dramas that are currently popular, like This City is Ours.
Viewers will not have to wait long to find out what Mir and Raj Dar do next, as Deli Boys is officially returning next month with season 2. The series is set to expand the cast, introducing a money-laundering plotline and defense attorney character. Whether he will resemble the infamous Saul Goodman remains to be seen. Deli Boys returns to Hulu on May 28th.