-Welcome back to "Late Night."
We're here with Christine Baranski, everybody,
and we're so happy to have you. [ Cheers and applause ]
So, the Diane Lockhart saga, as we --
I mean, again, she's had two shows.
You know, she went from "The Good Wife"
to "The Good Fight." But I heard you were surprised
to find out that the sixth would be the final season.
-Probably because I had -- I had such a happy day at work.
I was literally in bed between John Slattery and Gary Cole
in a kind of fantasy sequence, and I'm thinking,
"Who has my life -- at any age, much less my age?"
And it was such a happy workday, and you know, so to be told --
But I don't think you're ever ready
to hear that something that you've done for 13 years
with a family of people with whom you've --
some of them I had known for 13 years --
my costume designer, my makeup artist,
some of the cameramen.
I mean, 13 years, that's your family.
You go from like, you know, their kids are little,
and then they're applying for college.
And you live your whole life with these people.
And so, no, I wasn't -- I still don't think I've processed it,
'cause I just went right into "Gilded Age."
I think when -- probably after the first of the year,
when we would have gone back, it's going to be like, "Whoa."
Because, you know, people really get very close,
and it's not the same as with your "family" family.
You know, the Teamster is not going to say,
"Well, what about the weekend. You didn't call."
Or the cameraman is not going to say, "I can hear
from your tone of voice, you're upset."
-Yeah. -And you know, they --
People in a professional situation,
there's a protocol and a clarity to it,
and it's a wonderful family. I will miss everybody.
I will miss my fellow actors, my crew, my producers.
It was a great show. It was a great run.
And it was six years on "The Good Fight."
And it was a show about what was happening in this Trump era.
I was listening to your monologue.
You do a great Donald Trump, by the way.
-Thank you very much. [ Laughter ]
We're very similar. I think that helps.
[ Laughter ] -But, I mean, all that vent --
You get to vent in your job. -Yes.
-And I used to vent as Diane, because it --
she was living through the Trump era as a liberal feminist.
So, I'll also miss not being Diane,
and taking my anxieties and anger to work.
I mean, what would you do if you didn't have this show?
Your poor wife would -- -You just mutter to yourself
on the street, yeah. [ Laughter ]
-You take it, you know, to your kids.
-It's the hardest thing about having a month off,
is, you know -- -I could tell.
You were so pent-up. -I was so happy, yeah.
'Cause they don't let me do "A Closer Look" at home,
because I have three kids, and two of them are
Trump supporters, yeah. [ Laughter and applause ]
The 6-year-old and the baby, yeah.
-And the baby. -The baby, yeah.
It's just -- It's a tax thing. For her, it's just about taxes.
-Typical Republican baby. -Yeah, yeah.
-Whining all the time. -They are very whiny.
[ Laughs ] But the other thing --
and I think it's really important that you stress --
and I certainly felt it here during the pandemic --
when you're away, like, the comfort of having a crew
that takes care of you behind the scenes
is just a wonderful -- -Incredible.
All those years, because we were shooting the pilot
on election night -- so "The Good Fight" took us
all through the Trump years, and would that they had been over,
but it seems the post-Trump years are equally...
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-And so, it was a place to go. So, there was Trump
and there's COVID, and we were still
a functioning group of people. It was --
Even when it was hard, we all got through it.
I don't remember people complaining, and, you know --
So, when they announced the end, it wasn't like,
"Oh, well, of course. Thank God. You know, we're tired,
and we just keep repeating the same stories."
This show just kept staying fresh.
-It was very -- I mean, you know,
to write an episodic drama as topical as you guys were,
not a lot of people do it. -There was always bad news.
It's like your show. -Right, yeah.
-There's always bad news, so you always have raw material.
But I will miss it, and I'll -- I will also say,
we had just a revolving door on great actors
who would come in and do guest appearances,
'cause we'd have all the New York actors.
-You had all the New York actors.
And this season, John Slattery showed up in the clip.
Andre Braugher. I mean, it really is --
-Carrie Preston. Alan Cumming makes a --
a comeback, and no pun intended. [ Laughter ]
He Cummings back. -He Cummings back, yeah.
-You know, I will miss every aspect of it.
But, you know, I think, narratively speaking,
it was the time. You know, you don't want to
keep a show on when you start repeating.
Like, repeating jokes or repeating dramatic things.
Diane's anger and her exasperation
took her to such a point that she was literally
using hallucinogens or whatever, and levitating.
I mean, where do you go after you levitate...
-Yeah, it's hard. -...to cope with anxiety.
-Yeah, it's very hard to bounce back from that.
The good news is, now you have an open slot on your schedule,
you have committed to doing my Broadway musical,
"Cicada, Cicada." -Yes.
-And we're very -- -Which needs a lot of work.
-What? [ Cheers and applause ]
You don't -- You don't love the script so far?
-It's hard to -- you know, you talk about character work.
Well, playing an insect, you know.
And then, it's just -- and a musical of an insect.
You know? -Yeah.
-But I think it's gonna go out of town for a very long time.
[ Laughter ] -That is so sweet of you to say.
[ Laughter ] Well, we are just so happy
every time you're here, and congratulations
on an incredible run with an incredible character.
-Than you. -Christine Baranski, everybody.