The Good Wife (2009– )

Alicia has been a good wife to her husband, a former state attorney. After a very humiliating sex and corruption scandal, he is behind bars. She must now provide for her family and returns to work as a litigator in a law firm.

Creators:

Michelle King, Robert King

Stars:

Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Josh Charles

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 14 wins & 65 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Julianna Margulies	...	Alicia Florrick (90 episodes, 2009-2013)
Matt Czuchry	...	Cary Agos (90 episodes, 2009-2013)
Archie Panjabi	...	Kalinda Sharma (90 episodes, 2009-2013)
Josh Charles	...	Will Gardner (90 episodes, 2009-2013)
Christine Baranski	...	Diane Lockhart (90 episodes, 2009-2013)
Alan Cumming	...	Eli Gold (63 episodes, 2010-2013)
Makenzie Vega	...	Grace Florrick (61 episodes, 2009-2013)
Chris Noth	...	Peter Florrick (61 episodes, 2009-2013)
Graham Phillips	...	Zach Florrick (56 episodes, 2009-2013)
Mary Beth Peil	...	Jackie Florrick (37 episodes, 2009-2013)

Storyline

Alicia Florrick is the wife of a former state attorney for Cook County. He has been imprisoned after a sex and corruption scandal. Alicia must deal with the public humiliation. She must also fend for her two children. After years of being a housewife and mother, she returns to work as a litigator at the law firm Stern, Lockhart & Gardner. She must now prove herself in the courtroom.

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Plot Keywords:

law firm | corruption | courtroom | defense attorney | family relationships | 

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Taglines:

Don't let the name fool you.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Official Sites:

CBS [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

A férjem védelmében

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Scott Free Productions, King Size Productions, Small Wishes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During a 2011 interview on the National Public Radio program "Talk of the Nation," Alan Cumming (who plays Eli Gold) confirmed that his character is loosely based on longtime political operative (and, as of 2011, mayor of Chicago) Rahm Emanuel. Cumming said that Gold's undeveloped backstory includes a former career as a concert pianist, inspired by Emanuel's early-life, pre-politics ambition to become a professional ballet dancer.

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Connections

Referenced in Hot in Cleveland: That Changes Everything (2012)

User Reviews

One of the best legal dramas I've ever seen - compelling viewing (Review updated May 2012)

First post. Thanks to other IMDb reviews, I decided to give The Good Wife a try. And boy I was not disappointed. Julianna Margulies leads a stellar ensemble cast, the acting and script writing is near-flawless, and the weekly stories are believable yet not over-the-top. A nice almost Thriller main storyline flows throughout the episodes, adding a compelling undercurrent to what could have been just another legal drama.

The Good Wife examines the lives of legal professionals as affected by their cases and work circumstances. It certainly does not mirror the style of any other legal drama in style, timing or episode structure, and I believe it has found a well-deserved niche of it's own on current high-quality television drama.

I highly recommend you watch this series if you enjoy fine acting and tight, coherent and interesting story lines.

Greg PS. Thankfully there is no "This is based on a true story" etc. tag-line to distract the viewer from the scriptwriters obvious prodigious talents, and a very enjoyable hour of weekly escapism!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1st May 2012 Review Update (no spoilers): ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have just finished watching Season 3. Literally sitting on the edge of my couch. WOW!. Since my original review this fantastic drama has grown in depth and breadth - I can now place it (almost) with Deadwood, Dexter, The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica and Six Feet Under as an all time television great - no exaggeration.

The interplay between characters (of whom the depth is truly 3 dimensional) is complex, yet does not try to confuse the viewer in an attempt at narcissistic scriptwriting "greatness" (We all know shows that do that). It just flows.

Amongst the stellar cast, my favorite character would have to be exotic and mysterious Kalinda Sharma, played by the mesmerizing Archie Panjabi (2009 Emmy award winner for best actress, and Chopard Trophy winner for the phenomenal 2007's "A Mighty Heart").

Subtle humor is so well crafted and acted, you are guaranteed at least one belly laugh per episode; these become almost a small gift from the writers - an (we want these characters to resonate with you) unexpected and welcome tangent from the often serious, sometimes even chilling story lines.

Truthfully I can't recall one episode where I reflected "gee that was a bit dull, I guess they had to do that to pad out the season". Forget the usual clichéd formula episodes from the Scriptwriting For Dummies handbook - you won't find them here. No lame flashbacks, no "24 hours earlier" and no musical/costume themed episodes here thanks. Just gritty, compelling and eminently enjoyable television.

The Good Wife is simply superb.