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The Good Fight

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This article is about the U.S. legal teledrama. For other uses, see The Good Fight (disambiguation).
The Good Fight
GenreLegal drama
Political drama
Created byRobert King
Michelle King
Phil Alden Robinson
Starring
ComposerDavid Buckley
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
Running time49 — 53 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCBS (premiere)
CBS All Access
ReleaseFebruary 19, 2017 (2017-02-19) –
present

The Good Fight is an American legal and political drama television series produced for CBS's streaming service CBS All Access. It is CBS All Access' first original scripted series.[1] The series is the sequel to The Good Wife which was created by Robert King and Michelle King. The first season contains 10 episodes,[2] and it premiered on February 19, 2017, with the first episode airing on CBS and the latter nine episodes airing on CBS All Access.[1] The series was initially planned to air in May 2017, but was moved up after production delays forced CBS to postpone the premiere of the new series Star Trek: Discovery.[3]

The series follows Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, as she is forced out of Lockhart, Decker, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates after an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms. The series stars Baranski, Leslie, Jumbo, Erica Tazel, Sarah Steele, Justin Bartha and Delroy Lindo, and features Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters in recurring roles. The series is executive produced by Robert King, Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Liz Glotzer, Brooke Kennedy and Alison Scott, with Phil Alden Robinson producing and co-writing the first episode.[1]

Premise

A year after the finale of The Good Wife, an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of young lawyer Maia and wipes out the savings of her mentor Diane Lockhart. The two are forced out of Lockhart, Decker, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates and join Lucca Quinn at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms.

Cast and characters

Main cast

  • Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, who loses her savings after an enormous financial scam and must join Lucca Quinn at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms.[4]
  • Rose Leslie as Maia Rindell, Diane's goddaughter who joins Diane's firm just after passing the bar. Maia and her parents are the unofficial First Family of Chicago. She is Amy's girlfriend.[5]
  • Erica Tazel as Barbara Kolstad, founding partner at Reddick, Boseman, & Kolstad, the law firm Diane and Maia move to after the financial scandal.[6]
  • Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold, who begins as Diane Lockhart's secretary, but finds she has a knack for investigating.[7]
  • Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn, who begins to work with Diane at one of Chicago's pre-eminent law firms.[8]
  • Delroy Lindo as Adrian Boseman, an attorney who starts poaching Diane Lockhart's associates and clients when she gets into financial trouble and threatens her ability to stay in business.[9]
  • Justin Bartha as Colin Morrello, a successful lawyer in the State Attorney's office and rival/potential love interest of Lucca.[10]

Recurring cast

  • Paul Guilfoyle as Henry Rindell, Maia's father, who is a wildly successful financial advisor and is phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. He, Lenore and Maia are the unofficial First Family of Chicago.[11] In the pilot, he is arrested for running a giant Ponzi scheme with Diane one of his victims.
  • Bernadette Peters as Lenore Rindell, Maia's mother who comes from a tough working-class background and is a natively brilliant financial whiz. She, Henry and Maia are the unofficial First Family of Chicago.[11]
  • Gary Cole as Kurt McVeigh, Diane Lockhart's husband.[12]
  • Zach Grenier as David Lee[13]
  • Jerry Adler as Howard Lyman[13]
  • Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni, a smart yet quirky lawyer[14]
  • Michael Boatman as Julius Cain
  • Heléne Yorke as Amy Breslin, an assistant state attorney and Maia's girlfriend.[15]
  • Nyambi Nyambi as Jay Dipersia[16]

Episodes

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
1"Inauguration"Brooke KennedyPhil Alden Robinson and Robert King & Michelle KingFebruary 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)

Diane Lockhart watches the inauguration of Donald Trump in stunned silence and is motivated to make a change. She plans for her retirement and signs an exit agreement with her firm. She meets with friends to celebrate, including the Rindell family, headed by the powerful and respected Henry Rindell, a financial consultant who has invested money for many prominent businesspeople in Chicago, including Diane and many of her clients. Diane is the godmother to Rindell's daughter, Maia, who has just passed the bar, and through Diane's connections, has secured her a starting position at the firm. Diane heads what will be her final case at the firm, a police brutality charge, in which she is representing the state. Opposing her is Adrian Boseman, the head of a rival firm, hoping to secure a large settlement for his client. Boseman is assisted by Lucca Quinn, having joined Boseman's firm after leaving Diane's employ.

Before Diane can close the case, Henry Rindell is arrested for orchestrating an elaborate ponzi scheme, and Diane finds herself broke and unable to follow through with her retirement. However, when she attempts to return to the firm, she is rebuffed. Joining another firm also proves difficult, as Diane is seen as complicit in the scam, having directed many of her clients to invest with Rindell. Diane is told that her assets may be seized as evidence, and she is advised to divorce her husband, Kurt, to prevent his assets being seized as well. Having separated from Kurt after the discovery of his affair, Diane brings up the option to him, but he refuses to file for divorce, still hoping for a reconciliation. Meanwhile, Boseman realizes that there is an opportunity to gain Diane's services for a fraction of her value, and he offers her a junior partner position at his firm. With few other options, Diane accepts Boseman's offer, and when Maia is fired, in part due to her father's financial scandal, Diane brings her along to her new firm.
2"First Week"Allan ArkushRyan Pedersen & Joey ScavuzzoFebruary 19, 2017 (2017-02-19)

Maia Rindell arrives at her new firm trying to ignore multiple anonymous calls and texts from angry clients of her father, who swear revenge for the money he stole from them. She meets Julius Cain, a managing partner, and Lucca Quinn, a third year associate. Cain brings all the lower level associates to a local union headquarters to offer free legal advice as part of their retainer with the union. While there, Maia ends up taking the case of Frank Gwynn, a man who is unfairly having his wages garnished due to charges of theft from his place of work. During arbitration, Maia loses the case, but Lucca steps in to accuse the company of false imprisonment, as they had detained Frank for seven hours to question him about the theft. When the firm decides that the case is too small to invest resources in, Lucca proposes that they open a class action lawsuit against multiple companies who had garnished wages after accusing their employees of theft. Meanwhile, Diane moves into her new office, assisted by Marissa Gold, who has been demoted at Diane's old firm. Marissa decides to help with the class action in hopes of being hired as Diane's new assistant. She tracks down multiple employees who have had their wages garnished and adds them to the suit. Grateful, Diane accepts Marissa as her new secretary. However, at Frank's opening trial, the prosecution uncovers evidence that Frank had been involved in an earlier theft at a previous job, casting doubt on his story. Frank loses his case, and the loss causes the firm to pull out of the class action lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Diane is visited by Maia's mother, Lenore, who asks Diane to meet with her husband, Henry. Lenore claims that they are innocent of the charges, laying the blame on their business partner, Jax, Henry's brother. Diane meets with Henry in jail, who claims that Jax had framed him to escape prosecution. Diane promises to look into the matter, and as they part ways, Henry mentions that Lenore has terminal breast cancer. Maia learns of her mother's condition from Diane, and despite her laywer's advice to stay away from her parents to avoid being caught up in their financial scandal, she visits her. However, Maia learns that her mother lied about the cancer so that she would come see her. Although angry at her mother, Diane advises Maia to forgive her, since she is obviously lonely with Henry in jail. Maia visits her mother to make amends, but discovers her mother carrying on an affair with her uncle Jax.
3"The Schtup List"Marta CunninghamTegan ShohetFebruary 26, 2017 (2017-02-26)
4"Henceforth Known as Property"UnknownUnknownMarch 5, 2017 (2017-03-05)
5"Stoppable: Requiem for an Airdate"UnknownUnknownMarch 12, 2017 (2017-03-12)[17]

Production

Development

Promotional poster.

In February 2016, Michelle and Robert King, when asked about a spin-off, stated that there was a possibility for a spin-off series.[18] In May 2016, CBS was in final negotiations to set up a spin-off featuring Christine Baranski reprising her role as Diane Lockhart, but which would air on CBS All Access instead of the network.[4] The spin-off was officially ordered to series on May 18, with Cush Jumbo returning as well.[8] In September 2016, it was confirmed that the 10 episode spin-off would premiere in February 2017, with the story picking up a year after the final episode of the original series and seeing Diane pushed out of her firm after a financial scam involving her mentee wipes out her savings, resulting in her move to Lucca Quinn's firm.[2] The series was initially planned to air in May 2017, but was moved to February 2017 after production delays forced CBS to postpone the premiere of the new series, Star Trek: Discovery.[3] After months of speculation, CBS revealed the title for the spin-off series, which was revealed to be The Good Fight, on October 31, 2016.[19] It was announced that The Good Fight would premiere on February 19, 2017.[1] CBS released the first trailer for the spinoff on December 18, 2016, featuring footage from the premiere and latter episodes.[20]

Casting

Christine Baranski plays the lead role of Diane Lockhart.

In May 2016, CBS was in final negotiations with Christine Baranski to reprise her role as Diane Lockhart and Cush Jumbo to reprise her role as well.[4] After the series was picked up, it was announced that Jumbo would reprise her role as Lucca Quinn.[8] Deadline announced on September 17, 2016 that Sarah Steele had been added to the cast, returning as Marissa Gold and appearing as Diane Lockhart's secretary-turned-investigator.[7] On October 12, 2016, it was announced that former Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie had been cast to play a lead in the show, the role of Diane's goddaughter Maia who joins Diane's firm just after passing the bar.[5]

The day after, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Delroy Lindo had been cast as Robert Boseman, an attorney who starts poaching Diane's associates and clients.[9] Deadline reported on October 27, 2016 that the show had added Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters for recurring roles as Maia's parents. Guilfoyle will play Maia's father Henry, a wildly successful financial advisor who is phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. Peters' character Lenore was described as a woman who came from a tough working-class background and is a natively brilliant financial whiz.[11] It was announced on October 31, 2016 that Justified alum Erica Tazel had joined the cast as a series regular.[21]

On November 7, 2016, it was announced that Gary Cole would be reprising his role as Diane's husband Kurt McVeigh.[12] It was confirmed on November 11, 2016, that Zach Grenier, Jerry Adler, and Carrie Preston would be returning as guest stars, reprising their roles of David Lee, Howard Lyman, and Elsbeth Tascioni respectively.[13][14] On November 18, 2016, it was announced that Justin Bartha had been added as a series regular as Colin, a rising star in the State's Attorney's office and love interest to Lucca.[10]

International broadcast

On February 8, 2017, the series was picked up in Canada by Corus Entertainment to air on their cable channel, W Network; the U.S. broadcast premiere of the series would be simulcast by Corus's broadcast system Global.[22] On March 2, 2017, Channel 4 confirmed it had acquired the UK broadcast rights for the series for its More4 channel following the success of progenitor series The Good Wife on that same channel.[23]

Critical reception

The Good Fight has received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes awarded the series with a rating of 100% based on reviews from 34 critics and an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. The site's critical consensus reads: "An auspicious beginning for CBS All Access, The Good Fight solidly follows its predecessor while allowing for new storytelling styles, a wider narrative scope, and a chance for its lead to explore new territory with a relatable human struggle."[24] On Metacritic, the series received a score of 80 based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Littleton, Cynthia (December 7, 2016). "CBS All Access Sets Premiere Date for 'Good Wife' Spinoff 'The Good Fight'". Variety. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (September 14, 2016). "'Star Trek: Discovery' Premiere Pushed, 'The Good Wife' Spinoff Debut Moved Up On CBS All Access". Deadline.com. Retrieved September 16, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Birnbaum, Debra (September 14, 2016). "'Star Trek: Discovery' Delayed on CBS All Access Until May, 'Good Wife' Spinoff Moved Up". Variety. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Littleton, Cynthia (May 12, 2016). "'The Good Wife' Spinoff to Star Christine Baranski, Cush Jumbo in Negotiations at CBS All Access". Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (October 12, 2016). "'The Good Wife': Rose Leslie Cast In Spinoff Series For CBS All Access". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  6. ^ "Meet the cast of The Good Fight". Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (September 17, 2016). "'The Good Wife' Spinoff: Plot Of New Show Revealed as Sarah Steele Joins Cast". Deadline.com. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  8. ^ a b c Andreeva, Nellie (May 18, 2016). "'The Good Wife' Spinoff A Go At CBS All Access". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  9. ^ a b Stanhope, Kate (October 13, 2016). "'The Good Wife' Spinoff Adds Delroy Lindo as Series Regular". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  10. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik (November 18, 2016). "Justin Bartha Lawyers Up As Romantic Lead In CBS' 'The Good Fight'". Deadline. Retrieved December 19, 2016.
  11. ^ a b c 'The Good Wife' Spinoff: Paul Guilfoyle & Bernadette Peters Cast, Brooke Kennedy Set To Direct
  12. ^ a b Swift, Andy (November 7, 2016). "The Good Fight: Gary Cole Returning for CBS All Access Spinoff". TVLine. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Ausiello, Michael (November 11, 2016). "The Good Fight: 2 More Good Wife Vets Board CBS All Access Spinoff". TVLine. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  14. ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (December 16, 2016). "'The Good Fight': Carrie Preston Reprising 'The Good Wife' Role in Spinoff Series". Deadline.com. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  15. ^ "The Good Fight Episode 101 Recap: Lawyers, Lesbians & Money". Autostraddle. February 20, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 25, 2017). "'The Good Fight' Adds Nyambi Nyambi As Recurring". Deadline. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  17. ^ "The Good Fight – Listings". The Futon Critic. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
  18. ^ Evans, Greg (February 8, 2016). "'Good Wife' Creators On Potential Spinoff & Who's Coming Back For Final Episodes". Deadline.com. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  19. ^ Ausiello, Michael (October 31, 2016). "The Good Wife Spinoff Title Revealed". TVLine. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  20. ^ Ausiello, Michael (December 18, 2016). "Good Wife Spinoff Trailer: Get Your First Look at CBS All Access' The Good Fight". TVLine. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  21. ^ Petski, Denise (October 31, 2016). "'The Good Wife' Spinoff: Erica Tazel Joins 'The Good Fight' As Production Begins". Deadline. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  22. ^ "The Good Fight to air on W Network". Toronto Star. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  23. ^ "C4 acquires The Good Fight from CBS Studios International for More4". Channel 4. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  24. ^ "The Good Fight: Season 1 (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  25. ^ "The Good Fight: Season 1". Metacritic. CBS Interactive (CBS Corporation). Retrieved February 19, 2017.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Good_Fight&oldid=768955069"