NEW YORK — CBS used a Super Bowl promo to announce the end of its beloved drama “The Good Wife.”
The commercial, shown during the second quarter of Sunday night’s game, confirmed what fans have suspected for a while: that this seventh season will be Alicia Florrick’s last.
Julianna Margulies plays Alicia in the Emmy-winning series. The show’s executive producers and co-creators Robert and Michelle King said, “We’re looking forward to using this seventh season to bring Alicia’s story to its natural conclusion. We couldn’t be more excited and grateful.”
“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,” Julianna Margulies stated in a press release. “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.”
“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,” said Glenn Geller, President, CBS Entertainment and David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “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 … We thank and applaud the outstanding cast, led by the impeccable Julianna Margulies, and the consummate writing and producing team, headed by the brilliant Robert and Michelle King, who brought to life a smart, sophisticated series that has delivered audiences so many memorable characters and unforgettable moments. It is a series that will only grow in prestige as its episodes are watched again or discovered by new viewers for many years to come.”
The Super Bowl promo said nine episodes are remaining. It appeared to be an unusual “first” for a TV network — an announcement about a show’s ending during the highest-rated telecast of the year.
In a press release, CBS explained the move by saying it announced the finale “in dramatic fashion.”
The final episode will air on May 8, the network said.
In a joint statement, CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller and CBS Television Studios president David Stapf called the show “one of the crown jewels” of CBS.
While new episodes are coming to an end, the show isn’t really over, they suggested.
In a sign of the streaming times, Geller and Stapf said, “It is a series that will only grow in prestige as its episodes are watched again or discovered by new viewers for many years to come.”
On Twitter, TV critics were bemused by the decision to announce the series end via a Super Bowl promo…
