Elsbeth allowed Carrie Preston and Michael Emerson to play characters that are extremely different from the real-life couple.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive first look at the Thursday, December 12, episode of the hit CBS series, Elsbeth (Preston) attempts to be dismissed from jury duty. Unfortunately, Judge Milton Crawford (Emerson) doesn’t make it easy for her.
“I was just wondering if you had any more clarity on our timeline. I really should get back to my son. He was supposed to be with his father — who is in Chicago,” Elsbeth tells the judge. “My son is in his 20s, he is just visiting for the week.”
Elsbeth expresses surprise that Judge Milton didn’t immediately release her, adding, “I really didn’t think I would get picked. In the past when I have had jury duty, judges have always let the defense strike me.”
In response, Judge Milton offers his reasoning, which leaves a lot to be desired for Elsbeth.
Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Michael Emerson as Judge Milton Crawford in ‘Elsbeth.’ Michael Parmelee/CBS
“I confess, I prefer having attorneys on my jury. A random sample of 12 New Yorkers rarely yield the sharpest minds,” he admits in the sneak peek. “A few properly educated folks in there gives me confidence in the verdicts.”
Elsbeth subsequently questions Judge Milton’s motives. “It feels like your faith in members of the bar is a little misplaced,” she says.
In an exclusive joint statement to Us, Preston, 57, and Emerson, 70, reflected on their time working together.
“Elsbeth is on the jury in a murder trial where the proceedings seem questionable. Can she go head-to-head with the judge and bring order to the court?” they said. “We’ve had so much fun waking up together and going off to work playing these courtroom adversaries on Elsbeth! It’s a tremendous battle of wits with life and death in the balance. Then we get to go back home and snuggle it off.”
Elsbeth, which debuted in February, is a spinoff series based on Preston’s character from The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Elsbeth Tascioni. The collaboration between Preston and Emerson has a special connection, since Elsbeth was created by Robert King and Michelle King. The screenwriting duo recently worked on Evil, which starred Emerson.
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Preston and Emerson, who have been married since 1998, have shared the screen before in projects such as Lost and Person of Interest. Preston previously opened up about the benefits of working alongside Emerson.
Carrie Preston as Elsbeth Tascioni and Michael Emerson as Judge Milton Crawford in ‘Elsbeth.’ Michael Parmelee/CBS
“It was really great on Person of Interest because we were playing people that were totally different than us, so it was really a fun thing to do,” she told Parade in 2017. “I remember looking at him one day on set and realizing, ‘Oh, I’m not standing here with Michael Emerson, my husband. I’m standing here with Harold Finch.’ It was pretty exciting. I’m really in awe of his talent, as is everybody else.”
The actress reflected on how being married to Emerson helped strengthen their onscreen collaborations, too.
“We met 23 years ago doing a play together, and we’ve worked together several times since then. It’s wonderful working with him because there’s a shorthand,” Preston shared at the time. “We don’t even rehearse together at home. We do our separate work the way you would do to anything else, and then show up on the day and don’t have to worry about establishing some level of trust because that’s already there. So we get to play off of each other. He’s so brilliant.”
She continued: “We obviously have a real connection, but we also have a real respect for each other, each other’s work ethic and each other’s talent. It’s a real joy to not have to worry about any of the other stuff, building a relationship out of nothing, which you have to do with people that you only just meet.”
Elsbeth airs on CBS Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Paramount+.
