Elsbeth is the latest series to be spun off from the world of The Good Wife and it made a huge impression on viewers when it debuted on CBS earlier this year. The initial season consisted of ten episodes but now, the sophomore season has secured an order for double that amount. Last weekend at New York Comic Con, Collider’s Maggie Lovitt spoke with a number of cast and creatives — Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce, Robert King, Michelle King, and Jonathan Tolins — from the series about a variety of topics relating to the show. One of the topics that came up was the pleasing news that the first season concluded in May of this year, and is already back on our screens in October, unlike other series which are taking 18-24 month hiatuses in between series.
The approval of a second season off the bat on a network series is definitely a benefit and, it seems, the initial order for Elsbeth may actually have been for more episodes had it not been for the writers’ strike last year which successfully derailed work all across Hollywood and beyond for the betterment of SAG and WGA members, but with the dispute resolved, Elsbeth can get its full complement of episodes for Season 2, as Robert King explained.
“The first season, because of the writers’ strike, there was the pilot and then we did nine episodes after the strike, so it was only 10. We have an order for 20 for Season 2.”
Is ‘Elsbeth’ Worth Watching?
If you’re a fan of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, it’s hard to imagine you not enjoying this, too. While Elsbeth deviates from the legal thriller/drama perspective of the original series and its follow-up, taking on a more procedural approach, the presence of Elsbeth Tascioni alone is enough to seduce fans into coming back for more, as Collider’s Arezou Amin concluded in her 8/10 review of Season 2. She wrote:
“And then as always, there’s the star of the show herself, Carrie Preston . Elsbeth’s relentless positivity in another actor’s hands would run the risk of being just this side of too much. But as portrayed by Preston, she is a ray of sunshine that continues to shine brightly in the first episode and will hopefully continue to do so in the rest of the season. With the premiere so brilliantly kicking things off, Elsbeth fans are sure to be in for a treat as the series airs this fall.
Elsbeth airs every Thursday night on CBS. You can stream Season 1 on Paramount+.
