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The CBS Emmy campaign for its very good show The Good Wife, boils down to this: we produce three times as many episodes as those cable guys, where are our Best Drama awards? CBS' Emmy mailer pointed out that shows with nearly two-thirds as many episodes have awards heaped on them, and its time for Florrick, Agos and Associates to get some recognition, according to The Hollywood Reporter. As a gambit to get The Good Wife an few Emmys, this campaign is a little tacky. But CBS has a point. Cable shows benefit from a prestige factor broadcast shows lack, and the disparity in episode mandates plays a big part in that.
"To maintain the kind of quality over the course of 22 episodes, and this year featuring two of the most talked-about, tweeted-about story points in recent television history, is definitely worthy of recognition" CBS TV Studios president David Stapf told The Hollywood Reporter. Pointing out the merits of the show, like its great acting, in-depth storytelling, and the fact that it's not about dark and broody white men, would have been a more compelling, less whiny strategy. But Stapf is right — the perception is that The Good Wife is good in spite of how many episodes it churns out, not because of it.