When Sony Pictures TV and the U.K.’s Channel 4 ordered their new sci-fi anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams in 2016, immediate comparisons were drawn to Black Mirror. Electric Dreams is based on the short stories of celebrated author Philip K. Dick, all taking place at some point in the near or distant future. While the source material might predate Black Mirror, one couldn’t help but wonder if the success of the Netflix series inspired Amazon to pick up U.S. rights to Electric Dreams, which the internet giant did in February 2017.

Bryan Cranston, who stars in one of the episodes, is also serving as an executive producer on the series, part of his first-look deal with Sony. Yahoo Entertainment sat down with Cranston and asked him about the influence of Black Mirror on Electric Dreams.

“I don’t know if it influenced us, but it stimulated us,” Cranston told us. “It’s a good show, and we have to be as good as that or better than that show. And whether we achieve that, it’s the goal of trying to do that. So we look at Black Mirror as friendly competition. We tell different stories in different ways. It’s good to have shows like that that are out there in the zeitgeist of it all.”

“We want to keep working making Electric Dreams the best it can [be]. And when you start with your source material being the short story library of Philip K. Dick, we’ve got a good head start.”

Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams premieres Friday on Amazon.

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