Robert and Michelle King

{{Short description|American screenwriting duo}} {{Infobox person | name = | image = Robert King and Michelle King at 2015 PaleyFest.jpg | caption = Robert and Michelle King at the 2015 PaleyFest presentation for ''The Good Wife'' | birth_name = | birth_date =  | birth_place = | spouse = | children = 1 | death_date =  | death_place = | occupation = Writer, producer | alma_mater = }}

'''Robert King''' (born 1959) and '''Michelle King''' (née '''Stern'''; born 1962) are an American television writing and producing duo. The two are best known as the creators and showrunners of the legal drama series ''The Good Wife'' (2009–16), its spin-offs ''The Good Fight'' (2017–22) and ''Elsbeth'' (2024–present), and the supernatural drama ''Evil'' (2019–24). The two are also the founders of their own production company, King Size Productions. Prior to his television work with his wife, King had worked extensively as a film screenwriter for a wide variety of genres.

== Personal life == Robert attended Archbishop Mitty High School and Westmont College.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://newcelebworld.com/entertainment/can-the-kings-be-tvs-next-super-producers/|title=Can the Kings Be TV's Next Super Producers?|date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> Robert is of Irish and Italian descent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.faithwire.com/2019/09/25/robert-and-michelle-king-creators-of-new-cbs-drama-evil-find-inspiration-in-scripture-c-s-lewis-writing-on-spiritual-warfare/|title=Creators of New CBS Drama 'Evil' Reveal Show Will Depict Positive Portrayal of Prayer on Screen (Interview)|date=September 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/20/the-couple-behind-tvs-boldest-shows | title=The Couple Behind TV's Boldest Shows | magazine=The New Yorker | date=June 11, 2022 }}</ref>

Robert King and Michelle Stern met in 1983 when as a senior at UCLA she worked part-time at FrontRunners athletic shoe store. The couple married in 1987. They have one daughter, Sophia.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/09/the-great-marriage-behind-the-good-wife.html|title=The Great Marriage Behind 'The Good Wife'|last=Lynch|first=Jason|date=2014-03-09|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=2017-02-18}}</ref> A Catholic, he often attends Mass with ''The Good Fight'' lead actress Christine Baranski.<ref>{{Cite web |date=October 20, 2021 |title=Writing Through the Moment |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/robert-michelle-king-the-good-fight-evil.html |website=Vulture}}</ref>

==Career== Robert began his career writing the science fiction horror film ''The Nest'' (1988), and co-wrote ''Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge'', ''Under the Boardwalk'' and ''Bloodfist'' (all 1989).<ref name="imdb">[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0455207/ Profile], imdb.com; accessed May 4, 2014.</ref> Robert continued to write feature films throughout the 1990s, including ''Clean Slate'', ''Speechless'', ''Cutthroat Island'' and ''Red Corner''. He directed the comedy film ''Principal Takes a Holiday'' in 1998. He co-wrote and directed ''Angels in the Infield'' (2000). He co-wrote and produced ''Vertical Limit''.

Robert and Michelle King co-created and co-produced the short-lived drama series ''In Justice'' in 2006.<ref name="imdb"/> They co-created a second, far more successful, legal drama series, ''The Good Wife'', which ran for seven seasons from 2009 to 2016 on CBS.<ref name="Pilot">{{cite episode|title=Pilot|series=The Good Wife|series-link=The Good Wife (TV series)|credits=Charles McDougall (director), Michelle and Robert King (writers)|network=CBS|airdate=September 22, 2009|season=1|number=1}}</ref> Aside from the pilot episode, they co-wrote the episodes "Stripped",<ref name="Stripped">{{cite episode|title=Stripped|series=The Good Wife|series-link=The Good Wife (TV series)|credits=Charles McDougall (director), Michelle and Robert King (writers)|network=CBS|airdate=September 29, 2009|season=1|number=2}}</ref> "Unorthodox",<ref name="Unorthodox">{{cite episode|title=Unorthodox|series=The Good Wife|series-link=The Good Wife (TV series)|credits=John Polson (director), Michelle and Robert King (writers)|network=CBS|airdate=2009-11-10|season=1|number=7}}</ref> "Hi",<ref name="Hi">{{cite episode|title=Hi|series=The Good Wife|series-link=The Good Wife (TV series)|credits=John Gallagher (director), Michelle and Robert King, and Barry Schkolnick (writers)|network=CBS|airdate=February 9, 2010|season=1|number=14}}</ref> and twelve other episodes.

Robert and Michelle King also created and produced the comedy thriller drama series ''BrainDead'', which aired on CBS on June 13, 2016, through October 17, 2016 before it was cancelled.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://tvline.com/2016/10/17/braindead-cancelled-cbs-season-2/|title=BrainDead, American Gothic Not Returning for Season 2|last=Ausiello|first=Michael|date=2016-10-18|website=TVLine|access-date=2017-02-18}}</ref> The couple then returned to their ''The Good Wife'' spin-off ''The Good Fight'' as showrunners. More recently, the King Size Productions company signed an overall deal with CBS Studios.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Goldberg|first=Lesley|date=2021-07-08|title=Robert and Michelle King Ink Rich New CBS Studios Overall Deal|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/kings-renew-cbs-studios-deal-1234979069/|access-date=2021-07-10|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2019 their horror thriller series ''Evil'' began airing on CBS.<ref name= "evil">{{cite news |last=Sippell |first=Margeaux |url= https://www.thewrap.com/evil-creators-robert-king-michelle-king-debate/ |title='Evil' Creators Robert and Michelle King on 30 Years of Debating the Nature of Evil |work=TheWrap |date=September 26, 2019 |access-date=December 15, 2019}}</ref>

== Filmography == '''Film writer''' * ''The Nest'' (1988) * ''Under the Boardwalk'' (1989) * ''Bloodfist'' (1989) * ''Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge'' (1989) * ''Silk 2'' (1989) * ''Clean Slate'' (1994) * ''Speechless'' (1994) * ''Cutthroat Island'' (1995) * ''Red Corner'' (1997) * ''Vertical Limit'' (2000) (Also producer)

'''TV movies''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Writer |- | 1998 | ''Principal Takes a Holiday'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2000 | ''Angels in the Infield'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |}

'''TV series''' {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Director ! Writer ! Executive<br>Producer ! Creator |- | 2006 | ''In Justice'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2009–2016 | ''The Good Wife'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2016 | ''BrainDead'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2017–2022 | ''The Good Fight'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2019–2024 | ''Evil'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2020–2023 | ''Your Honor'' | {{no}} | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} |- | 2021 | ''The Bite'' | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2024–present | ''Elsbeth'' | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} | {{yes}} |- | 2025 | ''Happy Face'' | {{no}} | {{no}} | {{yes}} | {{no}} |}

==Awards and nominations== Robert, Michelle and the writing staff have been nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Best New Series for ''The Good Wife''.<ref name="2010 WGA nominees">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3888|title=2010 Writers Guild Awards Television, Radio, News, Promotional Writing, and Graphic Animation Nominees Announced|access-date=2010-04-07|publisher=Writers Guild of America|year=2010|author=Gregg Mitchell, Sherry Goldman|format=Press Release|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019053744/http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3888|archive-date=October 19, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0455207|name=Robert King}} * {{IMDb name|0455080|Michelle King}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Robert and Michelle}} Category:Screenwriting duos Category:Writers Guild of America Award winners