The Good Wife is the show that keeps on giving — just ask Carrie Preston, who helms the series’ second spinoff, Elsbeth.
Only ET was behind the scenes of Preston’s new show, which premieres Thursday night on CBS. The Emmy-winning actress gave ET a look at what goes down during filming and what fans can expect when Preston’s Elsbeth joins the NYPD to help crack cases.
As fans of The Good Wife know, Elsbeth is the quirky lawyer who was introduced to the series during episode 12 of season one. She returns to the series in season three, and her likable character proved to be, well, likable. Like when The Good Wife had its first spinoff, The Good Fight, Elsbeth was there, too.
And here she is again!
“I first started playing Elsbeth 14 years ago on The Good Wife, and then they did The Good Fight and they invited me on that as well,” Preston says proudly. “There had been some speculation over the years that Elsbeth would be a good character to center a show around. And finally, all those lines lined up, and here we are.”
The new spinoff picks up with Elsbeth, an astute but unconventional attorney, and follows her successful career in Chicago. She utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD. Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson also star in the series, which reunites Preston with executive producers Robert and Michelle King, who both serve as writers. Robert also directs.
It goes without saying that the unconventional lawyer’s quirkiness will have an effect on others, and that includes Pierce, the revered but reluctant police captain.
“She can be a pain in my butt,” said Pierce, formerly Meghan Markle’s TV dad on Suits. “And Captain Wagner tries to be on the up and up with her and he realizes that he’s between a rock and a hard place because he has to tolerate her, but she’s a thorn in his side.”
The Good Wife aired for seven seasons and 156 episodes on CBS from 2009 to 2016. The ensemble cast included Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Graham Phillips, Makenzie Vega and Josh Charles. On the back of its success, The Good Fight, starring Christine Baranski, premiered in 2017 on Paramount+. The sixth and final season aired in 2022.
And just like the shows that preceded it, Elsbeth will boast its own impressive list of guest stars. Elsbeth‘s pilot episode guest stars Stephen Moyer, but there’s more.
“Jesse Tyler Ferguson came on in our second episode,” Preston shares. “He was playing a reality TV show producer. Then we had Jane Krakowski, who played a real estate broker. And then we had Retta, she was playing a matchmaker. And then coming up, we have Blair Underwood.”
Elsbeth premieres Thursday night at 10 p.m. EST on CBS.
