The Good Wife

This is the best new show of the season. The "story within a story" method is used to great effect, as we follow Alicia's marital woes, the inter-office politics, the husband's efforts to get out of prison, and the family ups and downs at home. Interwoven with these ongoing plot lines, there's a new legal case to tackle each week. I find this show a rich combination of humour, pathos, romance, mystery...

Kudos to the young actors who play Alicia's children (Makenzie Vega and Graham Phillips). They are likable teenagers, neither bratty nor too-good-to-be-true. In fact, I think this show is very well cast overall.

This wonderful new series, takes what I felt was a dubious premise, and instantly turns it into entertainment gold.

I'd never liked "ER", though Margulies has formidable talent. Given the right character, script & director, I felt certain she could deliver. In The Good Wife she does. Her distinctive ability lies in nuance, & here she is finally given the perfect vehicle.

The scripts as well as the entire cast, take directions you'd never expect. That's is the real appeal of the show. Archie Panjabi is a spiffy surprise as the "investigative assistant", if you will. She approaches her character as if she's the entire supporting cast of "Shark", (James Woods 2-season crime drama) rolled into one easy-on-the-eyes, package. She's tough, loyal, funny, & adds to the show's depth.

Kudo's also, to veteran Christine Baranski for playing her "been-everywhere...done everything" role in a fresh way she seldom has in recent years.

I watched the first episode with my wife.. (ok, FOR my wife) not expecting much at all. Boy, was I surprised. Subsequent episodes have been exponentially better, richer, & have demonstrated that THIS show simply refuses to go down already beaten paths. I really love that! I have yet to be able to predict anything at the beginning of an episode, as I can with just about any other major network drama. This show is a TV page turner...

TGW is at once touching, topical, intriguing, even funny. Example: The courtroom judges are not your "standard-TV-crime-show-judges". They always prove to be yet another surprising element this show takes advantage of. In my opinion, this is the show's greatest strength. There ARE obvious choices at every turn in the story lines, the characters, even directorial choices, but NONE are ever followed. Prepare to be entertained and surprised.

Rare in this era of formulaic crime dramas... formulaic everything on TV, "The Good Wife" deceives slightly, even in it's title, which almost caused me not to watch what I figured was going to be "chick-flick-TV". Males take note. This is simply a great show & will not disappoint.

Everything in it is fresh, imminently watchable, & the result of great creative effort to not be just another law-oriented drama. IMHO, this really IS "Must See TV".

I keep under-estimating this drama; perhaps because there are no big names associated with the production of it - my mistake! This drama continues to capture me hook, line and sinker every week. I am loving it to the point that it has become one of my 'must see' TV shows.

The writing is strong, the acting is as good as one finds on any other hit drama show (CSI franchises, Law & Order franchises, Criminal Law, etc.) and the direction is excellent. The budget is clearly huge. Given all that, this show may not win a bountiful of Emmy's although it may win for the lead actress or the support actress.

However, with all that is on the air these days, this is in the top 10% of all television and the top 2-3% of Drama.

I have not been watching any of the law-firm based dramas such as Law & Order. Therefore I decided to give this show a try. I had already seen Julianna Margulies' excellent role in "City Island",which also featured the underrated Andy Garcia.

I was expected Margulies' portrayal of Alicia Florrick to bear a more victimized expression. What I saw instead was a strong female character - a character not stereotyped as a woman out to give a free vasectomy to every man who comes in her way. She holds her own, and does so without trying to bulldoze anyone who disagrees with her even remotely. Even the minor characters such as her children and mother are developed in satisfying detail.

I have only watched 9 episodes so far, but I definitely like what I see. Each episode has a definite conclusion, usually a happy one. It is possible to see the episodes out of sequence without feeling like you missed something. I give this show 10/10.

I wouldn't say it's a perfect drama but it sure is entertaining and manages to capture my attention from beginning to end in every episode. Margulies is a great actress, no doubt about that, this show gives her the platform to showcase her acting prowess. The writers have done a good job inter-connecting the law and politics elements of the show, plus there's complicated relationships and family issues thrown in. The characters are all equally brilliant and interesting, my favorite is Panjabi's character the cynical private investigator Kalinda for which she deservingly won an emmy for. Do hope the writers keep up the good work would be a shame to see this be a 1 season wonder.