The Good Wife reached extraordinary new heights in its fifth season, with a shocking courtroom shooting that killed off core character Will Gardner. The mid-season episode 'Dramatics, Your Honor' saw Gardner shot dead, a move kept secret until broadcast. The UK airing on More4 came later, but the US broadcast on CBS was a genuine 'did that really just happen?' moment.
This audacious plot twist encapsulated the confidence that made the series soar. It is the highest-ranking US show in our list, above HBO hits like Game of Thrones and True Detective, despite being a network series with 22 episodes per season. The show manages to be as subversive as cable dramas, offering what the New Yorker called 'a sneaky condemnation of pretty much every institution under capitalism'.
The series has evolved from a family-focused drama about a wife standing by her husband to a meaty political and legal drama. It juggles law, politics and family remarkably well, with storylines that are of-the-moment and bitingly satirical. Technology features heavily, with episodes inspired by Google, Bitcoin, Anonymous and the NSA.
Above all, The Good Wife remembers to entertain. Alicia Florrick's drinking, regular guest stars like Michael J Fox and Carrie Preston, and a genuinely diverse cast keep the show lively. Network television's class act, indeed.
