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GOOD NEWS CHRISTINE BARANSKI could have walked away from her beloved THE GOOD WIFE character after the show’s series finale last year. Instead she’s found Diane Lockhart a new firm—and a new show, THE GOOD FIGHT—on the streaming service CBS All Access. By LYNETTE RICE @Lynetterice
AFTER CBS ANNOUNCED DURING LAST YEAR’S SUPER BOWL THAT The Good Wife was coming to an end, star Christine Baranski was presented with two very attractive prospects: to star in a planned spin-off of The Blacklist on NBC or stick around CBS while it figured out a way to keep her playing attorney Diane Lockhart in another drama. “There was nothing definitive in the works,” recalls the 64-year-old actress, who received six Emmy nominations for playing the grande dame of Chicago’s legal community. “Once I got a serious offer to do something else, it sort of forced the hand of everybody to say, ‘Let’s see if we can make this work.’ And let’s face it, while there are roles out there for older women, there are very few Diane Lockharts, with that kind of stature, that kind of dignity. Keeping that was as good as gold to me.” And that’s how a couple of conversations about wanting to keep court in session led to the creation of The Good Fight (debuting Feb. 19), the first drama designed specifically for the CBS All Access streaming service. Masterminded by Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King, the sequel revolves around a newly retired Diane, who was last seen slapping Alicia Florrick (Julianna Margulies) in the May 8 finale on CBS. (In case you missed the conclusion, Alicia threw her longtime friend and colleague under the bus in an attempt to keep her husband, Peter, out of prison.) Now Diane is the one who takes it on the chin: After a financial scandal ruins her reputation and leaves her penniless, she finds a job at a previously all-African-American law firm named Reddick, Boseman & Kolstad— the only one in Chicago that’s willing to hire her. ( Above ) Cush Jumbo and Rose Leslie “She’s upended emotionally,” explains Baranski. “Diane has a great reputation. But it’s decimated because of a Ponzi scheme. She encouraged a lot of women’s organizations to invest in this fund. So her reputation is tainted as well. Even her own law firm that she created won’t take her back. Her foundation is rocked to the core.” (Diane’s new office—half the size of her Lockhart/Gardner digs—does still bear a few vestiges of her former life: a photo of herself with Hillary Clinton rests on a windowsill, and a pair of Manolo Blahniks sits underneath her desk.) She is joined at the firm by goddaughter Maia (Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie), a lesbian and recent law-school grad whose father concocted the scheme that took Diane down. “I felt like I was showered with gold dust after reading the pilot,” says Leslie, who was a big fan of The Good Wife while living in the U.K. “There are so many different layers to explore. Working at an African- American law firm really piqued my interest. I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Not everything about the new drama will seem unfamiliar. Though it features plenty of new players, like Delroy Lindo as law partner Adrian Boseman and Justin Bartha as very eligible state’s attorney Colin Morrello, the sequel is chock-full of Good Wife alums. Among them: Cush Jumbo as attorney Lucca Quinn, Gary Cole as Diane’s estranged husband Kurt, and Zach Grenier as Diane’s former law partner David Lee. Alicia won’t be back—Margulies was (PREVIOUS SPREAD AND THIS PAGE) PATRICK HARBRON/CBS (2) 30 EW.COM FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Page 4: firm in her decision that her chara

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