Though The Good Wife officially ended its seven season run just five days ago, like any good politician it’s not going to just gracefully step out of the limelight. In a day already overflowing with TV news surprises (ABC cancels Castle and Nashville! Supergirl gets renewed, but on the CW! Fox wipes their freshman comedy slate!) the show is still delighting fans with news of a possible spinoff starring Christine Baranski.
Something to make fans happy is actually a good idea, since the highly-anticipated finale was widely considered a bust, leaving viewers feeling cheated and unappreciated. Throughout the series, creators Robert and Michelle King were deft character-managers, ricocheting the audience between love and hate for nearly all the characters; and we happily bought into it, because the roles were so richly drawn. But they never left us with a confused “what?” moment quite like what happened in the finale, in which they seemed to be trying to show us we were all as duped by Alicia Florrick (Juliana Margulies) as her friends were.
In the end it was Baranski’s character, Diane Lockhart, who was still standing with her dignity intact despite the loss of nearly everyone good in her life. The finale raised the actress’ name as an Emmy contender, so the idea that the series might choose to follow her character on feels right; she has been the most consistent force on the show.
Sources at Variety seem to believe the spinoff has been in negotiation for some time since Baranski’s team has been turning down some tempting offers from a variety of networks for the star. Many new shows would love to have snatched the actress up for a pilot so her reticence to grab another job may speak to her level of interest in the project.
That being said, sources also caution that negotiations are ongoing and the entire idea could go up in smoke—a puff of delicate, fragrant smoke from the corner office, natch. If things fall into place actress Cush Jumbo, who joined The Good Wife during season seven, is expected to join the project.
Now here’s the ultimate catch: if the series comes together CBS is currently planning on airing it through their CBS All Access streaming video on demand service. The network is currently developing a continuation of Star Trek as the first original series it will air on via All Access. The idea of paying the $6 monthly subscription fee to continue on with Diane Lockhart may be too much to ask for some viewers. With Hulu, Netflix, Amazon and/or other VOD services eating up budgets (on top of cable bills for many) signing on to another distributor who, don’t forget, has the ability to air their shows for free on broadcast, may be too much to ask.
Can we get a good lawyer to argue our right to continued access to good TV?
Here’s hoping to more time with Baranski in Lockhart’s designer shoes. Remember that in the meantime you can also catch her occasionally as Leonard’s mother, the disturbingly professional Dr. Beverly Hofstadter, on The Big Bang Theory.