Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart in THE GOOD FIGHT. (Photo credit: Patrick Harbron/CBS All Access)
Christine Baranski’s legal-eagle “Diane Lockhart” character has become the woman she admires most. The role that Baranski introduced on The Good Wife and has brought to the CBS All Access spin-off The Good Fight is the person she would love to be.
Baranski insisted, “I live in admiration of Diane Lockhart. I aspire to be Diane Lockhart. From the time of The Good Wife, I always thought she was the woman in the room where it happened. She was always the grownup in the room. That’s the way Robert and Michelle King wrote this character. And I think the culture has caught up with her, because now we have women in power who are well over the age of 40 or 50 who are kicking ass. They’re in the room where it happens, and they’re demanding to be in that room. So I think that Diane fighting the good fight, and trying to keep her moral balance in this crazy dystopian world, that is something of a public service.”
Fans of Baranski and The Good Fight should be happy to learn that the exceptional show is encoring its complete first season (10-episodes) on Sunday nights (starting June 16) in primetime on CBS.
The spin-off of the acclaimed legal/political drama The Good Wife has been on web television for three seasons, available only on CBS All Access. But now the network has had the wisdom to broaden its audience base by airing the show on the regular CBS broadcast network, probably to give it a ratings-boost, promote the network’s subscription streaming service, and create a higher profile as Emmy considerations are underway. This also comes on the heels of CBS announcing that the series has been renewed for a fourth season.
PHOTO: (l. To r.) “The Good Fight” cast Sarah Steele (standing) as Marissa Gold, Rose Leslie as Maia Rindell, Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn, Erica Tazel as Barbara Kolstad, Delroy Lindo as Adrian Boseman, and Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart. (Photo credit: CBS All Access)
In addition to Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, Cush Jumbo as Lucca Quinn, and Sarah Steele as Marissa Gold—all reprising their characters from The Good Wife series, The Good Fight also stars Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones), Delroy Lindo (Blood & Oil) and Audra McDonald (Private Practice), among others.
Picking up one year after the events of the final episode of The Good Wife, a huge Ponzi scheme has shattered the reputation of the young attorney Maia Rindell (Leslie), while simultaneously wiping out the life savings of her mentor Diane Lockhart (Baranski). Forced out of Lockhart & Lee, they join Lucca Quinn (Jumbo) at Chicago’s preeminent African-American law firm. The focus is on a mighty group of complex women who are confident about what they want— personally and professionally.
The drama is not afraid to tackle tough issues, sometimes with surprising humor. Timely political and social topics are explored— harassment, racism, the alt-right, and fake news, as well as relationships and office politics. The stories are deftly handled by creators-writers-producers Robert and Michelle King, who were the force behind The Good Wife. The Kings continue to create compelling television.
To give the show a boost, Baranski was on hand at the CBS All Access panel at the Television Critics Association’s winter 2019 press tour along with creators-executive producers Michelle King and Robert King, plus Audra McDonald and, new to the cast, Michael Sheen.
Baranski praised the relevant storylines showcased in the series. She said, “How exciting it is to be in a show where we portray characters that are living in this moment in history. It’s a brave move for writers to be in the belly of the beast at this time. Rob and Michelle are always breathlessly reading the newspaper thinking, ‘Oh, my gosh, what fresh hell is this I’m writing about?’ So it’s exciting for us.”
Emphasizing that the show is fair and balanced, she added, “I don’t think it’s a liberal platform show. It’s a show with a lot of people dealing with what is going on. Many characters are conservative or Republican. So it’s the interaction of the various points of view.”
“The Good Fight continues to be a flagship original series for the CBS All Access service. Its visionary creators and the extraordinary cast continue to explore the cultural climate with insight, humor and courage, and we can’t wait to see where these indelible characters go next,” said Julie McNamara, executive vice president of original content at CBS All Access.
To accommodate The Good Fight joining the CBS schedule this summer, the second season premiere of CBS’ Instinct — which stars Alan Cumming, (an alumnus of The Good Wife) — was pushed to Sunday, June 30. Tune in.
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