Co-creators and writers Michelle and Robert King first conceived the idea for “Elsbeth” while binge-watching TV during the pandemic, a universal experience for many. They wanted to…
Co-creators and writers Michelle and Robert King first conceived the idea for “Elsbeth” while binge-watching TV during the pandemic, a universal experience for many. They wanted to create a show that invoked that same comfort that their favorite episodic mysteries provided during that time.
“We were watching a lot of comfort TV, and comfort felt like ‘Columbo’ and that cozy mystery rather than…a 10-hour movie, which is what some of these streaming shows pretend to be,” Michelle King said.
The cast and crew joined Robert and Michelle King in the “Elsbeth” Variety Streaming Room presented by CBS Studios. Senior awards editor Jazz Tangcay discussed cast dynamics, comfort television, and the origins of the New York crime comedy.
“Elsbeth” follows former defense attorney Elsbeth Tascioni of “The Good Fight” and “The Good Wife,” as she heads to New York to assist the NYPD in solving crimes across the city.
“Elsbeth” star Carrie Preston had never seen “Columbo” when the Kings mentioned that’s what they envisioning for the series. “It was a little ahead of me,” said Preston, who enjoyed going back to revisit the classic detective show.
Preston also admitted she didn’t want to get her hopes up too soon when she heard about “Elsbeth.” The series is a spinoff of the character Elsbeth Tascioni, first introduced over 14 years ago on “The Good Wife.” “I dared not believe it until I was standing on set,” said Preston. “These things, they’re oftentimes just ideas in a head, but because of Robert and Michelle and their track record, when they have an idea, people listen. So I just prayed and hoped that CBS was going to go with them with this idea.”
And they did.
Acting opposite Preston is Wendell Pierce as NYPD Captain C.W. Wagner and Carra Patterson as Officer Kaya Blanke. As the three series regulars, Preston relishes the relationships she has formed with her co-stars, noting that “it’s not always the case” that a cast can grow so close so quickly.
“Carra and Wendell will tell you, sometimes I will look at them both with tears in my eyes and say to them, ‘I just need to say I love you guys so much,'” said Preston. “I’m somebody who pretty much gets along with everybody, but then there’s the next level that you go to with a cast where you really, really bond with them.”
Showrunner Jonathan Tolins spoke about the dynamics between the cast and how episodic was helpful to the creators. He said, “You haven’t written the whole season before you start production. We, as the writers get to respond to what we’re seeing between Carrie and Carra. So it goes back and forth, and that’s why it feels organic and real.
Watch the video above.
