The Good Wife - TV Fanatic

Look Who's Returning to The Good Wife...

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:50:36 EST

A trio of fan favorites will make their way back to The Good Wife later this season.

As first reported by TV Line, viewers can look forward to new appearances by...

Michael J. Fox (pictured) as Louis Canning, who will take on Lockhart/Gardner in a case involving a NHL player.
Jill Flint as FBI agent Lana Delaney, who - we have to assume - will flirt it up with Kalinda once again.
Elizabeth Reaser as Tammy, Will's ex, back from her overseas assignment.

The Good Wife returns with a new episode on February 19, but which of these return has you most excited?

The Good Wife Review: Fishing for Dirt

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:00:50 EST

Who knew fishing expeditions could have such unwanted consequences?

On the latest installment of The Good Wife, "Another Ham Sandwich," Wendy Scott-Carr chose not to cut bait in the face of overwhelming evidence that her case against Will would not lead to an indictment, while Eli should never have cast his line in the direction of Stacie Hall in the first place.

It was a quality episode, filled with a couple significant developments that should play key roles going forward, but a couple ways in which storylines were wrapped up left me asking: WTF? What the Fish, of course...

First, there was the quick and tidy way the grand jury arrived at its decision. Who is this Peter person? Really, random grand jury women?!? He was referred to as the State's Attorney every time he was mentioned in testimony; and based on last season's extended election coverage, the show made the race for that office seems like a very public event in Chicago.

Similarly, another participant believed the real crime was some kind of cover-up between Peter and the judge, seemingly because the former's name simply was brought up often. For such a major storyline - would Will get indicted? Would he go to jail? Would his dalliance with Alicia be exposed? - the resolution felt awfully anti-climactic and rushed, left in the hands of total strangers.

Secondly, the Kalinda/Dana interactions have felt forced from the beginning. Both women have been clearly using one another, so why Dana would be shocked that Kalinda doctored that file? To the point she'd slap her in public when prompted? It was an odd scene and an even odder reaction.

Wow, the known-to-be-flirty-when-it-furthers-her-own-cause private investigator pulled one over on you to protect her boss? The unexpected horror!

This tampering of the file by Kalinda was a predictable maneuver, but it was still enjoyable to watch Will confidently, calmly destroy Wendy's "evidence" on the stand.

Will Wendy really follow up with the bar association now?* I hope not. The judicial bribery charges have been played out from a storyline perspective. Has Will used his basketball games to curry favor? Is he completely innocent of all these allegations? I'd prefer for the case to now be dropped and for these answers to remain ambiguous.

Elsewhere, great, great scene between Peter and Alicia in the latter's kitchen. The Good Wife is judicious in how often it puts these two together, and for great reason. This way, when they do interact, there's always a sense of tension boiling just beneath the surface. They've been on good terms for awhile now... but not really. They're separated... but not in the eyes of the public. Peter knows about Will... but it's never been outwardly discussed, until his blowup of a line here.

Of course that's what this is about! The entire exchange was both subtle and direct at the same time. I loved it.

As for Eli and Stacie? They're fun together. Eli still feels separate from the rest of the show, however, like the writers just give him stories here and there because, come on, everyone loves Eli Gold. And it's true, we do. But I look forward to Peter one day running for governor, to Eli representing him and for his time each week to feel more related to other characters and events.

That said, point David Lee. Well played, sir. I do enjoy the adversarial relationship this pair has developed.

So as Alicia takes her kids on vacation, The Good Wife will once again also be on hiatus for a bit. That gives us time to debate: Were you happy with the way Will's case played out? Do you want to see more of Stacie Hall? Should Alicia just tell her kids about Will? And did you find this episode fishin awesome, or just okay?

* My question is answered in this promo for the next new episode, scheduled to air on February 19.

** The "Here I Go Again" cover that concluded the episode was sang by Audra Mae and you can purchase it via TV Fanatic HERE.

Bebe Neuwirth to Preside Over The Good Wife

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:17:29 EST

Cheers to the latest piece of Good Wife casting news!

Bebe Neuwirth - who rose to fame as Frasier Crane's ex wife, Lilith, and has more recently appeared on Bored to Death and Law & Order: SVU - will recur later this season as the latest big name to portray a judge on this CBS drama.

According to EW, Neuwirth will preside over the case of two sides battling for control of a large equity group.

Other guest stars who have donned a robe on The Good Wife include Jerry Stiller, Denis O'Hare, Ana Gasteyer and David Paymer.

Meanwhile, fans can also look forward to an appearance by Homeland star Morena Baccarin in a few weeks.

Morena Baccarin to Guest Star on The Good Wife

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:00:27 EST

Homeland may be in between seasons, but CBS is ensuring that Morena Baccarin remains in our television lives for the foreseeable future.

The actress will first reprise her role as Erica Flynn on the February 16 episode of The Mentalist (below) and, as Entertainment Weekly now confirms, will also show up on an upcoming installment of The Good Wife.

Baccarin will guest star on episode 17 as a high-powered executive who gets caught up with Dylan Baker's returning Colin Sweeney. Look for her character to accuse the creepy wife killer of sexual harassment.

The Good Wife Round Table: Mr. Boring Bitcoin

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:37:35 EST

With The Good Wife returning from a brief hiatus this Sunday, our Round Table team of Matt Richenthal, Carissa Pavlica and Christine Orlando is here to take a look back before taking a look forward.

Below, they tackle the episode that posed the question: Who is Mr. Bitcoin?

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What was your favorite scene from the episode?
Matt: Probably the opening, where Jason Biggs first made an appearance as a seemingly funny, interesting client with a sharp zing of those agents on his tail. What about that door? What if I go through that one? After that, it all went downhill.

Carissa: The end. Honestly, this was one of the most boring episodes ever. I work in commodities and currencies and I didn't give a hoot. Jason Biggs could have been used in a much more exciting manner.

Christine: Definitely seeing Elsbeth set up Wendy Scott Carr to give her more information on the judges than she intended. Everyone underestimates Elsbeth until they're caught in her trap and it's such fun to watch.

Did Kalinda make the right decision in handing over that folder?
Matt: It's clearly too early to judge, based on our lack of folder information, so I'll tackle the larger question: should she choose Alicia or Will, if it really comes down to that? Alicia. Because Will really is guilty of whatever is in that folder and because we all know Kalinda could find another job in an instant. Another friend like Alicia? Not so much.

Carissa: Because I don't know what was actually in the folder, I'm going to reserve judgement. She is not a sucker, and always has cards up her sleeve that I would never imagine. That folder has to contain some of those cards.

Christine: The bigger question is, what's in the folder? We've never known Kalinda to just roll over and surrender. There has to be more to this story than we're seeing.

So, Zach is dating Nisa: Do you care?
Matt: No.

Carissa: I kind of wanted him to date Eli's daughter, so I do care. Frankly, I don't understand the storyline. Why should ANYone should care who he dates or why? Unless it was someone close, like a daughter of a friend or coworker of one of his parents. A public school girl? Oh my. That's... boring.

Christine: I'm sorry, what? I fell asleep during the question. So, is the issue that Zach's dating a girl who is black or is it that she goes to public school? Or is it that I really don't care who Zach dates because I don't care about Zach?

Rate this episode's case of the week on a scale from 1-10.
Matt: Three. It was clear all along that Biggs' character was involved and Kalinda may be able to make many storylines interesting, but not even her flirty, intense presence could jazz up a case centered around coding and computer hackery. Repeated instances of coding and computer hackery, no less.

Carissa: Five. Only because there was a lot of Kalinda and with Kalinda comes score power.

Christine: Five. I like that they made us question Will's innocence and I enjoyed Elsbeth, but the case was boring. Having Kalinda run around talking to programmers about binary code? Wake me when it's over.

Former Dexter Villain Cast on The Good Wife

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:27:10 EST

The Good Wife is about to get a whole lot creepier.

Christian Camargo - forever known to Dexter fans as Brian Moser, The Ice Truck Killer - will guest star on a March episode of this CBS drama as a client of Lockhart/Gardner's.

The actor will portray a documentary maker whose film on suicide causes him to be at the center of a lawsuit when a young girl takes her own life.

The Good Wife has cast a couple of other upcoming roles in recent days, as well: Are you ready to meet Will's sisters?

Nadia Dajani to Recur on The Good Wife As...

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:19:32 EST

Merrit Weaver now has company on The Good Wife.

With the Nurse Jackie star already on board as one of Will Gardner's nagging sisters, TV Line confirms Nadia Dajani will also stop by later this season in the same capacity. The actress (The Big C, Necessary Roughness) is expected to appear on multiple episodes and to give her brother a hard time about his lack of a wife.

The Good Wife is off this Sunday, but returns on January 29 with an installment that looks rather intense:

The Good Wife Promo: "Another Ham Sandwich"

The Good Wife Review: Currencies, Commodities and Confusion

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:13:12 EST

One thing I love about The Good Wife is how it treats its audience like a group of intelligent adults.

This is not a show that dumbs anything down, firing off quick dialogue, technical terms and current event references without stopping to catch us up or explain any nuances. I appreciate the respect the show affords its viewers in this way.

But it was a detriment on "Finding Mr. Bitcoin."

This may have been an all-time episode for computer geeks, but despite my use of this machine for approximately 12 hours per day, I am not one of them.

There was simply too much talk about programming this, binary code that. I understood the general idea of Bitcoin and the case, but I was lost when it came to the details and simply bored by the back and forth between Kalinda and her pair of suspected programmers.

He did it! No, she did it! No, see this line of code, he did it, I swear! This went on for far too long - and it led to a predictable ending.

Of course, Jason Biggs' lawyer played a role in the creation of this commodity. Sorry, judge, I mean this currency. It would have been a rather lame conclusion for the American Pie star's Mr. Stack to just thank Alicia, hand over a cashier check (his use of cash at the outset was also overly foreshadowing) and be on his way.

Elsewhere, Zach is still dating Nisa. These two totally love each other and Zach is using his mother's feud against his grandmother to see more of her and... oh, sorry. I fell asleep there for a second. Look, I absolutely understand that we need to see glimpses of Alicia at home. We need to be reminded that she's a mostly single mother and she often struggles with the burden of her job versus her children.

But can we come up with a more interesting, ongoing storyline for the kids? There might as well be a neon sign flashing the word "FILLER" at this point every time Zach or Grace is on screen.

Finally, there was serious movement in the case against Will. My favorite scene of the hour, by far, was Elsbeth once again doing her quirky thing in her under-reconstruction office. I laughed out loud when those two workers wandered in.

Moreover, it was nice to see some continuity, as the major angle from last week's terrific episode came into play again here, placing Kalinda in an impossible situation. Did she tamper with that case file? What exactly is so damaging about it in the first place? Are we to believe that Will actually did bribe a judge?

I doubt the answer is that simple, but I also doubt Will is completely innocent. Heck, this episode started by reminding us that Diane and Will are all about money, as the former comforted the latter about the Bitcoin case by saying it wasn't mere charity... there was major cash on the table! I can't think of another drama that would so blatantly paint main characters in this sort of greedy light. It's great, as is the fact that Kalinda called Diane out for wanting to be kept in the loop regarding Will so, in Kalinda's estimation, she can know when to cut ties.

Or is it when to help, as Diane insisted? I really don't know, and, despite my complaints about this episode in particular, that's what makes The Good Wife so intriguing.

** The Good Wife takes next Sunday off and returns on January 29 with an episode that, as depicted in this preview, seriously raises the stakes.

Merrit Weaver Cast as a Sibling on The Good Wife

matt@tvfanatic.com (TV Fanatic Staff) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:01:59 EST

Merrit Weaver is headed to The Good Wife.

The adorable Nurse Jackie star will appear on an upcoming episode as Will's younger sister Audra, TV Line reports, stopping by to irritate her brother about his personal life. Or lackthere of.

The Good Wife Promo: "Finding Mr. Bitcoin"

Producer Robert kKing describes the character as "irresponsible" and "rebellious." She'll be accompanied by a not-yet-cast older sibling.

Jason Biggs, meanwhile, guest stars on the terrific drama this Sunday. Watch the official CBS promo for his appearance above.

TCA Notes: CBS President on Good Wife Time Slot, Mike & Molly Wedding, Vagina Jokes and More!

matt@mediavine.com (Matt Richenthal) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:59:13 EST

With her network clobbering all others in ratings, and with only one new show premiering this season - the horrific Rob - CBS President Nina Tassler took to the stage today at the Television Critics Association press tour and answered questions regarding a number of steady performers.

Among the highlights from her panel, along with those sprinkled in from other network guests:

No, CBS is not happy with the football overruns pushing back The Good Wife almost every Sunday, but “the show feels like a better fit on Sunday night. More importantly, the audience that does watch the show on Sunday is more upscale, more female and very engaged."
Ashton Kutcher has a new, clean look (above) and the reason why will be addressed on Monday's Two and a Half Men.
While confirming 2 Broke Girls will likely continue to use the diner as a setting, Tassler responded to criticism over risque storylines with the line of the week: "Vagina is not indecent."
A Mike & Molly wedding will almost definitely take place in May.

Note: 2 Broke Girls creator Michael Patrick King just completed a VERY hostile session with reporters. It deserves its own post...