5 Most Cable-Like Shows On Network TV
1. The Good Wife 
Creator: Michelle & Robert King Network: CBS I always tell friends when I recommend this show, Its the most cable-show on network. The Good Wife tells the story of Alicia Florrick (played wonderfully by Julianna Margulies), a political wife who returns to practicing law after her husbands (Chris Noth) fall out from politics, incarceration and public sex scandal. Through the 20+ episode seasons, we get into the flow of a law procedural, but a lot of the times the week-to-week cases serve as a vehicle to drive on the arc of the season/series. Theres a lot of tension built into the show, whether its in the courtroom, within the walls of the Lockhart Gardner law firm, at home, or on the political front, the drama writing is top notch. Its been nominated several times for best drama, and the ratings have remained solid for its four year run (hangs around 10 million), and they develop sustainable story lines with the frame of a law firm. The Good Wife isn't about any one court case, or political issue, its driven purely by the characters. Each character wants something badly, even peripheral characters aren't wasted. Its the model of writing network drama. If this show ran a 13 or 15-episode structure on cable, I dont doubt it would have walked away with a few more Emmys already.