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The Good Wife is an American television legal and political 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, Matt Czuchry, and Josh Charles, and features Chris Noth in a recurring role. The current executive producers are Ridley Scott, Charles McDougall, and David W. Zucker.[2] It is a heavily serialized show with season-long story arcs that also features stand alone procedural story lines that will be resolved or concluded by the end of each episode. This is a rarity among The Good Wife's broadcaster CBS as most of their shows are procedural.[3]
As a broadcast network television show, it has received what is considered unusual critical acclaim: USA Today said that The Good Wife is "broadcast's best drama", while The Atlantic said that the show "is delivering the best drama on network television".[4][5] Time referred to it as "the best thing on TV outside cable".[6] TV critic Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker compared Alicia Florrick, the show's protagonist, to Walter White of Breaking Bad.[7]
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 (having taken 13 years out to be a stay-at-home mother) to provide for her two children.[8] The series was partly inspired by the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal,[9] 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.[10]
As a junior associate at a prestigious Chicago law firm, she joins her longtime friend, former law school classmate and firm partner Will Gardner, who is interested in rekindling their former relationship. The firm's top litigator and other partner, Diane Lockhart, likes Alicia's work and her connections so she and Will award her with a full-time associate position following a trial period. Alicia beat out Cary Agos, a clever young attorney who takes a job in the state's attorney's office, now bitter and vengeful. Alicia finds an ally and a friend in Kalinda, the firm's tough and mysterious in-house investigator. Gaining confidence every day, Alicia transforms herself from embarrassed politician's scorned wife to resilient career woman, especially for the sake of providing a stable home for her children, 14-year-old Zach and 13-year-old Grace. Now that Peter is back home and planning to run for office again with help from Eli Gold, his cunning image consultant, Alicia continues to redefine herself and her role in her family's life.[11]
Season 2 begins where season 1 left off with Will and Alicia discussing how to have an affair without the media finding out, however before the plan is conceived, Eli Gold takes possession of Alicia's phone and deletes a pivotal voicemail. Alicia now under the impression that Will doesn't have a plan, spends her time suppressing her feelings for Will. With Alicia as a 2nd year associate after being chosen over Cary Agos who has now been hired as a states attorney leading to Lockhart & Gardner often battling with Cary Agos and the States Attorney in court. Peter, now released from prison and cleared of charges begins his campaign to run as States Attorney against current States Attorney Glenn Childs. A new main partner Derrick Bond joins the firm Lockhart & Gardner now known as Lockhart/Gardner & Bond however a feud between Diane and Will occurs when Will begins siding with all of Derrick Bond's opinions. Diane requests Kalinda checks into Will and Derricks past and discovers they had a connection in Will's old law firm in Baltimore. At the same time a new investigator joins the law firm Blake Calamar brought in by Derrick Bond who is determined to uncover Kalinda's past publicly. When Will discovers that Bond has also been deceiving him, Will and Diane work together to remove Bond as a main partner but waits until Bond brings in a "Super pack" client worth $100 Million a year. Blake eventually uncovers that Kalinda changed her name from "Lela" and that Lela slept with Alica's Husband Peter when she used to work for him in the States Attorney's office. Alicia finds out about the affair on the night that Peter wins the election for States Attorney. Alicia separated from Peter, gets a stronger attraction to Will and begins to have sexual relations with him.
Season 3 takes place the following morning after season 2 with Alicia now as a third year litigator on track to become partner while having an affair with her boss Will Gardner. She is given an office on the 29th floor, the only third year litigator with an office on the floor due to Peter Florrick's crisis manager Eli Gold joining the firm to prepare for Peters campaign for Governorship of Illinois with Alicia acting as a bridge between Lockhart & Gardner and his campaign. Peter now as States Attorney battles with Lockhart & Gardner from case to case while the firm begins to get a short-term liquidity problem. Diane and Will try to acquire a bankruptcy department from a competing law firm that's closing down due to the double dip recession and noting that a bankruptcy department is the only area that will survive a double dip recession. When Diane tries lobbying to become the States Attorney's Civil defender against law suits, she begins to suspect the affair between Will & Alicia and that if Alicia begins working against the firms interest, she would have to be let go. At the same time, the States Attorney begins investigating the firms taxes, they investigate the money Will stole from his old firm in Baltimore and brings in Wendy-Scott Carr to investigate these allegations. Wendy eventually gathers enough evidence and puts Will on trial for a "Ham-Sandwich". Will gets the help of Elsbeth Tascioni to fight the charges. However, after Alicia misplacing a liability form and a partner at Lockhart & Gardner giving the opposition a liability form from another case, the opposition sends the illegal document to the States Attorney's office and Dana Lodge puts Kalinda Sharma in an ultimatum to give to information on Will or the disablement of Alicia. Kalinda gives Dana information on Will however, the information is invalid. Kalinda and Alicia slowly rebuild their friendship after Alicia finds out that Kalinda slept with Peter at the end of season 2 and when Kalinda finds Grace Florrick after going missing, Alicia thanks her and begins to forgive Kalinda. At this time, Alicia and Will end their affair as Alicia realises she has been neglecting their children for her own promiscuous interests. Alicia is tasked with mentoring a new litigator Caitlin D'arcy (Played by Anna Camp) however as Caitlin begins to show confidence and prove herself as a litigator, Diane decides to hire her as a Junior Associate. With Alicia having to once again share an assistant with Caitlin like with Cary in season 1, Alicia begins getting jealous of Caitlin. When Caitlin accidentally tells a partner Alicia's plan, Alicia snaps at Caitlin possibly leading to Caitlin at the end of the episode, quitting the law firm citing that she was pregnant and wanted to focus on becoming a Mother. Alicia shocked by this announcement apologises to Caitlin telling her that she's been suspicious for a while and mis-understood things and that she can be a mother and a solicitor however Caitlin wants to focus on just being a mother and that "She doesn't have to prove anything. And if she has to, she doesn't want too". Alicia learns that her apartment is being turned into a condo and is pressured into purchasing, she asks for a salary increase at Lockhart & Gardner. Not getting a high raise, she gets poached by Louis Canning (Played by Michael. J. Fox) and gives Diane a choice to either match Canning's offer or she has to walk. Alicia looking for homes, discovers that her old home is up for sale however the price is too high but is shocked when she gets a call from the realtor that a 'Florrick' has purchased the home, Alicia assumes it's Peter but learns that its Jackie Florrick instead and asks Jackie to sign the house over to the kids. Alicia is put on a blue ribbon panel where she meets Mike Krestev (played by Matthew Perry) who lies to the public about Alicia and also announces he's running for Governor of Illinois. Will Gardner is acquitted of the charges however the bar association looks into the charges and decides that Will is guilty and gives him the option of a 6 month suspension from the law or to fight the charges however if he loses, he will be disbarred forever. Will takes the 6 month suspension and is no longer a partner at Lockhart & Gardner but in the name and business matters relating to the firm. Peter Florrick finally decides to run for governor after Eli Gold is torn between representing ex-wife or Peter in the race for governor but chooses Peter instead. With Will Gardner out of the firm, Alicia is given Kalinda's tax case and Alicia finds a cheque for $35,000. Alicia calls the number on the cheque but hangs up after being turned off by the caller. The caller later phones Alicia's personal home phone and Alicia asks Kalinda to be honest with her and where did the cheque come from. Kalinda reveals to Alicia that she has a husband and secretly plans to leave Chicago, however when she learns that Alicia is in danger of her husband, Kalinda decides to stay and pulls a chair up to her front door with a pistol in hand while someone knocks at her door.
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.[19] The creators had previously worked extensively in feature films. Scott Free productions helped to finance The Good Wife and Ridley Scott, Tony Scott (till his death) and David W. Zucker are also credited as executive producers.[20][21] Executive producer Dee Johnson added television writing experience to the team.[19][21] Charles McDougall directed the pilot episode and was the pilot's other executive producer.[22] 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.[23] McDougall left the crew after directing and executive producing the second episode.[23][24] 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.[25] 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. David W. Zucker is an executive producer on the show, having been nominated for four Primetime Emmys and one PGA Award. His credits included Judging Amy, The Pillars of the Earth, and Law Dogs.[26]
On October 7, 2009, CBS gave the series a full-season pickup, extending the first season from 13 to 22 episodes,[27] later extended to 23 episodes.[28] On January 14, 2010, CBS renewed the drama for a second season,[29] which premiered on September 28, 2010.[30] On May 18, 2011, CBS renewed The Good Wife for a third season, airing Sundays at 9:00 pm[31] On March 14, 2012, CBS renewed the show for a fourth season.[32] On March 27, 2013, CBS renewed The Good Wife for a fifth season.[33]
The Good Wife on screen is known widely for the wardrobe on set and the clothes the characters wear as well as the set design. Daniel Lawson is the costume designer for the show and has won accolades for his work on the show including the TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award for excellence in costume design.[47] The character of Alicia is seen wearing lots of high end designers including Armani, Karen Millen, Akris, L.K Bennett, and Number 35. In Spring 2014, Lawson plans to launch a line of Number 35: DL, clothing that's going to be designed for those who want to dress in the same fashion as Alicia Florrick. Diane's wardrobe is more tactile and is textured with designers like Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta and Prada. Kalinda's wardrobe is taken from high end department stores and boutiques like Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Barney's and is often a contrast of fabric mixing the hard leathers with the softer fabrics like silk. Lawson regularly updates his column on InStyle discussing the clothing on The Good Wife from week to week.
The set design on The Good Wife has been critically received and have partnered with "Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams" to design their own high end line of 'The Good Wife' furniture including Chairs, Sofa's and desks seen on the show. Set designer Beth Kushnick also partnered with "Madura Home" to launch inspired furniture off the show and opened in New York on October 24th 2013.[48]
The Good Wife has also received critical acclaim among technology enthusiasts due to the show's accurate depiction of social media and the internet.[49] Many of the story lines on the show are technology related including Bitcoin, Anonymous, The use of viral internet content in marketing and defaming in political campaigns, Voice control software, Virtual conferencing robots and the NSA spying on both internet companies and eventually, the law firm Lockhart & Gardner. Many story lines include a Google type company called 'Chumhum' and revolves around privacy lawsuits like Chumhum selling users' personal data to the Chinese and Syrian government. The Good Wife was the first TV show to feature Bitcoin, the virtual internet currency, with an episode featuring Bitcoin first broadcast in January 2012.[50] This led to it achieving a high level of fame amongst the Bitcoin community.[51][52]
In the season 5 premiere, Double Robotics robot was featured on the show which allowed a litigator to teleconference from home by controlling a tablet on wheels. However, rather than glorifying the robots features, The Good Wife turned it into a punchline with practical jokes and problems the robot could have such as it not being able to manoeuvre around an office and bumping into walls, doors and people and low Wi-Fi connectivity leading to buffering and loss of Visual and Voice communication of the person working at home.[53]
Season Averages in Live plus 7 DVR Ratings:
30 Day Multi-Platform Playback (MPP) ratings (the average audience of each minute of viewership) [Source: Nielsen, Rentrak, CBS Interactive]
The series and its cast have won a number of awards. Julianna Margulies has been widely recognized for portrayal in the lead role, winning a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama. Archie Panjabi won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 for her portrayal as Kalinda Sharma. In 2012, Martha Plimpton won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal as Patti Nyholm. In addition, the series has won a Peabody Award, and has been twice nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series. In total, the series and its cast have been nominated for 24 Primetime Emmy Awards in its first three seasons.
The Good Wife has been sold in a complex multi-window deal that involves two streaming partners, Amazon and Hulu; a basic cable network, Hallmark Channel; and broadcast syndication, for a combined license fee of nearly $2 million per episode. "This is an off-network model for a unique serialized show in today's television ecosystem,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO, CBS Corporation.
Under the deal, the first three seasons of The Good Wife are available on Amazon Prime, with the current Season (4) coming later this year. Hulu Plus will roll out previous seasons of the show in September 2013, while Hallmark Channel will begin airing The Good Wife in January 2014. A weekend broadcast syndication run is scheduled to begin in September 2014, with the series sold in 85% of the country.[81]