Jump to content

The Good Wife

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 72.205.51.104 (talk) at 02:07, 16 May 2011 (→‎Main cast). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Good Wife
File:TheGoodWife.png
Intertitle
GenreLegal drama
Created byRobert King
Michelle King
StarringJulianna Margulies
Christine Baranski
Josh Charles
Alan Cumming
Matt Czuchry
Archie Panjabi
Graham Phillips
Makenzie Vega
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes45 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersRidley Scott
Tony Scott
Dee Johnson
David W. Zucker
Michelle King
Robert King
Brooke Kennedy
Production locationChicago
Running time43 minutes
Production companiesScott Free Productions
King Size Productions
CBS Television Studios
Original release
NetworkCBS
ReleaseSeptember 22, 2009 (2009-09-22) –
present

The Good Wife is an American legal drama that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2009.[1] The series was created by Robert King and Michelle King. It stars Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski, Archie Panjabi, and Josh Charles, and is executive-produced by the Kings, brothers Ridley and Tony Scott, Charles McDougall, and David W. Zucker.[2]

On October 7, 2009, CBS gave the series a full-season pickup, extending the first season from 13 to 22 episodes,[3] later extended to 23 episodes.[4] On January 14, 2010, CBS renewed the drama for a second season,[5] which premiered on September 28, 2010.[6]

Plot

The series focuses on Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies), whose husband Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), a former Cook County state's attorney, has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal. Alicia returns to her old job as a litigator (after taking years out to be a mother) to provide for her two children.[7] The series was partly inspired by the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal,[8] as well as by other prominent American political sex scandals, particularly those of John Edwards and Bill Clinton:

Michelle [King]: We came up with the idea about a year and half ago. There had been this waterfall of these kinds of scandals, from Bill and Hillary [Clinton], to Dick Morris, to Eliot Spitzer, to name just a few. I think they’re all over our culture. And there was always this image of the husband up there apologizing and the wife standing next to him. I think the show began when we asked, "What are they thinking?" And Robert and I started talking about it from there. ... You know, what’s interesting about a lot of these political scandals is that the women are lawyers, too. Hillary [Clinton] is a lawyer. Elizabeth Edwards is a lawyer. I think that got us thinking along those lines. That is, we knew she had to go back to work, and we had so many female lawyers to draw on.[9]

Main cast

  • Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick: The wife of a disgraced state's attorney; Alicia returns to work as a junior litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. Having spent so many years as "the good wife", Alicia finds herself at the bottom of the career ladder, trying to juggle both home and professional life with the ongoing scandal surrounding her husband, Peter, with whom she has two children, Zach and Grace.
  • Josh Charles as Will Gardner: An old boyfriend of Alicia's from Georgetown and a partner at the law firm. He and Alicia share an ongoing attraction for one another.
  • Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma: The firm's in-house private investigator. Kalinda previously worked for Peter, who fired her after accusing her of working two jobs. She has a cynical, misanthropic outlook on human behavior. There is mild speculation about Kalinda's sexuality throughout the series. Kalinda often plays a major part in winning the case for Lockhart Gardner, if not always ethically. In season two she demands a $50,000 salary raise.
  • Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart: A senior partner at the law firm, she supports other female lawyers. She is very liberal and has strong opinions on many issues, including an extreme dislike of guns and violence, while at the same time developing a romantic relationship with an ultra-conservative ballistics expert.
  • Matt Czuchry as Cary Agos: In the first season, Cary is a junior associate at Lockhart Gardner. In the first episode, it is established that there is only one permanent position, putting Cary into competition with Alicia. At the end of first season, the firm selects Alicia, and Cary goes to work for the state attorney's office.
  • Alan Cumming as Eli Gold: Eli is Peter's campaign manager. His style of management is to be blunt, often rude. Eli is separated from his wife and has a daughter, Marissa (played by Sarah Steele), who is similarly outspoken and shares a healthy relationship with her father. He has a brief shot at romance with Natalie Flores (played by America Ferrera), a student who worked in the past as a nanny for Wendy Scott-Carr. Eli leaks details to the press of Natalie's status as an illegal immigrant but as he comes to know her he is seen to regret this and later helps her get a job as an intern at Lockhart Gardner. Gold is modeled on Chicago politician Rahm Emanuel.[10] He was promoted to the main cast in season 2.[11]

Recurring cast

  • Chris Noth as Peter Florrick: Alicia's husband, and current and former Cook County State's Attorney. He was imprisoned for political corruption. During his trial, it was revealed he had numerous extramarital affairs with prostitutes. In season one, he was released from prison to house arrest using electronic monitoring. However, he was later cleared when a court dismissed the corruption case against him. In season one’s finale, Peter launched an ultimately successful campaign for his old job.
  • Mary Beth Peil as Jackie Florrick: Mother of Peter. She is reluctant to believe in her son's corrupt behavior and is hopeful Alicia and Peter will reunite and once again become a family.
  • Titus Welliver as Glenn Childs: Former Cook County State's Attorney. Childs was responsible for leaking the Peter Florrick sex tape to the media. He is Peter's arch rival and will do anything to keep Peter from emerging from disgrace. After Peter's fall, he was the new states' attorney. During Peter's campaign for the return of the top spot, Glenn is forced to withdraw his candidacy due to the fact Peter knows of his illegal dealings with nannies.
  • Michael Ealy as Derrick Bond: A new partner at the merged Lockhart Gardner and Bond. He plays Will and Diane against each other, forcing Will to plan a new firm. He fails when Will and Diane find out his scheme and turn on him. In 'Great Firewall' he is removed as a named partner.
  • Anika Noni Rose as Wendy Scott-Carr: Ran unsuccessfully against Peter and Childs for state's attorney.
  • Joe Morton as Daniel Golden: A member of Peter's legal team.
  • Zach Grenier as David Lee: A partner and head of Family Law at the firm.
  • Jill Flint as Lana Delaney: An FBI agent and an acquaintance of Kalinda.
  • Scott Porter as Blake Calamar: A new private investigator for the firm who competes with Kalinda. He tries to frame Kalinda for putting a doctor in a coma but fails. He finds out that her former name was Leela Tahiri and Peter helped her change it. In return, she slept with Peter. After this revelation, he disappears after Bond is removed as name partner.
  • Dallas Roberts as Owen Cavanaugh: Alicia's mischievous, openly gay younger brother.
  • Chris Butler as Matan Brody: A prosecutor. After Blake confronted Kalinda in "Ham Sandwich" about her one-night stand with Peter, Blake leaves after giving one last interview to Matan.
  • Michael J. Fox as Louis Canning: Canning is a rival attorney who has squared Alicia on various occasions. Canning has been known to use trickery in his cases. He offers Alicia a job in "Wrongful Termination", which she rejects.

Crew

The series was created by Robert King and Michelle King who also serve as executive producers and show runners.[2] The pair had produced the short-lived legal drama In Justice that aired as a mid-season replacement in early 2006.[12] The creators had previously worked extensively in feature films. Scott Free productions helped to finance The Good Wife and Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and David W. Zucker are also credited as executive producers.[13][14] Executive producer Dee Johnson (ER, Commander in Chief and Army Wives) added television writing experience to the team.[12][14] Charles McDougall directed the pilot episode and was the pilot's other executive producer.[15] McDougall had previously enjoyed success as the director of the pilot for Desperate Housewives. All seven executive producers returned when a full series was ordered and they were joined by executive producer Brooke Kennedy.[16] McDougall left the crew after directing and executive producing the second episode.[16][17] The series is produced by Bernadette Caulfield who had previously worked on the HBO polygamy drama Big Love. Co-producer Ron Binkowski added post production experience to the pilot and returned for the first season.

Several new producers were added to the crew once CBS ordered a full season. Angela Amato Velez joined the crew as a consulting producer and writer bringing legal experience from her careers as a police officer and legal aid attorney and writing experience from the police dramas Third Watch and Southland. Todd Ellis Kessler, who had recently completed production on The Unit and had previously worked on legal drama The Practice, joined the staff as a co-executive producer and writer.[18] Kessler's fellow The Unit producer Ted Humphrey served as a supervising producer and writer and then as co-executive producer and writer. Corinne Brinkerhoff completed the production team as a writer and co-producer. Brinkerhoff had previously worked as a writer and story editor on Boston Legal.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Good Wife episodes

Ratings

Season Timeslot (EDT) Season Premiere Season Finale TV Season Rank Viewers
(in millions)
1 Tuesday 10:00 P.M. September 22, 2009 May 25, 2010 2009–2010 #18 13.12[19]
2 Tuesday 10:00 P.M. September 28, 2010 May 17, 2011 2010-2011 — —

International broadcasts

Country TV network(s) Notes
 Argentina Universal Channel
 Costa Rica Teletica Season 1 began in 2010 and ended in April 2011; Season 2 will begin in October 2011
 Australia Network Ten Season 1 - Initially shown Monday nights from February 8, 2010.[20] Moved to Sunday nights at 8:30pm from April 11, 2010.
Season 2 - Initially shown Wednesday nights from October 20, 2010. Moved to Thursday nights at 8:30pm from January 20, 2011.
 Belgium RTL-TVI Premiered on February 4, 2011, in French. Shown Friday nights at 8:20pm.
 Brazil Universal Channel Premiered on November 9, 2009 as The Good Wife - Pelo Direito de Recomeçar ("The Good Wife - For the Right to Start Over")[21]
 Bulgaria Hallmark Channel
TV7		 January 24, 2010
January 5, 2011
 Canada Global
V		 Premiered on September 22, 2009, in English. Tuesday nights at 10:00pm. (Simulcast with CBS)
Premiered on September 1, 2010, as Une femme exemplaire ("The Good Wife", in French).[22] Wednesday nights at 8:00pm.
 Croatia HRT, Universal Channel First season started on HRT 2 on January 4, 2011 as Dobra žena ("Good Wife" in Croatian).
 Cyprus CyBC
 Denmark TV 2 Denmark Episodes 1-11 were broadcast in 2010.
Episodes 12-23 will be broadcast in 2011.
 Finland Nelonen Premiered on May 31, 2010 as Good Wife
 France M6 Premiered on February 3, 2011 at 8:45pm
 Germany ProSieben
Kabel 1		 Premiered on March 31, 2010 at 10:15pm on Prosieben.
Season 2 will premiere on March 11, 2011 at 09:15pm on Kabel 1.
 Greece Skai TV Premiered on October 28, 2010 at 10:00pm
 Hong Kong TVB Pearl Premiered on April 22, 2010 at 10:30pm
 Hungary TV2, Universal Channel Shown as A férjem védelmében ("In my husband's protection")
 Ireland RTÉ Two Broadcast on Mondays at 9:30pm[23] since March 15, 2010.[24]
 Israel yes stars drama Season 1 and 2.
 Italy Rai 2 Premiered October 9, 2010, broadcasting Saturdays at 9:50pm.
 Japan NHK Broadcast on Tuesdays at 11:00pm[25] since October 5, 2010.
 Malaysia DIVA Premiered January 2009, broadcasting Mondays at 9:00pm.
 Mexico Universal Channel
 The Netherlands NET 5[26] Premiered January 1, 2010
 New Zealand TV3 (New Zealand) Season one: premiered February 2010, airing Tuesday nights at 9:30pm, TV3. Season two: premiered March 2011, airing Sunday nights at 9.30pm, TV3.
 Norway TV2 Premiered March 10, 2010 on Wednesdays at 9:40 pm.
 Panama Universal Channel
 Philippines Velvet/Diva Universal Premiered July 8, 2010
 Poland 13th Street Premiered January 20, 2010 as Żona idealna ("Perfect Wife")
 Portugal Fox Life Premiered September 14, 2010
 Russia Domashny Premiered 2010.
 Saudi Arabia MBC 4 Premiered January 19, 2010.
Serbia Serbia Universal Channel
 Singapore Hallmark Channel Premiered January 2010
 Slovakia TV JOJ Premiered August 22, 2010 as Good Wife.
 Slovenia Universal Channel, POP Brio Premiered September 7, 2010 on POP Brio, airing Tuesdays at 8:55 pm.
 South Africa M-Net Premiered February 2010
 Sweden TV4 Premiered April 13, 2010 at 9:00pm
 Switzerland TSR 1 (French)
RSI La 1 (Italian)		 Premiered November 5, 2010 (French)
Premiered March 3, 2010 (Italian)
Taiwan Taiwan Diva Universal (Asia),
PTS & HiHD		 Season 1 - Premiered on Hallmark Channel (Asia). Airing Monday to Friday at 11:00 pm, since September 1, 2010 on PTS and HiHD.
Season 2 - Premiered January 10, 2011 on Diva Universal (Asia), airing Monday at 9:00 pm.
 Thailand Hallmark Channel Premiered January 2010
 Turkey Dizimax Premiered January 22, 2010
 Uruguay Universal Channel
 United Kingdom Channel 4, More4 Premiered Monday, January 25, 2010 and, starting the following week, first run episodes shown on More4 on Thursdays at 9:00pm (with Channel 4's screening the following Wednesday).

The Good Wife season 2 premiered on January 6, 2011 at 9:00pm on More4; the rest of season 2 will also be shown weekly in the 9:00pm Thursday slot on the channel, but unlike season 1 will not get a screening on Channel 4. [27]

 Venezuela Universal Channel

Awards and nominations

Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • 2010 Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (Regular Cast)
  • 2011 Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2011 Nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (Regular Cast)

Golden Globe Awards

  • 2009 Award for Best Lead Actress in a Television Series: Drama (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Television Series - Drama
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Lead Actress in a Television Series - Drama (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie (Chris Noth)

Primetime Emmy Awards

  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Drama Series
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Christine Baranski)
  • 2010 Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Archie Panjabi)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Dylan Baker)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series (Alan Cumming)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series (Mark Saks)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Costumes for a Series Drama Series

Writers Guild of America Award

  • 2009 Nomination for Best New Series
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Episode in a Drama Series ("Boom")

Satellite Awards

  • 2009 Nomination for Best Drama Series
  • 2009 Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Drama Series
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Actor in a Drama Series (Josh Charles)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie (Archie Panjabi)
  • 2010 Nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie (Alan Cumming)

People's Choice Awards

  • 2009 Nomination for Favorite New TV Drama
  • 2010 Nomination for Favorite TV Drama
  • 2010 Nomination for Favorite TV Drama Actress (Julianna Margulies)

Television Critics Association Awards

  • 2010 Award for Individual Achievement in Drama (Julianna Margulies)
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Drama
  • 2010 Nomination for Outstanding New Program of the Year

Peabody Awards

Reception

The first season of the show received generally favorable reviews. It scored a Metacritic rating of 76 out of 100 based on the views of 26 critics.[29] In reviewing the first early episodes many critics praised the acting talents of the cast. The Chicago Tribune commended the show saying "one of the best parts of the show is Alicia's complicated relationship with her husband, who humiliated his family with a sex scandal but also appears to be a pawn in a larger game being played by high-level politician".[30]

The New York Daily News report, in a review of the lead character's performance said "Margulies puts a powerful combination of cold fury, bewilderment and tenacity into Alicia Florrick, the wife of a disgraced Chicago politician in a new series that readily admits it ripped itself from the headlines"[31] while The Baltimore Sun predicted that "With all four [actors] bringing their 'A' games to the pilot, it looks as if CBS could have another winning 10 o'clock drama."[citation needed]

There were a few reservations as to the long term success and plot of the show with the San Francisco Chronicle concluding that "There's nothing inherently wrong with The Good Wife other than it's a legal series with too many close-up shots of knowing glances and 'attagirl Alicia' moments of empowerment that you saw coming 20 minutes prior".[32]

References

  1. ^ Matt Mitovich (24 June 2009). "Fall TV: CBS Announces Premiere Dates". TV Guide Online. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
  2. ^ a b Nellie Andreeva (February 9, 2009). "CBS picks up five pilots". Reuters News Service. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  3. ^ James Hibberd (2009-10-07). "CBS picks up 'NCIS: LA,' 'Good Wife'". The Hollywood Reporter: The Live Feed. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
  4. ^ Michael Ausiello (November 4, 2009). "This just in: CBS trims 'Numb3rs,' orders more 'NCIS' and 'Mother'". EW.com. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
  5. ^ Michael Schneider (January 14, 2010). "CBS orders seconds of 'Wife,' 'NCIS: LA'". Variety (magazine). Retrieved January 14, 2010.
  6. ^ "The Good Wife on CBS.com". CBS. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  7. ^ "About The Good Wife". CBS.com. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
  8. ^ Jane Ridley (September 2, 2009). "Pain of Eliot Spitzer scandal for ex-governor's wife Silda recalled in new CBS show 'The Good Wife'". New York Daily News. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  9. ^ Bitter Success (pseudonym). "The Good Wife: Non-lawyers behind that lawyer show" (interview with series creators Michelle and Robert King), BitterLawyer.com, January 4, 2010.
  10. ^ Ryan, Maureen (May 17, 2010). "Reveling in the past and future of the addictive 'Good Wife'". The Watcher. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  11. ^ Gonzalez, Maria (March 30, 2010). "'The Good Wife' Heads for 'Doubt', Welcomes Alan Cumming as Regular Next Season". BuddyTV. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  12. ^ a b Edward Wyatt (2009). "Wife's Discomfort Fits Comfortably in CBS's Lineup". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  13. ^ Allessandra Stanley (2009). "First Comes the Scandal, Then Survival". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  14. ^ a b Rob Salem (2009). "Erica's even better second time". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  15. ^ Charles McDougall (2009-09-22). "Pilot". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 1. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); Unknown parameter |writers= ignored (help)
  16. ^ a b Charles McDougall (2009-09-29). "Stripped". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 2. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); Unknown parameter |writers= ignored (help)
  17. ^ Scott Ellis (2009-10-06). "Home". The Good Wife. Season 1. Episode 3. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |serieslink= (help); Unknown parameter |writers= ignored (help)
  18. ^ Susan Todd (2010). "Reputation manager uses N.J. experience to advise hit series "The Good Wife"". New Jersey Star Ledger. Retrieved 2010-04-07.
  19. ^ "Final 2009-10 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership". TV by the Numbers. 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-07-29.
  20. ^ Knox, David. "No risk for 20-TEN". TV Tonight, October 29, 2009. Accessed December 10, 2009.
  21. ^ Miletic, Simone (19 September 2009). "The Good Wife chega no Universal Channel" (in Portuguese). Só Seriados de TV. Retrieved September 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  22. ^ "Une femme exemplaire" (in French). V. Retrieved September 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  23. ^ "Programming & Scheduling - Drama". RTÉ Television Sales. Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  24. ^ Harrison, Bernice (March 20, 2010). "Race to the finish line". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  25. ^ "グッド・ワイフ｜NHK BS2 海外ドラマ:". Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  26. ^ "The Good Wife" (in Dutch). NET 5. Retrieved September 15, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  27. ^ "Channel 4 - The Good Wife". Channel 4, January 15, 2010. Accessed January 15, 2010.
  28. ^ "Peabody Winners: 'Good Wife,' 'Men Of A Certain Age,' HBO Among Honorees". Deadline.com. March 31, 2011. Retrieved March 31, 2011.
  29. ^ "The Good Wife: Season 1". Metacritic.
  30. ^ "'ER' veteran tries life as a politician's 'Good Wife'". Chicago Tribune. September 21, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  31. ^ "Inspired by cheating pols like Eliot Spitzer, 'The Good Wife' makes best of a sad situation". Daily News. September 22, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  32. ^ "3 new dramas look good, but not great". San Francisco Chronicle. September 22, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2011.

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Good_Wife&oldid=429326925"