I suppose I shouldn’t feel bad for a show like The Good Wife. It has great ratings, great reviews, and has picked up several nominations and awards in the 2 short years it has been on the air. Nevertheless, I feel like a lot of baby writers don’t give shows like The Good Wife much respect, and that’s truly a shame. I think most of them think this is a show for older audiences, not young hip people such as themselves, or they hear “lawyer show” or “legal procedural” and say: “yeah, maybe for my grandpa” (then, they go watch Mad Men and fantasize about living their grandpa's life...ironic).
I challenge you, baby writers, to watch this show and let it prove you wrong. I think the characters are all really interesting and extremely complex, sometimes they do right, sometimes they do wrong, but they never do stupid just because it's convenient for the story. I also think the writing in general and especially the dialogue is smart and sophisticated. The show doesn’t talk down to its audience or dumb itself down for viewers. Sometimes you won’t know what’s happening because of all the legalese or political jargon, and you just have to keep up. That reminds me of The West Wing, another show I really loved, back in the day.
The show also doesn’t shy away from controversial subjects or taking on the not so heroic side of law (it's not all catching the bad guy/helping the innocent guy stuff, there’s lots of moral ambiguity, money making, and juicy back room deals going on).
Anyway, The Good Wife is really good, if you haven’t already, give it a chance (and if you’re looking for a hot new drama to spec this year, I think this is an excellent choice).
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