The Good Wife

Last Tuesday night, around 9:00 p.m., I was fortunate enough to find myself with some free time and in total charge of the remote control. A couple of new television series were in their second week, and so I decided take a chance on one. The risks were clear to me: I might not like it, or, worse, I might like it and then be committed to trying to catch yet another show I usually don't, or at least shouldn't, have time for.

I settled on The Good Wife, a new CBS drama on at 9 p.m. Julianna Margulies plays the wife of a prominent state attorney who is imprisoned. Margulies has to go back to work as a lawyer in a big firm after taking 13 years off to help her husband and raise two children.

There are several of the expected characters: the male partner who tries to be sympathetic at times, but also makes comments to show some insensitivity to gender issues. The female partner who wants to force Margulies to earn her own way to the top. The fellow associate who competes with her at every step, and makes snide comments along the way.

There is the possibility for at least two different opinions on the series. One could be that the show plays a little too much into stereotypes of the big firm and women's roles in those firms. But, there is also the argument that the show puts women in large firms, and some of the trials they may face, squarely in the public eye. Any discussion about those issues, even in the form of discussing a television show, seems like a good thing.

Additionally, the show so far has delivered in entertainment value. I guess I'll have to tune in again tonight....I was afraid that would happen....