The Good Wife’s (Geo)Politics Between Originality and Stereotypes: A New Wine or Just a New Bottle?

In the last 15 years, a new generation of TV series based on complex storytelling and frequently focused on politics has emerged. Critics and commentators have identified this as a new golden age for television, frequently emphasising the accuracy and originality of this generation of TV series, and highlighting its capacity to represent different aspects of our world in an effective and innovative manner. Peculiar and original characters in political TV series are also being recognised in academic studies; in particular, these programs have attracted diffused interest in cultural and political studies and more recently also in popular geopolitics. The aim of this article is to contribute to this debate by analysing the ambivalent geopolitical perspectives transmitted within these forms of contemporary media products. By focusing on the political and legal series The Good Wife, produced by CBS between 2009 and 2016, the paper shows how original and challenging representations of politics and society pair well with very traditional and stereotyped geopolitical representations. Consequently, the paper suggests that in many cases, the acclaimed originality in the form of TV series conceals old and stereotyped contents.