Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of Elsbeth on CBS.
Carrie Preston is back in primetime in the 2024 TV schedule as Elsbeth Tascioni after playing the attorney on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, but she's not in the courtroom as the star of Elsbeth. The character relocated to New York to work as an outside observer to the NYPD... or at least, that was supposed to be her role. She was quickly investigating clues herself and searching for motive in the series premiere, and she caught onto the killer before anybody else. In a fun twist, the killer was played by none other than Stephen Moyer, and Preston shared the story behind her former True Blood co-star joining the show.
Elsbeth was onto theater director/murderer Alex Modarian well before he realized he needed to take her seriously as a threat. As he noted, it was a chess game between the pair of them, ranging from her wearing him down by chattering on about Broadway to him putting her job in jeopardy. Moyer's character definitely wasn't a good guy, but he had a great dynamic with Preston as Elsbeth.
And while they definitely weren't channeling their True Blood characters on CBS' newest show, fans of the HBO series and True Blood cast could enjoy seeing them share the screen again. When I spoke with Carrie Preston about Elsbeth, she explained what brought the former vampire actor to CBS:
"Well, I was the one that suggested him. I said to to Robert and Michelle [King] and the casting director and everybody that I thought that he would just really crush it and that he would be such great casting and that he could play it in his native dialect as a Brit, and that it would be really a nice texture to add to the character. And when they did offer it to him, he was so lovely. He came in and was completely prepared, as I knew he would be. Also, when you're doing a pilot, you're just so nervous and you want it to be great and you want to have that kind of institutional history with the people that you're working with."
Apparently, Carrie Preston pitched Stephen Moyer to the Elsbeth creators and executive producers, and Robert and Michelle King obviously went ahead with adding the True Blood alum as the show's first villain. He also didn't have to change his accent for the role, which isn't always the case for the British actor. The leading lady continued, explaining why it was helpful to team up with somebody she already knew well for a pilot:
"So I felt very fortunate that he and I have that history together even though on True Blood we didn't really have a lot of scenes together. Because he was the vampire, I was the human. Like, I was on a show about a bar and he was on a vampire show. [laughs] But we were a pretty tight group on that show, and he was one of our kind of cast leaders. He would really bring everybody together and he showed up on [Elsbeth] set with that same energy and everyone fell in love with him. I was just happy every day to be doing these very dialogue-heavy, really fun scenes with someone that I love and respect so much."
Unfortunately, the end of the series premiere suggests that the case is thoroughly closed on Alex Modarian, so fans shouldn't count on seeing the former True Blood co-stars facing off again on Elsbeth. Still, it was a great way to launch a new series. Plus, just as you don't need to know The Good Wife or The Good Fight to enjoy Elsbeth, Preston and Moyer were an entertaining pair whether or not you were familiar with the True Blood connection.
Critics had a lot to say about Elsbeth prior to the premiere on February 29, but now it's up to viewers to determine how successful the new show will be in primetime. New episodes will continue airing on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Thursday night is generally a strong night for the network, opening with the final season of Young Sheldon at 8 p.m., continuing the comedy with Ghosts at 8:30 p.m., switching to drama at 9 p.m. for So Help Me Todd, and then finishing with Elsbeth. You can also find the series streaming with a Paramount+ subscription.
