Michael Idato canvasses the new year's schedule to predict which shows will come up trumps and which will go bust in 2010 - and he tells us why The Good Wife is must see TV.
Julianna Margulies plays the resilient wife of a disgraced politician in a hit new US drama. Michael Idato reports.
In the opening scene of The Good Wife, state official Peter Florrick (Chris Noth) resigns from public office to clear his name following a sex and corruption scandal, his wife Alicia (Julianna Margulies) standing dutifully by his side. Moments later, away from prying eyes, she strikes him across the face with thunderous resolve.
"It's like a wake-up call," Margulies tells the Guide on location in New York. "She's sort of slapping herself. In that scene, I felt small and completely alone and I was hoping if it conveyed anything, it was that this was the hardest moment in her life."
One part legal drama, one part psychological drama, The Good Wife is one of the stars of the new US television season. It picks up the story of Alicia Florrick six months after the slap. Her husband is in jail, his mother, Jackie (Mary Beth Peil), has moved in to help with her children, Zach and Grace, and Alicia has returned to work as a lawyer at a prestigious firm where we meet senior partner Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski), old flame Will Gardner (Josh Charles) and a sharp, bright young investigator, Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi).
Margulies, best known for her role as ER's nurse Carol Hathaway from 1994 to 2000, had misgivings about appearing in a legal drama but was attracted to the character of Alicia. "What I loved about her was that she's woken up in a new world, not necessarily a good one, and she has to find her way," she says. "She can't crack up, she doesn't have that luxury, and she's going back into the workforce knowing she's being judged ... She's redefining who she is."
For the inspiration behind the story, you need only glance at the murky world of US politics - Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, Ted Haggard and the male prostitute, US Senator Larry Craig's lewd conduct in an airport restroom and the prostitution scandal involving New York governor Eliot Spitzer. In all cases the men were married and their wives stood by them.
"It felt like there were was always this image of the man at the podium and the woman standing beside him, suffering through it, standing there and bearing it, while the husband spilled his guts about political, financial but more often than not sexual misdeeds," says Robert King, who created the series with his wife, Michelle.
"You know what happens to the husband but what seemed more interesting was what happened to the wife. She had no public presence but now she did and all everyone knew about her was this."
The most striking thing about these women, Michelle King adds, was not their loyalty but their intelligence. "They are very educated, very sophisticated women - some of them were even attorneys - and you wonder, what is going on behind that?"
That was the question that initially stoked Margulies's curiosity. "I'm guilty, just as you are I'm sure, of sitting there and judging these women - why don't they just walk?" she says. "The answer is that life is more complicated. There are children, there is a family and, by the way, she might still love him.
"I don't know what I would do in that situation and the great thing for me is you don't know until you get there."
The series was conceived by the Kings in May 2008. By June it had been pitched to Ridley and Tony Scott's production company, CBS Television Studios and the CBS network. Less than a year later a pilot was commissioned and the producers were looking for their "good wife".
Margulies says her biggest fear was being bound to a procedural legal drama with no room to move. "I sat in an office with the Kings, Ridley and [co-producer] David Zucker and said: 'Can you tell me what would make the show any different from any other procedural law show?' What was great about their answer is that they were honest: that CBS had a record of success with procedural shows and that the first six [episodes] would be more procedural but that it would always be from her point of view and that over time we would start to open that up."
Asked why she thinks she was cast, Margulies pauses: "As an actress, I have the ability to be a strong woman with a certain vulnerability. There is a frailty Alicia needs to have in order for you to believe her."
The Kings say she was ideal for the role because of her emotional complexity and sense of humour. "This show wouldn't work if it was dreary and tragic," Robert King says. "With Julianna, your heart reaches out to her; you want to see what happens to her."
Margulies is in no hurry to find out. "I think it was Harold Pinter who said: 'Why do actors always need to have a beginning a middle and an end? Human beings don't.' And it's true. We don't know when we'll die, we only know right now. And that allows you to actually say more with the freedom to make a mistake."
The ease with which The Good Wife got to air is a rare blessing. "They develop so many more scripts than they're able to put on the air, so it follows that more pilots have an unhappy result than a happy one," Michelle King says. Even better has been the audience reaction. Since its launch in the US last September, the show has averaged an audience of about 13 million and last month was renewed for a second season.
Understanding why an audience falls for a show is like trying to bottle lightning. But it's hard to go past Margulies's stunning performance. And, of course, that slap, which featured heavily in on-air promos in the US and Australia.
"Even though this is in an incredibly difficult time in her life, we're also thinking of it as a turning point," Michelle King says. "A time when she is able to, and about to, reclaim her life."
The Good Wife begins on Ten on Sunday at 8.30pm.
AND WHAT ELSE TO WATCH IN 2010?
Like an Aladdin's cave of glittering gems and partially polished, frequently overvalued stones, the new year spoils for television audiences are a gamble where the odds are stacked against you only slightly more than a rigged poker game. With odds like that, it's little wonder you're already off to the DVD store.
For those men and women of courage (not to mention children 15 and under, the 16-39s and grocery buyers but no one over 55, please) there is still some hope.
While the Government duds audiences by letting the new commercial digital channels abrogate their local content obligations, the wisdom of Australia's politicians of decades past means our bigger channels are still obligated to make shows we might want to watch.
Herewith, an A to Z of the most interesting, most promising – and most at risk.
Some of the best of the rest:
Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle)
Concept: The local version of the high-concept British series in which designer Kevin McCloud walks through the construction of a home, from concept sketch to finished construction.
Star factor: McCloud is a big part of the British show's appeal. The Australian version will be hosted by architect Peter Maddison. For fans who have watched the show on the ABC and the LifeStyle channel, the biggest star is undoubtedly the format.
Verdict: LifeStyle has a track record of smart, perfectly delivered ideas (Home, Dry Spell Gardening), plus this show has the production firepower of Fremantle. It should score a bullseye.
MasterChef 2 and Junior MasterChef (Ten)
Concept: Ten's second outing of the original MasterChef format and the first for its spin-off Junior MasterChef, which replicates the concept — amateur foodies face off in a high-pressure kitchen — using eager youngsters.
Star factor: The first series made overnight household names of George Calombaris, Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston in particular.
Verdict: Few things on television are more certain than the appeal of MasterChef. It delivered titanic ratings for Ten in 2009 and, assuming no one tampers with the recipe, should do the same in 2010.
Modern Family (Ten)
Concept: The foibles of an extended American family, including neurotic siblings (she has an excruciating husband and wild kids, he has a gay partner and adopted baby daughter), their dad, his new Colombian wife and stepson, are captured in a documentary.
Star factor: Married With Children's Ed O'Neill is the name you'll recognise but the show's breakout stars are Jesse Tyler Ferguson (gay son Mitchell), Ty Burrell ("I'm the cool dad" brother-in-law Phil) and Rico Rodriguez (dad's new stepson, Manny).
Verdict: A gentler twist on the discomfort of The Office and Arrested Development, dark enough to entice, not so dark it intimidates and gentle enough to hit its mark as a commercial comedy. An absolute winner.
Top Gear (Nine)
Concept: Motor industry boffins talk shop for an audience of petrolheads and deliver chunky big ratings. Nine has poached this double act — the top-rating British version and its weaker Australian adaptation — from SBS in one of its sneakier manoeuvres.
Star factor: Even when offered a version of their own, Australian audiences voted with their remotes, confirming British hosts Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May as the format's best assets.
Verdict: The British version frequently shadows the 1-million-viewers mark on SBS, so you could reasonably expect Nine to double that. Shrewdly, the Australian adaptation is most likely to surface as a series of "specials".
The rest
AFP (Nine)
Nine's cameras follow Australia's federal police as they work "across 30 countries", packaged into an RPA-style fly-on-the-wall series. The sting in the tail: the producer is Andrew Denton.
Angry Boys (ABC)
Chris Lilley's much-anticipated follow-up to Summer Heights High is an ABC/HBO/BBC joint venture that will explore "what it means to be a 21st century boy". It will be filmed in Australia and overseas locations and will, if Lilley follows form, incorporate one character from his preceding works, most likely Jonah Takalua.
Cougar Town (Seven)
Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence pens a comedy about older single mothers on the dating circuit. Star factor: Courteney Cox. Biggest hurdle: The slightly icky title.
Damage Control (Seven)
A twist on the medical docu-soap genre (think RPA, The Gift, Medical Emergency) following the work of the doctors who keep elite sports stars functioning. Russell Crowe will produce and host.
Gourmet Farmer (SBS)
A sort of post-modern Good Life in which Sydney food critic Matthew Evans leaves the big smoke for rural Tasmania where he tries to unlock the mystery of preparing dinner, from the farm to the freezer.
Hawke (Ten)
Richard Roxburgh as former PM Bob Hawke, Rachael Blake as Hazel and Asher Keddie as Blanche. If that doesn't get you watching one of the most anticipated telemovies of the year, nothing will. The real Bob Hawke even consulted on the project. Of course he did.
Hey Hey It's Saturday (Nine)
Nine hopes to breathe new life into an old icon but can nostalgia give way to renewed loyalty? Without Jackie, Molly, Red, Denise and Ossie, all that is left is Daryl, Livinia and the same show Nine axed in 1999. Despite whopping reunion ratings in 2009, it's still a risk.
Human Target (Nine)
Australia's new favourite son-in-law Mark Valley (he is married to actress Anna Torv) plays Christopher Chance, a bodyguard who works as a human target for his clients. Polished.
Hung (Seven)
A critically acclaimed HBO comedy-drama on the network that brought you more than a thousand episodes of A Country Practice? Thomas Jane plays a dad who moonlights as a male prostitute. Great show. Wrong channel.
James May's Big Ideas and Toy Stories (SBS)
Having lost Top Gear to Nine, SBS is hoping to parlay its audience into two with a double serving of clever programs from James May. The first (Big Ideas) is a twist on Beyond 2000 and the second (Toy Stories) a fun look at classic and modern toys.
Like a Virgin (ABC)
Having not had much success exploring the world of single men (Seven's flop Last Man Standing), writer Marieke Hardy takes on the story of a market researcher who is trying to work out why her lovers keep dying mysteriously.
Lowdown (ABC)
Adam Zwar, the writer and star of SBS's Wilfred, taps his (admittedly brief) roots as a magazine journalist, writing and starring in this eight-part series about a tabloid columnist's quests to get the best celebrity stories for his weekly newspaper column.
The Marriage Ref (Seven)
Jerry Seinfeld's name is attached to this concept, which is basically a splice of The Marriage Game and The Panel. Recipe: Take one jolly couple, dissolve in a panel of hilarious comedians and stir vigorously. Given Seven's past form with comedy panels (You May Be Right, The Chat Room) this is one recipe they don't want to rush.
My Kitchen Rules (Seven)
Seven is pinning its pedigree to a past series, My Restaurant Rules, but you'd have to be deaf and blind not to acknowledge the debt it owes MasterChef. Teams of two turn their homes into one-night restaurants under the watchful eyes of chefs Peter Evans and Manu Feildel.
The Pacific (Seven)
Years in the making and years in the waiting, The Pacific did feature on Seven's 2009 show reel but 2010 feels like its lucky year. A gazillion dollars spent, a cast of hundreds and a mammoth shoot in Queensland should deliver a walloping great war drama.
Past Life (Nine)
A somewhat overwrought US procedural with a Ghost Whisperer twist. Kelli Giddish and Australian actor Nicholas Bishop play past-life detectives who deal with people with unexplained memories.
Poh's Kitchen (ABC)
The ABC gets into the MasterChef groove by giving runner-up Poh Ling Yeow her own series that will "showcase her artistic twist on recipes" and explore the food side of her Malaysian heritage.
The Real Hustle (Nine)
Underbelly star Gyton Grantley explores the world of "the hustle", revealing tactics, scams and tricks. Difficult to know who hustled who but it features Chk Chk Boom – is there any point memorising her real name? – on the sidelines in a supporting role.
Sleuth 101 (ABC)
A new series, or a new twist on a very old one, this is the British TV classic Whodunnit? with a slightly comic twist. Cal Wilson and a panel of comedians tackle a crime based on witness statements, footage flashbacks and forensic evidence.
Spirited (W)
Producers John Edwards, Jacquelin Perske and Claudia Karvan have remoulded The Ghost and Mrs Muir into a modern romantic comedy about a woman (Karvan) who falls for the ghost of a dead English rock star (Matt King).
Strictly Speaking (ABC)
If this 13-part series, hosted by The Chaser's Andrew Hansen, proves to be a hit, you can expect Debating with the Stars on a commercial network by 2011. A familiar-format framework is built around public speaking and contestants will battle for the title of Australia's Best Public Speaker.
True Horror (SBS)
Former Buffy star Anthony Head is perfectly cast as the host of this factual supernatural documentary series that was produced in 2004 for Discovery Europe. It ages nicely given that there is hardly a wealth of new research into the predictable line-up of topics: vampires, demons, witches and exorcism.
Ultimate School Musical: Fame (FOX8)
The students of Essendon Keilor College in Melbourne, winners of a national search, will mount a production of the musical Fame with the aid of professionals from the musical theatre world. Hosted by Australian TV's ubiquitous frontwoman, Ruby Rose.
Underbelly: The Golden Mile (Nine)
The third chapter of Nine's Underbelly franchise signals a return to form after a second instalment weakened by unsteady storytelling and inconsistent casting. It's 1980s and the rise of Kings Cross as Australia's "most infamous playground".
V (Nine)
Warner Bros has delivered a polished remake of the 1980s blockbuster miniseries that taps the themes of the original work without the high camp. A race of peace-selling aliens are in fact an army of fork-tongued, carnivorous reptiles attempting to claim the Earth's resources.
Wicked Love: The Maria Korp Story (Nine)
Rebecca Gibney and Vince Colosimo star in an engaging take on a compelling crime story. Billed as a "gripping suburban thriller", it peels away the layers of a love triangle that ended with a death, a suicide and a murder charge.
X-Ray (ABC)
A telemovie, based on Chris Tugwell's acclaimed stage play Camp X-Ray, which follows the five-year detention of David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay and the campaign, led by his father Terry, to have him freed.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald.
