How ‘Elsbeth’ Became the Surprise TV Hit of the Year

CBS has a bona fide hit on their hands with Elsbeth. Although the main character, Chicago lawyer turned murder-solver Elsbeth Tascioni, popped up occasionally in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, the latest series in that universe created by Robert and Michelle King is not a courtroom/political/relationship drama, but a rather light, warm-hearted procedural in the vein of Columbo and Poker Face.

Ostensibly in New York on assignment from the Department of Justice to observe the NYPD as part of the terms of a consent decree, Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth is quickly revealed to the audience as being present to secretly investigate local precinct Captain Wagner (Wendell Pierce). Along the way, she partners with Officer Kaya Blanke (Carra Patterson) to bring both the precinct’s homicide clearance rate and the spirits of everyone she meets way, way up. Thanks to her astute questions, intuitive leaps, and seemingly endless parade of vividly colorful ensembles, even the murderers she apprehends rarely seem to mind that she’s the one to catch them.

Impressively, Elsbeth weathered a wobbly series launch—a strong pilot was followed by a five-week hiatus caused by schedule conflicts with the State of the Union and March Madness broadcasts—going on to secure a full-season pickup for next year before the midway point of its 10-episode first season. The moment was captured on set in a video of Preston breaking character while shooting the first season finale to announce the happy news to her co-stars and the entire crew.

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