As of July 2026, The Good Wife Season 1 aired in 2009 with 23 episodes — streaming now on Paramount Plus. Full episode guide and where to watch below.

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The Good Wife Season 1

2009 23 Episodes Drama ⭐ 8/10

Right now you can watch The Good Wife Season 1 on and — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. A single, tightly-focused season means there is plenty to get through without ever feeling padded. An 8/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Julianna Margulies leads a cast that never overplays its hand. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

The Good Wife Season 1 is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The Good Wife Season 1 takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. Season 1 of The Good Wife includes 23 episodes. It aired from September 2009 to May 2010. This season stars Julianna Margulies, Christine Baranski and Josh Charles. Julianna Margulies and Christine Baranski lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 2009. The Good Wife Season 1 resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It rarely drops the ball, and when it does, it recovers fast.

The Good Wife Season 1 is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single week. Julianna Margulies's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

📡 Where to Watch The Good Wife Season 1

🇦🇺 Australia

Paramount+ Amazon Channel

Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel

Paramount Plus Premium

Paramount Plus Basic with Ads

🇺🇸 United States

Paramount Plus Premium

Paramount Plus Essential

Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel

Paramount+ Amazon Channel

Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Paramount+ Amazon Channel

Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel

Paramount Plus Premium

Paramount Plus Basic with Ads

🇨🇦 Canada

Paramount+ Amazon Channel

Paramount Plus Apple TV Channel

Paramount Plus Premium

Paramount Plus Basic with Ads

🎬 The Good Wife Season 1 — Episode Guide

Alicia returns to work as a defense attorney after her husband's corruption scandal and incarceration. She is assigned her first case - a retrial of a woman accused of murdering her ex-husband. Her firm successfully deadlocked the first jury, and they hope that sticking to that strategy will work ag...

After the State's Attorney refuses to pursue criminal charges, Alicia becomes second chair on a civil suit involving the rape of a prostitute at a bachelor party who may have been hired and abused by her own husband.

The son of Alicia's former friends is charged with felony murder, and Alicia decides to defend him, despite the fact that they ostracized her ever since the scandal.

Alicia uncovers evidence that possibly proves that the jury is tampering with her firm's class action law suit that she has against a pharmaceutical company, while the legal team of her husband continues to mount the case for his appeal.

Alicia and Will have only 72 hours to find the smoking gun that proves the train company, and not the three engineers, is responsible for the crash, thus securing the widows their pensions the company is holding back. Meanwhile, Jackie and Alicia clash over taking the children to visit their father ...

As Alicia works with Will on the appeal of a death row inmate, she agrees to a conjugal visit with Peter in order to get information from him since her client was convicted under Peter's regime as state's attorney.

Alicia, representing a daughter of one of the partner in the firm, finds herself very attracted to her co-counsel, mostly because of his unorthodox approach of defending their client.

While Alicia is preparing in a case defending a scientist accused of arson, she is suddenly asked to testify on Peter's behalf. Damages Peter Riegert guest stars as the judge in Peter's case and CBS' The Early Show star Russ Mitchell guests as himself and interviews Peter.

Alicia is asked to represent a partner in the firm on a DUI charge. Her attention is split when she is suddenly forced to face the Other Woman.

When a judge overturns a simple plea deal that Alicia arranged, she looks into his motivation, and Diane is made an offer she can not refuse.

Alicia learns more about Peter's fall from office when she represents Glenn Child's wife, Carla Browning, in her divorce appeal. Meanwhile, Will and Emily, an opposing counsel, get cozy during a death suit against Duke Roscoe, a caustic TV commentator.

Alicia and the kids have to deal with some really bad news; Peter learns some new information that makes him furious. Meanwhile, Alicia has to represent the doctor who prescribed medication to a high school quarterback, who appeared to die from a painkiller overdose.

Tensions are high as Peter's appeal begins while Alicia has to defend a wealthy client who doesn't seem that innocent, even after he's found not guilty of murdering his wife. Meanwhile, Diane takes precautions when a prisoner she put in jail is to be released from prison.

Alicia defends a man accused of killing his child's babysitter. Meanwhile, Peter's appeal seems to be going well, and Alicia prepares for the idea of him returning to her life.

While Peter gets acclimated to life at home and works on a comeback strategy with his political team, including Eli Gold, Alicia and Diane wrestle with spousal privilege laws in a murder case that hinges on their ability to get a wife to testify against her husband.

As Peter strategizes on how to handle his retrial and the next steps in his public rehabilitation, Alicia and Will defend an attorney arrested for murder.

In an emergency courtroom set up in a hospital, Alicia and Will battle Patti Nyholm and an insurance company that refuses to pay for life-saving in-utero surgery. Meanwhile, Alicia gives Peter a proper welcome home.

Alicia and Will defend a college student accused of killing her sorority sister while under the influence of a sleep aid. At the same time, they also deal with their growing sexual tension and Diane and Kurt McVeigh continue their flirtation.

When Alicia goes head-to-head in the courtroom with former boss Jonas Stern, she debates whether or not use personal information to her advantage. Meanwhile, Peter uses religion to work on his appeal.

The police are quickly at the door when Peter's electronic monitor sounds after he chases Alicia out of the apartment. As a result, Grace and Zach scramble to figure out a way to keep him from being arrested.

🎭 Cast of The Good Wife Season 1

Julianna Margulies

Julianna Margulies

Alicia Florrick

Christine Baranski

Christine Baranski

Josh Charles

Matt Czuchry

Archie Panjabi

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