The Good Wife

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Timely, mature drama about surviving political scandal.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this drama about a woman who returns to the legal profession when her politician husband goes to jail after a highly publicized sex scandal deals with some mature themes, including illicit affairs and illegal activity. Expect plenty of not-so-subtle references to infamous real-life sex scandals, as well as frequent discussions of murder, occasional (and usually brief) reenactments of violent events, bloody crime scene photos, and social drinking. The language is fairly mild when it comes to swearing ("damn," “hell”), but there's plenty of talk about sex and related topics.

  • The series sends multiple messages to and about women, ranging from how they should cope with a straying husband to what they must do to survive in the workplace. While some of the messages are empowering, others reinforce existing gender stereotypes.
  • Alicia is a survivor. She works hard to protect her children and overcome extreme public humiliation. She also shows that re-starting a career later in life is possible. Her husband Peter is a much less admirable character.
  • Frequent discussions of violent homicides. Occasional brief reenactments of violent events. Guns and images of bloody homicide victims are sometimes shown. One episode features Alicia slapping her husband across the face in anger.
  • Sexual scandal is one of the show's major themes; Peter Florrick's public and private sexual escapades overshadow much of the show's events. Extra-marital affairs, prostitution, threesomes, and other events are frequently discussed. Brief scenes of sex tapes are shown, and there's some discussion of sex acts; no sensitive body parts are visible. Frequent references to real-life public sex scandals.
  • Occasional use of words like "damn" and "hell."
  • YouTube pages are prominently visible.
  • Adult characters drink wine and cocktails at bars and over dinner. Cases sometimes deal with drugs. Occasional drug references/use (including one episode involving mushrooms).

What's the story?

When former Cook County State Attorney Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) is jailed for political corruption after a very public sex scandal, his wife Alicia (Julianna Margulies) accepts an offer from former law school friend Will Gardner (Josh Charles) to join his firm as a junior associate. As she begins to rebuild her legal career after 13 years away from the courtroom, she finds herself up against the legal profession's traditional “old boys' network” -- which is, ironically, occasionally made worse by female senior partner Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski). Luckily, Alicia gets some support from the firm’s in-house investigator, Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi). As Alicia works to prove herself professionally, she also struggles to protect herself and teenage children (played by Graham Phillips and Mackenzie Vega) from the public scandals while coping with her mother-in-law's (Mary Beth Peil) denial about her son's escapades.


Is it any good?

 

THE GOOD WIFE sets itself apart from other legal dramas because it's set within the backdrop of real-life political/sex scandals that have been sensationalized in the media. Because the series is told from Alicia's point of view, it establishes a strong, positive voice -- one that's presumably meant to represent the real-life political wives who publicly stand by their husbands but are usually never heard from. It also calls attention to the pain that these scandals -- and the media coverage they receive -- can cause.

While Alicia is a strong survivor, The Good Wife sends some mixed messages about women. It features women in a variety of domestic and distinguished professional roles, but it also shows them resorting to catty and/or desperate measures to get what they want. Meanwhile, Alicia's on-going efforts to support her husband politically and personally sometimes makes her appear more indecisive than empowered. Still, the show offers a well-developed and (unfortunately) timely drama that makes for solid primetime entertainment.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about why the media spends so much time reporting scandals. Why do these stories receive so much attention? What kind of impact can publicity have on the personal lives of those associated with these stories?

  • What kind of impact does sexual content in the media have on viewers? How can parents keep kids who aren’t mature enough to handle this sort of thing from being exposed to it, especially when it's in the news?


This review was written by Melissa Camacho
Teen, 15 years old
April 3, 2011
 
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watch this show religiously and it is awesome. It's not any more inappropriate than a crime show.

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Parent of 16 and 18 year old
January 28, 2010
 
Mature Children Only!
It takes a mature kid to understand this well.

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Kid, 13 years old
October 17, 2010
 

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Parent of 17 year old
May 13, 2011
 
What more could make a kid respecty the law then watching some who practice it
i think when the kids watch Alicia practising law and criminals are being punished will teach the kids to respect law but the issue is the first concerne of any case is how much money the make which could make kids forget about the principals also their is a lot of sex stories like the hoker...... but i recommend parent to watch it with their children and explain if any thing goes wrong Thank you !!!

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Teen, 17 years old
November 20, 2011
 
Quality broadcast TV
The sexual content which “Good Wife” often shows is very attenuated and by no means will offend any average viewer, nor represents anything too strong for kids in general. The show is very well written and acted, and is among the best that is not only among broadcast channels, but on general TV.

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Adult
July 27, 2011
 
Quality TV

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This review was written by Melissa Camacho
TV rating:TV-14
Network:CBS
Cast:Chris Noth, Christine Baranski, Julianna Margulies
Genre:Drama

This review was written by Melissa Camacho
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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