Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Michael Emerson as Judge Milton Crawford in ELSBETH – Season 2 – “One Angry Woman” | ©2024 CBS/Michael Parmelee

ELSBETH, the spin-off of the legal dramas THE GOOD WIFE and THE GOOD FIGHT, is now in its second season Thursday nights on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus.

Carrie Preston, who won a Guest Actress Emmy for playing Chicago lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni on THE GOOD WIFE and reprised the role on THE GOOD FIGHT, is now in the title role on ELSBETH. Elsbeth has given up both the courtroom and the Windy City in favor of being a consultant for the NYPD.

In theory, Elsbeth’s job is to make sure that the police are complying with the laws that govern them. In practice, Elsbeth actually spends most of her time helping solve murder cases. These are presented to the audience COLUMBO-style, so that we see the crime up front, and then follow Elsbeth and company as they zero in on a suspect.

Married couple Michelle King and Robert King created and are executive producers on ELSBETH. They previously created THE GOOD WIFE and, with Phil Alden Robinson, THE GOOD FIGHT. The Kings also created and exec-produced the horror/detective/dark comedy series EVIL, now streaming in its entirety on Paramount Plus.

During CBS’s portion of the most recent Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour, the Kings participate in a Q&A session for ELSBETH, then make themselves available for further discussion. This article combines answers from both.

When Elsbeth first appeared on THE GOOD WIFE, Michelle King discloses, “I would say it was purely functional. Because the Chris Noth character, Peter Florrick, needed a lawyer, because he was going to hopefully get out of prison. So, it started there. Then Carrie Preston comes in and explodes it into this wonderful character who we just wanted to see more and more. Speaking only for myself, certainly that early on, I didn’t see, ‘Oh, she’s going to someday topline a series.’ And yet, as things go forward, you say, ‘Oh, I want to see more of her.’”

ELSBETH Key Art – Season 1 | ©2024 CBS

And, Robert King elaborates, “As with so much of THE GOOD WIFE and THE GOOD FIGHT, it was, we couldn’t get [a specific, desired] actor. It was an actor who was in, I think, SCANDAL. So, we needed to create a new character, and then Carrie came, and it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, this is great.’ It was always meant to be kind of a female Columbo, quirky. There was always a tendency on the shows [to think] that quirkiness is a danger, because quirkiness is a way that sly people use to hide how dangerous they are. But I think what Carrie brought was this innocence beneath it, which surprised us, which made her a more genuine character. Which is why I do think people are attracted, is there’s a genuineness underneath it.”

Elsbeth’s priorities have changed a little now that she’s a police consultant, Robert King notes. “She was always a defense attorney. And so, to see Elsbeth kind of turn on that and say, ‘I just want to go for the truth’ was interesting. The other thing is letting Carrie be center stage. She brought in a little more of the physical comedy that she does so well. With THE GOOD WIFE and THE GOOD FIGHT, the mood of those shows always took over – it was comic, but a little more serious. Here, Carrie being more Buster Keaton, using her body more, is just a lot more fun.”

Additionally, Robert King observes, “I think we’re seeing more of who she really is in her private life. You know, actors are always like, ‘When will the show go home with them?’ I think this second season, there’s a lot more going home with Elsbeth.”

Does this mean we’ll be seeing more of Elsbeth’s son, who has so far showed up this season for Christmas?

“It might,” Michelle King concedes.

Robert King agrees. “It might.”

Do the Kings see Elsbeth as different than she was in THE GOOD WIFE and THE GOOD FIGHT?

Robert King says, “I think we’re seeing more of who she really is in her private life. You know, actors are always like, ‘When will the show go home with them?’ I think this second season, there’s a lot more going home with Elsbeth.”

Does this mean we’ll be seeing more of Elsbeth’s son, who has so far showed up this season for Christmas?

“It might,” Michelle King concedes.

ELSBETH – Season 2 Key Art | ©2025 CBS

Robert King agrees. “It might.”

The Kings had previously said they couldn’t do a crossover between ELSBETH and their EVIL series, even though both are set in New York City, because EVIL regular (and ELSBETH star Preston’s real-life husband) Michael Emerson was already established as a character in the GOOD WIFE universe.

This season, however, Emerson has arrived on ELSBETH as homicidal Judge Milton Crawford. ELSBETH regular Carra Patterson, who plays Elsbeth’s friend and colleague Officer Kaya Blanke, guested on EVIL as an employee at a particle accelerator facility. Why the change in policy?

Robert King laughs, then turns the question over to Michelle King for a reply.

“We decided with ELSBETH, we cannot keep that line anymore. From THE GOOD WIFE to THE GOOD FIGHT, we were very strict. If we established an actor as a character, they only play that character. With ELSBETH, after you’ve been doing [the franchise for] fifteen years, [by maintaining that rule], you rob yourself of the ability to use too many great people.”

Robert King adds, “All of the people we used on GOOD WIFE and GOOD FIGHT, when you start crossing them off …”

Patterson’s appearance on EVIL, Robert King explains, is “how we met her, on that, and then we cast her in ELSBETH after that. That’s what’s fun about when people come on any of the shows we do, we can bounce them over – we move them over to other shows if they’re that impressive, if we’re lucky.”

They weren’t able to use Preston on EVIL, Robert King relates, because, as it is, “Carrie is so overworked. And we used her as a director on YOUR HONOR. She did two episodes.”

There was precedent, Michelle King points out. “[Preston] directed on GOOD FIGHT.”

Do the Kings have plans for any other GOOD WIFE/GOOD FIGHT spinoffs?

“They’re not actively in the works,” Michelle King replies, “but we love our characters. So, they’re never that far from our minds.”

The finale of THE GOOD FIGHT was open-ended. “But the ending really [was] that Trump [was] running again,” Robert King observes. “I think there is a series to be done. It is not a repeat of what happened in THE GOOD FIGHT, but it would be interesting, what happens.”

Although it has had its series finale, all of EVIL is streaming on Paramount Plus, and the first two seasons are also available on Netflix, where it has proved extremely popular. Any possibility of a revival?

“Here’s the thing,” says Robert King. “We have stressed that we have more to do on that show, and who’s been really biting at the bit is Katja Herbers, who plays the lead. So, she’s been pushing. Because all the actors want to come back. I think we’re in this mid-zone where people don’t know quite what they’re doing, because of the strike, because of the changes in the streaming business. But all we can say is, we’re out there wanting it to happen. Is that true, Michelle?” he inquires with a laugh.

“It is true,” Michelle King affirms.

At the time of this interview, regarding ELSBETH’s Season 2 finale, Robert King felt it was too early “to know exactly how we’ll close up the season, but while we are a procedural with a case every week, there will be things that we’ll serialize over the course of the season.”

Related: Interview: The cast and creators of ELSBETH talk about the new CBS procedural 

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Article: Interview: Series creators Robert King and Michelle King give the scoop on Season 2 of THE GOOD WIFE spin-off

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