Tuesday, December 27, 2022

The Good Fight (2017-22)

The Kings' spinoff of The Good Wife (a stellar legal drama in its own righht) was the perfect way for CBS to enter the streaming wars. The Kings took a successful show, a formula that worked, and were permitted to experiment with profanity, more taboo teams not allowed on network television, and even animated musical segments. They challenged the censors, and memorably let their audience know CBS censored their satirical song on China in a meta episode about censorship. The Good Fight was the boon we needed in the Trump era. When the world turned tipsy turvy, The Good Fight satirized us by cranking up the absurdity further. It gave us a way to process the craziness around us. They rolled with the punches when the pandemic came around, always the most topical show on television. They brought back their cast of kooky judges and Chicagoland lawyers from The Good Wife, and even elevated Audra McDonald to a leading role. At the black law firm of Reddick & Boseman, we were introduced to many excellent black actors. And they played high powered lawyers! That was unheard of before and I hope those roles continue to be written. Clever and timely, poignant and funny-- though I'm not generally a proponent for TV spinoffs, I always looked forward to The Good Fight.

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