Fans of The Good Wife may not have seen the last half of the Super Bowl as they cried into their drinks over a promo announcing the end of the series. Just before the end of the second quarter the network ran a quick spot promoting the last 9 episodes, which will wrap up in a finale on May 8.
As part of their broadcast deal for the Super Bowl, CBS was given five minutes of airtime to promote their content. While most of the spots focused on new methods for watching online and on-demand, they also dropped this bomb.
Last month, Good Wife creators and showrunners Robert and Michelle King announced their intention to leave the show after this season. CBS had the option to choose new leaders and continue the story. Following the King’s announcement CBS president Glen Geller said, “The Kings did say they would not be returning after this year, but we have a deep bench on the show.” He felt the series could go on and said there was no need to rush to a decision.
But during a conference call with press today about the Super Bowl revelation Variety reported Robert King saying, “The story of Alicia Florrick could only support seven seasons. This isn’t a show that’s ending because anybody hates each other. It’s a show that’s ending because it should be ending.”
Michelle followed with, “We felt very fortunate and flattered that we’re being allowed to end the show with the other writers and the other producers the way we hoped it would end.”
No spoilers were leaked during the call but the duo confirmed that fans should not expect to see Archie Panjabi show up again. And while Josh Charles’ Will Gardner, whose death surprised everyone last year, has also left the building, other characters like Robyn Burdine and Kurt McVeigh could return. When asked about the possibility of spinoffs Michelle King replied “Nothing’s off the table.”
In the immediate future the King’s are working on a new series for CBS set to debut this summer. BrainDead is a D.C. set comic political thriller that lands a young woman in Washington for her first job where she discovers that aliens have arrived and are devouring the brains of Congress members. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (The Ring 2). Aaron Tveit (Graceland), and stage actress Nikki James will star.
After debuting in 2009 The Good Wife quickly proved that it was stronger than its scandalous hook. Following Alicia Florrick (Juliana Margulies) as she forged an identity separate from her cheating, political husband (Chris Noth), the story quickly grew into a riveting legal and personal drama. Its been nominated for 39 Primetime Emmys including 5 nominations and one win for Margulies as Best Actress. The series has also served as a showcase for beloved supporting and guest actors like Stockard Channing, Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming, and Matt Czuchry, several of whom were also award-nominees for their roles.
In a statement released after the Super Bowl promo aired CBS’s Geller said that it felt right to end the show “with the seven-year story the creators envisioned, and to celebrate the show’s final run while at the top of its creative game.”