The CBS series Elsbeth, already renewed for a third season, could be seen as comfort TV. You pretty much know what you’re getting. Each week, like clockwork, a murder is committed, the audience knows who dunnit. And by the mid-way mark, if not sooner, so does attorney-turned-sleuth Elsbeth. Then, in the final few moments, our we watch the titular character solves the crime. So, if the show is so rote and predictable, why is it so riveting and fun to watch? Two words: Carrie Preston.
This remarkable actress played Elsbeth Tascioni in 19 episodes of The Good Wife and The Good Fight, over the course of 15 years, picking up an Emmy in the process. But she was a quirky and winning Chicago attorney then. Now, she’s still quirky and winning but she works with the NYC police department to help catch criminals—actually she’s usually the one figuring it all out. She’s also a lot more complex. Her glass-half-full persona has been tempered by an internal crisis of confidence and her infectious optimism has been punctured by the grim realities of today’s world. Still, she wants to believe in the best of people and Preston knows just how to navigate the nuances of the character so she’s never too precious. And is always searching.
By the end of season two, Elsbeth has watched a horrifically corrupt judge (her real-life husband Michael Emerson) get shot dead right in front of her and she’s hauled into jail by another lousy judge (John Carroll Lynch) out for revenge. And the unisex prison is filled with murderers Elsbeth has aided in putting away, led by return guest stars Stephen Moyer (her True Blood compadre), Mary-Louise Parker, Gina Gershon, and Alyssa Milano—to name a few.
There’s even a dream-sequence musical number, “Suspect Tango,” basically “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago, with new lyrics by showrunner Jonathan Tolins. And, of course, a murder that puts Elsbeth to immediate work.
The series, created by Michelle and Robert King, should be in Emmy consideration, but for some bizarre reason, the show was entered in the Drama category last year, a seriously misguided decision on the part of the powers-that-be, and appears to be stuck there. While the show certainly has its dramatic moments, especially this season, it is mostly a comedy (much like how the opposite is true for The Bear). I’m not certain what the Emmy rules are about being allowed to switch categories, but it’s a blunder that is costing the incredibly gifted Preston and a slew of guest stars, deserved recognition. Elsbeth, like The Bear, Moonlighting and many other shows, is a great example of how certain series simply do not fit into the Drama or Comedy categories neatly.
How about we created a Dramedy category, Television Academy?
So we can give Carrie Preston her due.
Preston’s breakthrough role was on HBO’s groundbreaking series, True Blood(2010 SAG Ensemble nomination), where she portrayed Arlene Fowler for seven seasons. TV credits include Person of Interest, the LGBTQ miniseries When We Rise, the Netflix series, Grace and Frankie, TNT’s Claws and IFC’s Brockmire. She also directed episodes of Claws, The Good Fight, and the series, Your Honor.
The thesp attended Julliard and made her Broadway debut, opposite Patrick Stewart in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. She appeared opposite Stewart again in the Guthrie Theater’s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, as Honey to Stewart’s George. Other theater credits: Chaucer in Rome, The Rivals, Hamlet and Festen, in 2006, her last Broadway show to date.
Her screen work includes, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Straight-Jacket, Transamerica, Towelhead, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Duplicity, Virginia, 5 Flights Up, 30 Miles from Nowhere, They/Them, Space Oddity, One of Those Days and Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers.
The Contending had the pleasure of a chat with Carrie Preston about the series and the Emmy quandary.
