This story first appeared in the Oct. 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
Take it from the Kings, the husband and wife showrunning team of CBS’ The Good Wife: Mixing work and pleasure is no easy feat. Here Michelle, 50, and Robert, 52, who will be married 25 years next month, reveal the perks (and perils) of being married to their work.
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The Hollywood Reporter: What’s the best part about working with your spouse?
Michelle King: You can’t resent someone not doing dishes if they’re in the midst of a rewrite.
Robert King: I can be in editorial while Michelle is in the writers room. Michelle can be in the production meeting while I take a nap.
THR: What’s the worst part?
Michelle: I can’t exaggerate what happened to me at the office since he was there to witness it!
Robert: It’s harder to slip bad work past your writing partner. There’s also little time to talk about something other than work.
THR: What is Robert’s biggest pet peeve at work?
Michelle: When locations, actors or directors fall out, always at the last minute.
Robert: Yes, people breaking promises.
THR: What is Michelle’s biggest pet peeve?
Michelle: Robert will say it’s our antiquated phone system, in which, inexplicably, two people can’t talk on the same line.
Robert: Actually, I was going to say a lack of coverage [options for alternative takes] in the dailies.
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THR: Which of you is the good cop and which is bad cop?
Robert: I’m never the bad cop. I try to be! But people just laugh. Michelle gets very tough with standards and practices. It’s quite charming.
THR: When you’re at a story impasse, who gets veto power on stories?
Michelle: It isn’t so much about veto power. The good thing about stories is that they can be changed. If we collaborated on making kimonos, it would be harder. You cut the silk wrong, you’re screwed.
Robert: Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we do 22 to 23 shows a year, so there’s no time for story impasses. Panic offers its own veto power.
