Good Wife, The (CBS 2009-2016, Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski)

The Good Wife is a drama starring Emmy Award winner Julianna Margulies as a wife and mother who must assume full responsibility for her family and re-enter 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.

From CBS’s press release, February 2016… CBS today announced the series finale of The Good Wife in dramatic fashion with a special promotional spot broadcast during Super Bowl 50 touting the show’s final nine episodes. The series finale of broadcast television’s most acclaimed drama will air Sunday, May 8 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT).

“It’s never easy to say goodbye to one of the crown jewels of your network and studio, much less to a show that is among the best on television,” said Glenn Geller, President, CBS Entertainment and David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “But it also feels very right to end with the seven-year story its creators envisioned, and to celebrate the show’s final run while at the top of its creative game. It has been CBS’s sincere privilege to broadcast and produce The Good Wife for seven extraordinary seasons. We thank and applaud the outstanding cast, led by the impeccable Julianna Margulies, and the consummate writing and producing team, headed by the brilliant Robert and Michelle King, who brought to life a smart, sophisticated series that has delivered audiences so many memorable characters and unforgettable moments. It is a series that will only grow in prestige as its episodes are watched again or discovered by new viewers for many years to come.”

cast
Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick
Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart
Alan Cumming as Eli Gold
Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Jason Crouse
Matt Czuchry as Cary Agos
Zach Grenier as David Lee

other cast info
Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma
Graham Phillips as Zach Florrick
Josh Charles as Will Gardner
Makenzie Vega as Grace Florrick
Matthew Goode as Finn Polmar

key behind the scenes crew
Charles McDougall as Executive Producer/Director of pilot
David W. Zucker as Executive Producer
Michelle King as Creator/Executive Producer
Ridley Scott as Executive Producer
Robert King as Creator/Executive Producer

show type
drama, legal drama,

broadcast from
9/22/2009 – 5/8/2016
7 seasons with 156 episodes in total

network and production companies
CBS – CBS Television Studios – King Size Productions – Scott Free Productions