Steven Prusakowski
(NYCC 2024, New York) – In season one of CBS’s murder mystery series, Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) took New York by storm with her unconventional skill for solving crimes. This week Elsbeth took New York Comic Con by storm with a panel packed with a sea of fans sporting Statue of Liberty/Elsbeth foam crowns to celebrate the second season of the hit series.
The panel included a sneak peek screening of this season’s Halloween episode, a Q&A with series stars Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce (Captain Wagner), Creators/Executive Producers Michelle and Robert King, and Showrunner/EP Jonathan Tolins. Adding to the fandom fun, the panel was moderated by the Elsbeth guest star, Laura Bennati – who will return for season two.
The panel concluded with a special appearance by Preston’s ‘dream guest star,’ none other than her real-life husband, the incomparable Michael Emerson. A TV mainstay, fans will recognize him from other King series, including Evil and Person of Interest. To the delight of attendees, it was announced that he would have a recurring role in season two as ‘a murderous judge… a really bad guy,’ as Emerson described. ‘A change of pace for me,’ he joked.
According to a CBS press release, the two-time Emmy winner “will play Judge Milton Crawford, a haughty, soft-spoken and bespectacled man from an old New England family of public servants who sees his place in the nation’s elite as a birthright.”
Awards Radar had the chance to sit down with the cast and team of Elsbeth for exclusive interviews at NYCC (available to watch in full below). They discussed the show’s history and explored the chemistry that makes both the series and the character so infectious.
The character of Elsbeth Tascioni has a much longer history than you’d expect, starting well before the CBS series explained Preston, “The first time I played her was 14 years ago on The Good Wife (a performance which earned her two Emmy nominations and one win). When Robert and Michelle King called to offer it to me, Robert said, ’We’re thinking about her as a female Columbo. She was going to be someone that was going to be underestimated. Like you wouldn’t see her coming. Somebody a little unconventional.”
What better way to accomplish that than to take Elsbeth out of the midwest and transplant her in the city that never sleeps? New York not only offered an endless supply of fish out of water opportunities for Elsbeth, it is also a city with which The Kings had fallen in love since moving there almost a decade ago. They knew a free spirit full of wonder like Elsbeth would love the city as much as they did. As cliché as it sounds, the series is truly a love letter to New York.
One goal of the series was to create a post-pandemic show that would lift people’s spirits by seeing the world through Elsbeth’s eyes. She focuses on the positives instead of the negatives. To achieve this, we shot the city in the best light possible, with the help of DP Fred Murphy.
“So for us, it was trying to avoid the grittiness of a cop show New York and do the postcard New York a tourist might see – a tourist who loves it, which allows the visuals to embrace what’s most beautiful. It’s all blue sky New York as opposed to trash, strewn mice. The New York we love and know,” explained Robert King.
“And, if we shoot on a day where it’s not a blue sky, we put it in later,” laughed Tolins.
While the sun in that endlessly blue sky must be Elsbeth, the show is not all rainbows and unicorns. At its core its a gripping mystery-of-the-week, told in true Columbo fashion – the audience typically be clued in on who the murderer is and watches as Elsbeth attempts to solve the crime.
“She’s coming up against people who have lost touch with their morality or who want something so bad that they’re forgetting what’s right and wrong,” explained Tolins. “And, without being preachy, she kind of just brings us back to a feeling of joy and connection and enthusiasm that the world needs.”
Elsbeth’s joyous approach to life is her secret weapon. She comes across as a wide-eyed tourist (which is not far off) but as guards come down, Elsbeth’s gears are constantly turning. Her ability to solve even the toughest crimes quickly earns her the respect of those around her, and even chips away at the tough exterior of her boss, Captain Wagner (Pierce).
“The thing that always trumps the day is the fact that she’s so good. It’s the thing that he admires about her so much and reminds him of what he always aspired to be” said Pierce. “No matter how disruptive she can be or unorthodox, the fact is she’s really good. And she’s really smart. And that’s something that is so important to Captain Wagner. It’s the yin and yang of the relationship. It’s the thing that rises to the top.”
“One time Wendell referred to us as kind of like Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore,” recalled Preston. “I like that, you know – that they’re both strong people. They have some conflict with each other, but they also really admire each other.”
Elsbeth’s boundless joy extends beyond the screen and onto the set. The series has a growing reputation in acting circles of being a really fun show to perform on and has been attracting a revolving door of impressive guest stars dying to be on the show. This season alone, in addition to Emerson, viewers can look for Nathan Lane, Vanessa Williams, Pamela Avalon, Laurie Metcalf and Eric McCormack – to name a few.
As Elsbeth stated in the season one finale, “I know a bunch of people died, but we had a lot of fun.” That fun definitely looks like it will carry into season two.
New episodes of Elsbeth premiere each Thursday at 10pm on CBS.
[…] Watch the full interviews with the cast and creative team, here. […]