Robert & Michelle King Talk Good Wife Spin-off

NEW YORK: Robert and Michelle King say they’re excited to explore the “Trump cultural shift” in their new CBS All Access series The Good Fight, a spin-off of their hit CBS drama The Good Wife, which ended its run earlier this year.

The creators and exec producers spoke about the development process of The Good Wife, the show’s controversial final episode and the upcoming spin-off in a session at Scripted in New York City. The series, set to launch on CBS’s VOD service in February, stars Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo and picks up a year after The Good Wife’s ending. (Asked by an audience member if there was a happy ending for Julianna Margulies’ Alicia Florrick, Robert King said that she does end up with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Jason Crouse.)

“The Trump cultural shift really gives a strong rationale for the show,” Robert King said. “It’s not Good Wife. It’s so not Good Wife. And it’ll address all the cultural shifts that have come about because of not just Trump as a president but also the possible acceptance of a cruder culture.”

Asked if they saw themselves as being “political,” Michelle King responded, “I suppose—here’s what I will say. The thing I am most proud of about The Good Wife is that people who felt completely differently [enjoyed the show]. Rush Limbaugh was a big fan and Gloria Steinem and Michael Moore were big fans. The fact that people who disagreed on everything can look at this show and say, OK, my viewpoint is being presented as though it were intelligent and respected to be listened to—to me that meant a lot.”