The Stars and Creators Of ‘Elsbeth’ Take Us Through The CBS Show’s 14-Year Journey From ‘Good Wife’ Guest Role To Primetime Procedural

You’ll never forget your first encounter with Carrie Preston ‘s iconoclastic character Elsbeth Tascioni. Maybe you found yourself bewitched by her quirky approach to legal battles in CBS’s The Good Wife or discovered her stealing scenes in Paramount+ ‘s The Good Fight . Or maybe the first time you met Elsbeth was anchoring her own hit CBS procedural drama.

Ever since Elsbeth premiered on CBS in the spring of 2024, the cozy crime drama has earned massive ratings, incredible critical acclaim, and countless comparisons to one of the greatest television shows of all time, Columbo . Tonight, Elsbeth returns to CBS for its hotly-anticipated second season, positioned right after another breakthrough hit, Matlock , on the schedule.

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Elsbeth’ Season 2 On CBS, Where The Quirky Lawyer Continues To Help The NYPD Solve Murders

When Decider sat down with Elsbeth star Carrie Preston during Summer 2024 TCA , she revealed that she feels an overwhelming sense of “relief” heading into the show’s sophomore season.

“I was so blown away by the fact that they even let me do the show,” Carrie Preston said. “Every moment of Season 1, I was thinking, ‘I still can’t believe that I’m standing here doing this.’ This character that I started playing fourteen years ago is at the center of a show.”

“I didn’t realize the pressure that I felt until it did well out of the gate, until that day that we got the rating,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking about ratings and — I’m being completely honest — I wasn’t thinking about reviews. I just was like, ‘Do a great job. Enjoy every moment.’ That was my goal. And then the ratings were pretty great for a brand new show. I had this moment of utter relief. So I feel relief entering Season 2.”

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Elsbeth Tascioni’s journey from appearing in a guest role on a random episode of The Good Wife to leading her own Fall 2024 tentpole series is something of a Cinderella story. The character was first introduced in The Good Wife Season 1 Episode 20 “Mock” as an attorney who shows up at the fractured family’s luxurious Chicago apartment to defend the embattled Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) from (correct) allegations he had broken his house arrest. She popped up again later in the first season, but wasn’t seen again until The Good Wife ‘s creators Robert and Michelle King had an idea for her to return in Season 3.

“Carrie Preston playing Elsbeth was not on the second season of The Good Wife . We thought that was kind of it,” Robert King told Decider. “Then there was a case that came up that couldn’t use any of the lawyers within our law firm. So we just kind of thought, ‘Let’s try Carrie again.'”

Elsbeth finally returned to The Good Wife in Season 3 Episode 7 “Executive Order 13224,” and according to Robert King, this is when the Elsbeth we all know and love began to first leap off the screen. “Carrie Preston was such a perfect breath of fresh air and was so clever. That’s when you start seeing her mind working as she was moving things around.”

He also suggested that this episode was the moment where the germ of what would later become Elsbeth , the TV show, began to take root. “This idea that maybe she’s not just a spice for the show, but she could be the main course,” he said.

According to Elsbeth ‘s co-creators, Robert and Michelle King, and the series’ showrunner Jonathan Tolins, CBS was wildly “enthused” about the show from the jump. Elsbeth sees Tascioni leaving the cozy confines of The Good Wife and The Good Fight ‘s self-contained Chicago-based universe for the Big Apple. Elsbeth has been sent to New York City with a consent decree to observe the NYPD, specifically Captain C. W. Wagner (Wendell Pierce). Each episode opens with a murder, letting the audience know exactly who the killer is. It is up to Elsbeth and her unique powers of observation to figure out how to catch the criminal.

“The pitch was the show. It’s what you see. It didn’t go through a lot of wild permutations,” Michelle King said.

“[CBS] were really on board, and they were very happy with the pilot,” Tolins said. “Of all the shows we’ve got, that probably had the easiest slide, start to finish.”

By the end of Elsbeth ‘s first season, it’s revealed that Wagner is not crooked, but rather Lieutenant Dave Noonan (Fredric Lehne) was the culprit. A furious Wagner initially ordered Elsbeth back to Chicago, but eventually allows her to stay in New York. However, as Wendell Pierce told Decider, that doesn’t mean all is well between the two characters.

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“Now that we’ve gotten to that place where there was this reconciliation, there still needs to be repair of that trust,” Pierce told Decider. “I have to restore this trust because I’m a little mistrusting of everyone now. My guard is up. So you still have to navigate those things. I know what it’s like to have to repair and try to repair relationships.

“Also, we’re kind of in unchartered territory because Elsbeth is there on a consent decree,” Preston said. “How long do those get to go? She’s not a detective. She’s just there doing all the work of a detective. That’s thin ice.”

Elsbeth Season 2 opens tonight with a new murder mystery for Elsbeth and company to solve, with screen and stage legend Nathan Lane sliding into the role of killer. Other guest stars for Elsbeth Season 2 include Rob Riggle as a “billionaire and wannabe astronaut” and Brittany O’Grady as a “former child star turned party girl.” The structure of Elsbeth , as well as its established connection to the Good Wife/Good Fight universe, offers amble opportunities for guest stars to crash the series.

While the Kings and Tolins were mum on the possibility of a Good Wife/Good Fight character cameo-ing this year, both Preston and Pierce already have their dream crossovers.

“I’ve often thought it would be fun to get AUSA Josh Perotti, played by Kyle McLachlan, because Elsbeth and Josh had a tryst,” Preston said. “They had this energy and all of that, so that would be fun.”

Still, Preston understands that reunion might be tough. “Kyle’s a busy guy. With a lot of these actors, it becomes more about logistics than about, ‘Would they want to write them in?'”

“I would like to see Miss Baranski [on Elsbeth ],” Pierce said, referring to Christine Baranski’s iconic Diane Lockhart.

“Well, Elsbeth worships Diane, so it would always be great to have her there,” Preston said. “But Christine is busy, too.”

One character Elsbeth and Wagner will definitely see again in Elsbeth Season 2 is Kaya Blanke (Carra Preston), the third part of the show’s crime-solving triumvirate.

“Yes! We love our Carra,” Preston said. “I mean, Wendell will tell you, sometimes I’ll get in the elevator, and we’ll just be the three of us, and then I’ll go, ‘I just want you guys to know I love you guys.’ And I’ll get teary.”

“The lasting memory [of Elsbeth ] will always be the work that you do and the people that you do it with,” Pierce said. “And on both of those fronts, we have a high caliber.”

“It takes a couple of hundred people to do an episode of TV,” Preston said. “And every day the caliber of talent from our crew, our writers, actors, every single person involved, is at the highest. That makes it a joy to collaborate”

“It’s called Elsbeth , but it takes two hundred people to lift her up.”

Elsbeth Season 2 premieres on CBS tonight at 10 PM ET and will be available to stream next day on Paramount+.

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