Time has been kind to “The Good Wife” (9 p.m. Tuesday, WBBM-Ch. 2).
Robert and Michelle King, the creators of the new Julianna Margulies drama about the wife of a disgraced politician, first pitched their show in May 2008, not long after former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned his position in the wake of a prostitution scandal.
Any fears the Kings may have had about “The Good Wife” losing its relevance have long since been laid to rest, as a number of politicians, including Illinois’ own Rod Blagojevich, continued to embarrass themselves and their constituents in 2008 and 2009.
“What’s beautiful about these scandals is that they just keep coming down the line,” Michelle King said earlier this year in Los Angeles.
From Blagojevich to South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, the politicians of America seem determined to give the Kings more fodder for their show, which follows Chicagoan Alicia Florrick’s return to the legal profession and her attempts to figure out exactly what her husband, disgraced state’s attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth), did wrong — and what Peter’s enemies did to him.
Robert King said he and his wife have always been intrigued by the grim-faced woman who stands by her man during those excruciating mid-scandal news conferences.
“The way we always thought about the show was, you start with this press conference and you think [the show is] about him, but then you look at the woman beside him and you wonder, ‘What’s going on in her head?'” he said. “It always felt like you could not have a more embarrassing moment to have your character defined.”
When it came to finding a setting for the show, Chicago was a natural, and not just because Margulies was a regular visitor here during her run on “ER,” which also took place in Chicago. Though “The Good Wife” is shot in New York, the actress said she is hoping for some on-location work in the Windy City.
“On ‘ER,’ I was the only series regular whose house [exteriors were shot] in Chicago because they knew I loved it there and I was always game to go,” said the actress, who has long made her home in New York.
The Kings said they set the show in Chicago because the worlds of politics and law are so interconnected here.
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“In many ways, the legal profession is a small world. [Margulies’ character’s] husband was a state’s attorney. There will absolutely be times when [legal] stories intersect with her personal life,” Michelle King said.
“So many times, what you’re struggling with in TV is how to create this intricate web, so that it’s natural that a character will turn a corner and come face to face with [someone they know],” Robert King added. “It felt like with Chicago, you didn’t need to start over again with a new web — the web was already there.”
But Margulies insisted that “The Good Wife” is not really a pure legal drama. Alicia is rebuilding her life by taking on a junior position at a law firm, where she has to deal with a 27-year-old colleague who treats her condescendingly and a senior partner who is not sure Alicia is up to the job.
“My main concern, before I signed on, was that this was not a law show. I didn’t want this to be a law show; I wanted it to be a character show with law as a backdrop,” Margulies said.
One of the best parts of the show is Alicia’s complicated relationship with her husband, who humiliated his family with a sex scandal but also appears to be a pawn in a larger game being played by high-level politicians. And the good news is that Noth, who is shooting the “Sex and the City” movie sequel in New York, has made time to appear in the first five episodes of the drama.
“You almost don’t want him to take over the series, but you do want him to be there. You want him to provoke her,” Robert King said.
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‘Wife’ is good: Is “The Good Wife’ the best new drama of the TV season? Page 2