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Tue 28 Sep, 2010 08:00 pm
I love "The Good Wife". I think it's one of the best written, best acted shows on broadcast TV. No, change that. I don't think it's one of the best, I think it is
the very best.
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/the_good_wife/
And I'm not alone in my feelings...
Quote:'The Good Wife' stands by her man, but which one?
September 24, 2010
by VERNE GAY
THE SHOW "The Good Wife," CBS/2, 10 p.m.
REASON TO WATCH Sophomore season begins, with two outstanding newcomers to the cast - Michael Ealy and Scott Porter.
THE SHOW As fans well know, the relationship between Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) and Will Gardner (Josh Charles) - one of her bosses at law firm Lockhart, Gardner - was sealed with a kiss last season, then unsealed. It's complicated, of course. She ended the season in the figurative stand-by-her-man pose that she had at the start of the season. Support husband and disgraced Cook County State's Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) or ditch the two-timing slug? And what about Will? Out of jail and back on the election trail, Peter is summoning her to his side at a news conference, just as Alicia's cell rings. It's - guess who! - Will. Tonight, Lockhart, Gardner has merged with a D.C.-based firm, bringing in a new partner, Derrick Bond (Ealy) and his firm's investigator, Blake (Porter). Will they clash? And how will Blake, er, merge with Kalinda (Archie Panjabi)? Life, meanwhile, just got more complicated for Alicia because Peter's archrival Glenn Childs (Titus Welliver) wants to embarrass her to get at her husband.
MY SAY "The Good Wife" probably would have won an Emmy for best drama last month except for an immovable object known as "Mad Men." For that reason, "Wife" wasn't a victim of gratification denied as much as gratification delayed. The big award will come in time, and tonight's jewel of an episode - "Taking Control" - establishes why. Like "Men," "Wife" has an obsessive attention to detail; it's a hurricane of detail, in the visual touches, legal patter and the actors' unspoken flourishes. Nothing seems extraneous or out of place. Also like "Men," this show cares as much about silence as words, or that which isn't said (also a form of eloquence). Not to dismiss those words or the people who say them: This is a remarkably well-written and well-acted series.
BOTTOM LINE The best drama on the major broadcast networks. A great season awaits.
GRADE A+
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/the-good-wife-stands-by-her-man-but-which-one-1.2314258
So, are there any other fans of this show around?
Want to meet here to discuss each weekly episiode?
Will Alicia stay with Peter?
Is no one else watching this exceptionally good drama series?
For those of you who haven't seen it, it's about the wife of a disgraced politician--he was caught in a sex scandal and sent to jail. She was the loyal wife we always see, glumly and silently standing next to these men when they make their public resignation speeches (like the wife of former NY governor Elliot Spitzer). Except when these two left the stage after the press conference, she smacked him across the face (which is how we'd really like to see these betrayed wives behave). And the focus of this show is how the wife continues to deal with the aftermath of what her husband has done.
In this case, the wife is a lawyer who had given up her career to focus on her husband and children. Because of financial necessity, while hubby is in jail awaiting trial, she sells their home and moves to more affordable digs and she returns to work as a lawyer. The show focuses on her legal cases and interactions with others at the law firm, as well as her life with her children, and her continuing uncertainty about what to do about her marriage (hubby is currently at home under house arrest).
The entire cast is top notch. The scripts are very well written, and the situations (both the legal aspects and the domestic drama) are adult and compelling. The full situation with hubby's transgressions, and his legal entanglements, unfolds rather gradually, so, as in real, things are somewhat ambiguous, and the wife processes this information, and each revelation, as her awareness deepens. She's got a lot to adjust to, both in terms of her functioning within the law firm, and in her newly changed relationship with her husband, because her entire once comfortable world has been altered. Her choices aren't that clear cut or easy, but this wife is a very smart cookie, and Julianna Margulies plays her with all the complexity she deserves--she is wonderful in this role.
If you haven't seen The Good Wife, I certainly suggest you give it a look.
@firefly,
One of my two favorite shows this season. It keeps getting better. All the characters are multi-dimensional. I am particularly fascinated by Archie Punjabi. I think she often steals the show. If you aren't watching, give it a try! (Other favorite show--Lie To Me.)
@firefly,
yes, it's one of the best but totally underappreciated IMHO
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