The televised legal drama is almost as old as the medium itself. From the time of “Perry Mason” in the 1950s through the height of “L.A. Law” in the 1980s and 1990s, and continuing all the way to the “Suits” of today, American audiences have nursed a well-documented and lengthy love affair with fictional litigators. It helps that viewers have had a deep bench to throw their lot in with: Whether they’re of the over-the-top Denny Crane variety or cut from the same confident cloth as Alicia Florrick, audiences have had no shortage of compelling, noble and well-rounded practitioners of the law to become attached to.

And then there’s Saul Goodman.