The Good Wife (2009-16)

The Good Wife has consistently been one of the best shows on TV. In the era of cable television, The Good Wife has been the lone standout on the networks, delivering 23 episodes of high quality drama per season. It was procedural without ever feeling procedural. It was definitely the best legal drama, showing audiences different types of courts, a cast of quirky judges and lawyers, and interesting and innovative interpretations of the law. It glorifies the legal profession and, as an aspiring lawyer, inspires. Apart from the law, the politics was always engaging, especially behind the scenes of the campaign. The show always did a good job reflecting reality, bringing in stories from the current newspapers, like the brilliant NSA arc. Plus the writing was funny. It was overall an enjoyable show to watch--a show I would actually look forward to watching every week.

I didn't really like the finale.  It's one thing to leave us with uncertainty, but doesn't Alicia deserve some finality? Don't we deserve to know that she can be happy? I will always remember Josh Charles's last episode, a shocking moment coming out of left field in the middle of an episode in the middle of one of the best seasons, so we were given plenty of time to process what we'd just seen.

Not only was the main cast excellent, including Emmy winners Julianna Margulies and Archie Panjabi and my favorite Alan Cumming, but the recurring guest cast was phenomenal and memorable as well. Michael J. Fox and Carrie Preston are particular standouts. But each season had several new names worthy of praise. It was a show full of strong female characters played by strong female actors. Julianna Margulies will forever be known for playing The Good Wife. The show's title is a bit of a misnomer. The show quickly became so much more than a show about a woman who stood by her man. She was defined by her own accomplishments and prowess, never merely by her role as a wife.