Elsbeth (TV series)

Elsbeth is an American police procedural comedy drama television series that premiered on February 29, 2024, on CBS. It is a spin-off of The Good Wife (2009–2016) and The Good Fight (2017–2022), from which Carrie Preston originated the role of Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional attorney who ends up working as a de facto detective. In April 2024, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 17, 2024. In February 2025, CBS renewed the series for a third season.
Most, though not all, episodes of Elsbeth use the "howcatchem" mystery format rather than the traditional "whodunit", showing the audience from the start who the killer is, how and why they commit the crime, and how they are caught.
The series focuses on the offbeat Elsbeth Tascioni, an unconventional but astute attorney who, after a successful career in Chicago, uses her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner criminals alongside the NYPD. Ostensibly assigned by the United States Department of Justice to oversee a monitorship or consent decree after some controversial arrests, her real mission initially (revealed over the course of the first season) is to investigate Captain C. W. Wagner for corruption. Most episodes, including nine of the first ten, use the inverted detective story format.
CBS ordered a pilot in January 2023. It was a straight-to-series order, with CBS Studios joining the production of the series. Shortly after the premiere, creators Robert and Michelle King stated that, although the character of Elsbeth Tascioni originated on The Good Wife, they do not consider Elsbeth to be a spin-off but a "separate show" inspired by Columbo that happens to use a "character in [their] wheelhouse". On April 18, 2024, CBS renewed the series for a second season. On February 20, 2025, CBS renewed the series for a third season.
Carrie Preston reprises her role as Elsbeth Tascioni from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. Also, Wendell Pierce joined as C.W. Wagner, and Carra Patterson joined in the role of Kaya Blanke.
The Kings have indicated that, while they avoided recycling actors for different characters on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth would not adhere strictly to the Good series' shared universe, and therefore some guest stars from the earlier series, such as Linda Lavin, would appear as different characters in Elsbeth.
After the show was ordered to series, the rest of the first season began shooting in January 2024 and wrapped in late April 2024. The first season of the series was filmed in New York and consists of 10 episodes.
During a conversation with the press and an open audience to promote the Spanish release of the whole first season, Preston stated that season 2 consists of 20 episodes. Filming on the second season started on July 23, 2024.
The first season of Elsbeth premiered on February 29, 2024, on CBS, though due to programming conflicts, subsequent episodes did not begin airing weekly until April 4. The show is available to stream on Paramount+. The second season premiered on October 17, 2024 on CBS.
In Australia it premiered on Paramount+ on April 26, 2024.
In the UK it premiered on Sky Witness on July 23, 2024 and Germany on Sky One on August 6, 2024.
In Southeast Asia it premiered on AXN Asia on January 30, 2025 and in Italy on Rai 2 on February 1, 2025.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average rating of 7.2/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Carrie Preston's standout character from The Good Wife makes for a great detective in this amiable and clever spinoff." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 71 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".