After six successful seasons, The Good Doctor is getting its own spinoff show on ABC, The Good Lawyer. While it is set to be a legal drama instead of a medical one, the shows share a common thread as their main character both have neurological development disorders that they are able to turn in their favor in their chosen career paths.
Another connection is that The Good Lawyer is created by David Shore and Liz Friedman, who are the showrunners for The Good Doctor. ABC has already given The Good Lawyer a fall 2023 launch date, but the series is getting an early start with a special episode on The Good Doctor.
For more information on that and the series overall, here is what you need to know about The Good Lawyer.
The Good Lawyer release date
Viewers are going to get their first look at The Good Lawyer on the March 13 episode of The Good Doctor season 6, aptly titled "The Good Lawyer." This is serving as an “embedded pilot episode” for the spinoff series.
The legal drama is expected to get its own series premiere as part of the ABC fall 2023 schedule, though no official date has been announced.
The Good Lawyer plot
The Good Lawyer, like The Good Doctor, is going to focus on a young professional that has a neurological development condition, in this case, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
The series focuses on Joni, a brilliant, funny and self-aware young lawyer who is relatively new to her prestigious law firm. Living with OCD, which can take a toll on her personal and professional life, she does not want to be treated differently and her attention to detail allows her to see cases in ways others often can't.
Here is the synopsis for The Good Doctor episode that is serving as the pilot for The Good Lawyer:
"Dr. Shaun Murphy seeks legal representation to help him win a case and puts his faith in a promising, young lawyer who has obsessive compulsive disorder."
Read WTW's recap of the episode right here.
The Good Lawyer cast
Kennedy McMann is set to lead The Good Lawyer as Joni. McMann actually has OCD in her real-life. This is the second TV series that McMann is going to lead, having previously starred as the titular detective in The CW series Nancy Drew.
Alongside McMann in the series is Felicity Huffman, who is playing Janet Stewart, serving in the mentor role for Joni much like Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) does for Shaun on The Good Doctor. Huffman is best known for her run on Desperate Housewives, but she has also been in When They See Us, Get Shorty, American Crime, Sport Night and is an Oscar-nominee for Transamerica. The Good Lawyer is Huffman's first role since she completed her prison sentence for her involvement in the college admission scandal a few years ago.
The only other announced cast member at this time is Bethlehem Million as Abbie, Joni's big sister, roommate, best friend and biggest cheerleader. Million has appeared in And Just Like That…, Flatbush Misdeameanors and Sick.
The Good Lawyer trailer
The only trailer we have for The Good Lawyer at this time is the promo for The Good Doctor episode that serves as the legal drama's pilot episode.
How to watch The Good Lawyer
The series has not yet come to air full-time, but if you want to watch The Good Doctor episode that launches The Good Lawyer, you can do so on ABC, which is available on all basic cable packages, as well as live TV streaming services like FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV. The episode is then going to be available on-demand on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK.
