Where the heck was Chris Noth on Tuesday night?

As fans know, Tuesday’s epic Good Wife episode saw Peter Florrick’s campaign end in victory. The strange thing was that the man at the center of the plot did not appear.

In the final moments, a victorious Peter emerged to greet his supporters ... or so we're led to believe. A guy with Noth's build showed up, his face unseen by viewers.

Executive producer Michelle King tells TV line it was a case of business side of TV at work, with scheduling and creative considerations resulting in Noth's no-show.

The actor is only a recurring player on The Good Wife and therefore not under contract. His availability was limited due to other acting roles, tying producers' hands.

“We knew he’d only be available for a certain number of the final episodes,” King explains. “We had some flexibility as to which episodes should feature Peter.

"We felt that creatively it would be best to keep him out of [Tuesday's episode] in order to focus on Alicia. That way we will be able to have the dramatic fireworks of a Peter / Alicia confrontation play out in the final episodes.”

Those episodes resume May 3. What fireworks do you foresee then?

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.