First things first. The first four seasons of this show are free on Amazon Prime Instant Video. If you're smart, you'll go start watching it right now, but if you need more convincing, read on.
So, the Season 4 OT for The Good Wife only got 40 (40!) posts over the last year, which is an absolute travesty. Which is why I decided GAF needed a new thread, since this show should easily be up there in GAF readership/viewership with Scandal/Vampire Diaries/Suits/Person of Interest/Elementary/any other thread for a non-meth-based drama you care to name.
The basic synopsis: After publicly standing by her politician husband after a sex/corruption scandal, Alicia Florrick goes back her first career, the law, to try and provide for the rest of her family.
Let'd dispel some misconceptions. Even though this is on CBS, this is not a show for old people. The Good Wife, shockingly enough, takes the topical politics (and banter) from The West Wing, the examination of the politics/press/crime/etc of a large American city (Chicago) from The Wire, and the day-to-day life of a prestigious law firm from Suits (though this show was there first) and rolls it all into one jaw-droppingly phenomenal package.
And not only is the quality of the cast probably the best currently on TV (Alan Cumming/Nightcrawler as a slimy campaign manager based on Rahm Emanuel, Julianna Margulies as the titular Alicia Florrick, Josh Charles/Dan Rydell from Aaron Sorkin's SportsNight as a name partner of Alicia's new law firm, Broadway vet Christine Baranski as the other name partner), but the level at which its recurring guest cast is operating is just utterly, utterly bonkers:
And then there's Kalinda. Trust me.
But the best part about this show is the ease with which it mixes comedy and drama. It's not a dramedy (and god, do I hate that word), but it's a drama that has no trouble turning into a comedy for a couple moments at a time, just to prove that it can. And boy, can it.
Like most shows, it takes a couple episodes for it to find its legs, but the payoff is huge. So stop not watching it.
So, the Season 4 OT for The Good Wife only got 40 (40!) posts over the last year, which is an absolute travesty. Which is why I decided GAF needed a new thread, since this show should easily be up there in GAF readership/viewership with Scandal/Vampire Diaries/Suits/Person of Interest/Elementary/any other thread for a non-meth-based drama you care to name.
The basic synopsis: After publicly standing by her politician husband after a sex/corruption scandal, Alicia Florrick goes back her first career, the law, to try and provide for the rest of her family.
Let'd dispel some misconceptions. Even though this is on CBS, this is not a show for old people. The Good Wife, shockingly enough, takes the topical politics (and banter) from The West Wing, the examination of the politics/press/crime/etc of a large American city (Chicago) from The Wire, and the day-to-day life of a prestigious law firm from Suits (though this show was there first) and rolls it all into one jaw-droppingly phenomenal package.
And not only is the quality of the cast probably the best currently on TV (Alan Cumming/Nightcrawler as a slimy campaign manager based on Rahm Emanuel, Julianna Margulies as the titular Alicia Florrick, Josh Charles/Dan Rydell from Aaron Sorkin's SportsNight as a name partner of Alicia's new law firm, Broadway vet Christine Baranski as the other name partner), but the level at which its recurring guest cast is operating is just utterly, utterly bonkers:
- Michael J. Fox as an evil lawyer who exploits his physical condition for judicial sympathy
- Wallace Shawn (Vizzini, etc.) as a drug kingpin's "fixer"
- Carrie Preston (Arlene from True Blood/Mrs. Michael Emerson/Ben Linus) as a gloriously harebrained rival attorney
- Nathan Lane as a straitlaced accountant
- Gary Cole as a Tea Party-following ballistics expert with a surprising taste in women
- Titus Welliver (Smokey, etc) as a staunch political rival to Alicia's husband
- Rita Wilson (Mrs. Tom Hanks) as a slimy rival attorney
- F. Murray Abraham (Salieri) as another slimy rival lawyer
- Stockard Channing
- The great, underappreciated Tim Guinee (Sweet Land, Iron Man) as a stay-at-home dad who also happens to be an insanely driven private investigator
- Scott Porter (Jason Street from FNL in a non-wheelchair role)
- Chris Partlow from The Wire
- Rawls from The Wire
- Bodie from The Wire
- Kima from The Wire
- Carver from The Wire
- Just, lots and lots and lots of people from The Wire, but who somehow never feel shoehorned in
- Tons of people I'm forgetting
And then there's Kalinda. Trust me.
But the best part about this show is the ease with which it mixes comedy and drama. It's not a dramedy (and god, do I hate that word), but it's a drama that has no trouble turning into a comedy for a couple moments at a time, just to prove that it can. And boy, can it.
Like most shows, it takes a couple episodes for it to find its legs, but the payoff is huge. So stop not watching it.
