Elsbeth (TV series)

Elsbeth is an American police procedural comedy-drama television series that premiered on February 29, 2024, on CBS. It is a spin-off of The Good Wife (2009–2016) and The Good Fight (2017–2022), from which Carrie Preston originated the role of Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional attorney who ends up working as a de facto detective. In April 2024, the series was renewed for a second season which is slated to premiere on October 17, 2024.

Elsbeth is usually a "howcatchem" TV mystery show as opposed to the traditional "whodunit", showing the audience from the start who the killer is, how and why they commit the crime and how they are caught.

Premise
The series focuses on the offbeat Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional but astute attorney who, after a successful career in Chicago, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations, and corner criminals alongside the NYPD. She is assigned to oversee a monitorship or consent decree after some controversial arrests. Nine of the first 10 episodes use the inverted detective story format.

Main

 * Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni
 * Carra Patterson as Kaya Blanke, a young NYPD officer who befriends Elsbeth
 * Wendell Pierce as Charles Wallace (C. W.) Wagner, the Captain at Officer Blanke's precinct

Recurring

 * Danny McCarthy as Agent Fred Celetano
 * Fredric Lehne as Lieutenant Dave Noonan
 * Gloria Reuben as Claudia Payne, the wife of C. W. Wagner
 * Danny Mastrogiorgio as Detective Bobby Smullen
 * Molly Price as Detective Donnelly
 * Micaela Diamond as Detective Edwards
 * Ajay Naidu as Martin Wali

Guest

 * Stephen Moyer as Alex Modarian, a respected drama instructor and professor
 * Jane Krakowski as Joann Lenox, a high-end real estate broker
 * Linda Lavin as Gloria Blecher, a co-op board president
 * Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Skip Mason, the creator of Lavish Ladies, a popular reality TV show
 * Retta as Margo Clarke, a matchmaker
 * Kelly AuCoin as Declan Armstrong
 * Blair Underwood as Cliff McGrath, the father and coach of a rising tennis star
 * Gina Gershon as Dr. Vanessa Holmes, a cosmetic surgeon.
 * Keegan-Michael Key as Ashton Hayes, the CEO of a financial firm
 * Geneva Carr as Poppy Hayes
 * Elizabeth Lail as Quinn Powers, the creator of an app called "Cerberus"
 * Arian Moayed as Joe, the owner of a cocktail bar
 * Laura Benanti as Nadine Clay, a supermodel
 * Andre de Shields as Matteo Hart, a designer

Development
On January 31, 2023, it was announced that a pilot was ordered by CBS. It was a straight-to-series order, with CBS Studios joining the production of the series. Shortly after the premiere, creators Robert and Michelle King stated that, although the character of Elsbeth Tascioni originated on The Good Wife, they do not consider Elsbeth to be a spin-off but a "separate show" inspired by Columbo that happens to use a "character in [their] wheelhouse". On April 18, 2024, CBS renewed the series for a second season.

Casting
Carrie Preston reprises her role as Elsbeth Tascioni from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. Also, Wendell Pierce joined as C.W. Wagner, and Carra Patterson joined in the role of Kaya Blanke.

The Kings have indicated that, while they avoided recycling actors for different characters on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth would not adhere strictly to the Good series' shared universe, and therefore some guest stars from the earlier series, such as Linda Lavin, would appear as different characters in Elsbeth.

Filming
After the show was ordered to series, the rest of the first season began shooting in January 2024 and wrapped in late April 2024. The first season of the series was filmed in New York and consists of 10 episodes. During a conversation with the press and an open audience to promote the Spanish release of the whole first season, Preston announced that season 2 will be 20-episode long and that filming is scheduled to start on July 22, 2024.

Release
Elsbeth premiered on February 29, 2024, on CBS. The show is available to stream on Paramount+. The second season is scheduled to premiere on October 17, 2024 on CBS.

In Australia it premiered on Paramount+ on April 26th

In the UK it will premiere on Sky Witness on July 23rd and Germany on Sky One on August 6th.

Despite strong viewership for the pilot episode, new episodes did not resume until April 4, five weeks later, when the second and third episodes aired back-to-back. This was blamed on preemptions caused by the 2024 State of the Union Address on March 7 as well as the 2024 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament on March 21 and 28. CBS opted to repeat the premiere episode on March 14 rather than schedule a single new episode between these events.

Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Carrie Preston's standout character from The Good Wife makes for a great detective in this amiable and clever spinoff." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".