Nick who? That's what fans of The Good Wife are — thankfully — asking after a recent string of strong episodes have erased the unpleasant first half of Season 4 from memory. In September, the legal drama (airing Sundays at 9/8c) suffered a rare critical misfire when it introduced Kalinda's (Archie Panjabi) cold and abrasive estranged husband Nick (Marc Warren), who was not popular with the fans. No irreparable damage was done, but for a show that was regularly in critics' top 10 lists during its first three seasons, the negative attention was surprising. Producers caught on and quickly expunged Nick. Less than four months later, the show is stronger than ever. So how'd they do it? Here's seven ways...read more
Imagine a world in which the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball all decided to move their seasons to the same time of year. It would be chaos, for fans and the professional sports business alike. And yet, in television, that's essentially what happens during pilot season.
The broadcast networks traditionally order pilots during the first few months of the year. From there, it's a race to find the best actors, hire a crew, build sets and produce a show before May, when the upcoming fall schedules are announced. The field has always been crowded, but this spring, several cable networks and online retailer-turned-programmer Amazon are also developing new shows that they hope will go to series (cable networks typically produce pilots throughout the year, usually avoiding the spring).
read moreLast week, The Good Wife entered an ethical grey zone while defending one of her biggest clients — drug kingpin Lemond Bishop. Alicia's morals will get quite the workout once again when another of her most noted clients — millionaire (and murderer) Colin Sweeney — returns in the March 31 episode of...read more