The Good Wife will come to an end in May after seven seasons. CBS broke the news Sunday via a commercial during its telecast of Super Bowl 50. The promo ran toward the end of the second quarter and touted the drama’s “final nine episodes.” The series finale will air Sunday, May 8 at 9/8c.
It was announced last month that Good Wife creators Robert and Michelle King would step down as showrunners at the end of the show’s current seventh season. However, CBS president Glenn Geller — citing the show’s “deep bench” of producers — said the network was open to bringing the drama back. “We haven’t made any determination,” the exec insisted at the time. “It’s just January, so we have to determine if there will be another season or not.”
Two weeks later, leading lady Julianna Margulies foreshadowed Sunday’s final-season declaration at a Casting Society of America event honoring her bosses in New York. “[The Kings] think I’m here for them,” Margulies told the crowd. “But I’m unemployed come April, and I think you [casting directors] haven’t seen me in a while, at least not in person, so I thought I should show up.”
In a statement released Sunday following the promo’s unveiling, Geller conceded that the the Kings’ looming exit played a major role in the decision to pull the plug. “It’s never easy to say goodbye to one of the crown jewels of your network and studio, much less to a show that is among the best on television,” he said. “But it also feels very right to end with the seven-year story its creators envisioned, and to celebrate the show’s final run while at the top of its creative game.”
The Kings, meanwhile, released a statement of their own on Twitter: “Telling the story of the Education of Alicia Florrick is the creative dream of a lifetime. It was always our plan to tell it over 7 seasons. We wanted the story to have a beginning, middle, and an end — that’s the only way actions can have real consequences — and it’s the reason we had episode titles count up from one word to four, then back down again (it would have been pretty embarrassing if we were cancelled in our fifth season). We are forever grateful to our fans, cast and crew and CBS. We’re excited to celebrate the final 9 eps and bring the story to its natural conclusion. Here’s a spoiler: the last episode will be called ‘End.’”
Lastly, Margulies said, “Being a part of The Good Wife has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. As an actress and a producer, it has been an absolute honor to be a part of a series that, throughout seven years, never settled on being just good… but always strived to be extraordinary. I have witnessed magic happen when Robert and Michelle King put pen to paper, and it has been a privilege to be in the company of their brilliance. To the most amazing and talented cast and crew, there will always be a special place in my heart for our Good Wife family. As we close the book on our beloved show, I am humbled and grateful to know that together, we created and were a part of something truly remarkable.”
