The Good Wife, Most Good. Most Good.

Hello, etc. So, Channel 4 can always be relied upon to bring us the best of the new American dramas. And last night it did it again. I had heard about The Good Wife as one of the best new shows of the season and was delighted that Channel 4 was going to broadcast it. My heart felt very full with love for the network, as Jane Fonda might say. If she watches 4OD. I don't know if she does because we're not mates. Not yet anyway. I'm still trying to locate her Blackberry pin. And then she will be putty in my hands.

Anyhoo, the show's premise is that a senator has disgraced himself by having affairs with hookers, and paid them with government money. Oops. He winds up in his prison and his 'good wife' (see how clever this show is already?) has to return to work as a junior attorney. Now, in the opening scenes of this pilot episode we may have been led to believe that this would be some sort of family melodrama. However, it soon becomes clear that this is not just the story of a family coping with the fallout of some shocking revelations. Returning to work at a law firm, our good wife plunges us into an extremely involving legal drama as we are invited to work alongside her on a baffling case.

The opening scenes were something of a rollercoaster. As with all great protagonists, the pressure has really been piled on our good wife. Not only is she coping with her husband's betrayal, imprisonment and the attendant publicity, she is also juggling two children, a meddling Mother-in-law, and a return to work after a 13 year absence. And what a workplace: having to compete with another junior attorney for a permanent position in the firm, and all under the steely gaze of a boss who clearly doesn't want her to progress too far. Add to that a case that seems impossible to win, and we know our good wife has her work cut out for her.

The cast here is top notch. Juliana Margulies as the good wife is first-rate. Margulies did sterling work for years as Nurse Carol Hathaway on the magnificent ER, and here she does not disappoint. Her work has not gone unnoticed as in recent days she has won both the Golden Globe and the SAG award for best leading actress in a drama series. An Emmy win later in the year seems a certainty. Her supporting cast is just as good. Chris Noth, aka Mr Big from Sex And The City, as her incarcerated husband suits his role, though hopefully he will be given more screen time as the series progresses, and the consistently excellent Christine Baranski as her tough as nails boss is a joy to watch.

For a pilot episode, the writers, directors and performers seemed confident in what they were doing, and there was a scarcity of false notes that usually plague drama pilots. Both the family story and the procedural drama blended well together and were equally as engaging.

Strength, confidence and wisdom. This is the story of a strong, confident woman, regaining control of her own life. I'm told the series keeps getting better as it goes on, and I just can't wait.

Peace xx