After a week of speculation, CBS confirmed during its upfront presentation this afternoon that it has given a straight-to-series order to an untitled spinoff of The Good Wife starring Christine Baranski and Cush Jumbo. Unlike the original series though, the new drama will air exclusively on CBS All Access.
Not much is known about the plot of the new series. But at the end of the seventh season of The Good Wife, both Diane Lockhart (Baranski) and Lucca Quinn (Jumbo) were working at the same firm. Diane was planning an ambitious expansion for an all-female led firm with Alicia (Julianna Margulies). Though that plan was seemingly put to an end after Alicia used an alleged case of infidelity to discredit Diane's husband, Kurt (Gary Cole), on the stand during Peter's (Chris Noth) trial.
Right now, Baranski and Jumbo are the only cast members officially signed on to the spinoff.
Robert and Michelle King - who created The Good Wife and ran the show for all seven seasons - are expected to co-write the first episode of the spinoff. However, they will not serve as showrunners for the first season. CBS Television Studios will produce.
Baranski was a series regular on The Good Wife for all seven of its season. She has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for the first six seasons. Jumbo was a late addition joining the show as a series regular for its seventh and final season.
The Good Wife spinoff will be the second original series slated to debut on CBS' $5.99-per-month All Access digital subscription service. It joins the new Star Trek series being shepherded by Hannibal's Bryan Fuller which is expected to debut early in 2017.
