Published Jun 7, 2026, 8:01 PM EDT
Memory Ngulube joined Screen Rant in April 2024 as part of the Movies and TV team. Since then, she has written for the Perennials and Streaming team, covering a wide range of topics from new releases to old movies and TV shows. Memory is currently a Classic TV writer.
Before joining Screen Rant, Memory was a freelance copywriter who specialized in email marketing and social media management. While she enjoyed her job, her true passion was always movies and TV.
When she isn’t writing for Screen Rant, Memory can be found reading, baking (which is one of her passions), or watching her favorite K-drama.
There aren’t many TV shows that sustain excellence across multiple seasons, but Paramount’s six-season legal drama stands out as a rare exception. Legal dramas have always been popular in the TV landscape. Shows like Suits, Boston Legal, and The Lincoln Lawyer are among the best the genre has to offer. Yet even these series have had some trying moments during their runs. Thankfully, one Ridley Scott-produced show never shared that same problem.
From the moment it premiered in 2017 as a spinoff of The Good Wife, The Good Fight established itself as more than just another courtroom drama. It was a series deeply rooted in the chaos of modern reality, following Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) as she is forced to rebuild her life and career after a devastating financial scandal destroys her reputation and savings. Where some shows suffer from late-season fatigue, The Good Fight remained as brilliant in its last seasons as it did when it first hit the small screen.
Christine Baranski, Rose Leslie, Cush Jumbo, and the rest of The Good Fight cast deliver incredible performances, but the show’s excellence is attributable to several other factors. Each season of the legal drama captures the mood of its time by including real-world events. Whenever a series draws inspiration from reality, there’s always an element of concern because not everyone wants to relive the past. The Good Fight, fortunately, found the perfect balance between these realistic pressures and a story that blends courtroom drama with its characters’ personal struggles.
Where many TV shows avoid commenting on politics, culture wars, or social movements, *The Good Fight *dives straight into them. The #MeToo movement, Trump-era politics (his first term), and fake news are featured prominently and are all brilliantly dissected in the series. The Good Fight doesn’t try to be preachy with its social commentary. The show instead uses the law and its characters as a lens through which to examine the complexities of modern society.
Spinoff shows can be great, but many end up feeling weaker than the original series because they don’t feature the main character or fail to capture the magic of their source material. However, there have been some rare exceptions to this, with spinoffs like* Better Call Saul*, Young Sheldon, and* The Originals* being almost as good as their predecessors. The Good Fight is also widely considered an excellent spinoff series that gave its parent show a run for its money.
Choosing which series is better between The Good Fight and The Good Wife isn’t an easy feat. After all, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. During its seven-season run, The Good Wife was a critical darling and a success with audiences. The legal drama has been certified fresh with a 93% critics’ score and a 91% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, The Good Wife was far from perfect. Yes, Julianna Margulies was a joy to watch, and her character got some decent development, but not every season was a home run, particularly its penultimate and final installments.
From The Good Wife to Better Call Saul, there are a number of great series that have much in common with The Good Fight.
On the other hand,* The Good Fight was perfect from start to finish. Because the series chose Diane Lockhart, one of The Good Wife’s best characters, as its lead, the legal drama was off to a good start. What’s more is that The Good Fight* does not have one bad episode. In fact, it’s ranked even higher on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95% critics’ score. (It is worth noting, however, that The Good Wife is regarded more positively by audiences compared to* The Good Fight*, at least according to Rotten Tomatoes. *The Good Fight *has a 66% audience score.)
Ultimately, which show is better between *The Good Fight and The Good Wife comes down to a matter of preference. The Good Fight is sharp and witty, and features important social and political commentary. The Good Wife, on the other hand, is more grounded and much more character-driven than ***The Good Fight, focusing just as much, if not more, on its lead character’s personal life as her professional one. That may have made it more accessible, but it left the door open for The Good Fight to cement its own legacy with more creative, experimental storytelling.