CBS Series Premiere Of The Good Wife – It’s Better Than Good

The fall tv season is almost upon us. I’m always on the hunt for great new shows because my favorites keep getting canceled or ending. Plus I have this quirk where I have issues watching shows that have already started – I’m convinced that I don’t know how who got where and why they do what they do. Know what I mean? So yeah, I like to check out new shows. The shows that I like I add to my DVR season pass so I don’t miss them. Recently I got the opportunity to preview a brand new show that will be airing on CBS called The Good Wife.

From CBS – THE GOOD WIFE is a drama starring Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband’s very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail. Pushing aside the betrayal and crushing public humiliation caused by her husband Peter (Chris Noth), Alicia Florrick (Margulies) starts over by pursuing her original career as a defense attorney. As a junior associate at a prestigious Chicago law firm, she joins her longtime friend, former law school classmate and firm partner Will Gardner (Josh Charles), who is interested to see how Alicia will perform after 13 years out of the courtroom. Alicia is grateful the firm’s top litigator, Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), offers to mentor her but discovers the offer has conditions and realizes she’s going to need to succeed on her own merit. Alicia’s main competition among the firm’s 20-something new recruits is Cary (Matt Czuchry), a recent Harvard grad who is affable on the surface, but will use any means to ensure that he, not Alicia, secures the one full-time associate position that’s available. Fortunately, Alicia finds an ally in Kalinda (Archie Panjabi), the firm’s tough 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 (Graham Phillips) and 13-year-old Grace (Makenzie Vega). For the first time in years, Alicia trades in her identity as the “good wife” and takes charge of her own destiny. Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Robert King, Michelle King, Dee Johnson and David Zucker are the executive producers for CBS Television Studios.

It’s great to see Juliana Margulies back on television. I always found her portrayal of a nurse on ER to be believable and I wasn’t sure what I’d think of her in a legal drama. I loved her in her role as Alicia Florrick and thought she played it very convincingly. Her character is strong willed, both in facing public feelings about her husband’s behavior and in the courtroom fighting for her client. The whole cast of characters seems to work well together.

The hour long premiere episode that I watched flowed smoothly and flew by quickly. I find that the shows I like best are always over quickly, because the plot and story is put together so well that you’re interested and don’t notice the time. I like that this is a legal drama but it puts a good deal of focus on the personal lives of the characters. It will be interesting to watch Alicia’s character grow as she regains confidence in the courtroom, and to see what happens if her husband is released from prison. I’m curious to see where the relation ship with her friend Will goes, as well as learning more about what happened when Kalinda used to work for her husband.

The Good Wife looks like it’s going to be great stuff. The series premiere will air on CBS on Tuesdays at 10 ET/PT and premieres on September 22nd.

This peek might get your curiosity aroused. (Heads up – somewhat racy video.)

Tags: CBS, drama, The Good Wife, tv, TV Reviews, val's views

Category: Reviews