July 24, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

“Madam Secretary” to premiere on CBS

“Madam Secretary,” a drama starring Tea Leoni as a secretary of state balancing demands of her job with her responsibilities to her family, premieres at 8 p.m. tonight and will be rerun at 10 p.m. on CBS.

The series stems from a desire by Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman and his producing partner Lori McCreary to move into television after their production company, Revelations Entertainment, had produced such films as “Invictus,” and “Along Came a Spider.”

The two had lunch with CBS Entertainment Chairman Nina Tassler, who told them they “needed to find a character whose story we wanted to tell,” McCreary said at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.

McCreary then met with Tracy Mercer, Revelations Entertainment’s vice president of development, “trying to come up with a great character,” McCreary said.

That character was found thanks to the congressional hearings into the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya,  McCreary said.

“We started asking ourselves what really happens in those American embassies overseas?” McCreary said. “What’s life like for the secretary of state, especially how does that translate overseas when rights for women are
not necessarily the same as they are here?

“Then the issue of balancing an incredibly heavy workload with a personal life and how do you even plan a single moment of your life… when at any minute you could be dealing with rocket attacks in Israel, a military coup in Pakistan and a border crisis with Mexico?”

Freeman coined the title, McCreary said. Coincidentally, it is also the title of the memoir of the first female secretary of state, Madeline Albright, who met with Leoni as she prepared for the role and attended the series’ premiere in Washington Thursday.

McCreary and Freeman pitched the concept to Tassler, who “loved the idea” and “introduced us to the inimitable Barbara Hall,” who would become the series’ creator and write tonight’s episode, McCreary said.

Hall said she told McCreary and Freeman, “there are two things that have to be present for me to understand this character in order to bring it to life.”

“One is that she can’t be a lifetime politician,” said Hall, who created “Joan of Arcadia,” and had been a producer of another CBS family drama “Judging Amy” and a co-executive producer of the Showtime espionage thriller “Homeland.”

Viewers “don’t understand the life of a lifetime politician,” Hall said. “So I wanted to bring her in from a real-world situation.”

Hall made Leoni’s character, Elizabeth McCord, a CIA analyst who left that position for ethical reasons, then became a University of Virginia professor.

Hall said her other request was for McCord “to have a recognizable and active home life, a successful marriage and children who are still at home.”

“One of the things that’s a challenge in trying to show strong women in positions of leadership or women in a man’s world is trying to show them going back and forth between those worlds,” Hall said.

The inter-office politics of the State Department will be “a big part” of “Madam Secretary,” Hall said.

“The theory that I had was that all inter-office politics are the same, whether it’s the State Department or working in any sort of corporation or a school or wherever people work,” Hall said.

“Inter-office politics are recognizable and that people would see those issues happening in the State Department and feel sort of comfortable in that environment.”

Related Posts

Venice Ale House is Now the European-Inspired ‘Venice Beach Club’

July 24, 2025

July 24, 2025

The menu features items like steak frites, crudo, and house-made pizzas, under the direction of Executive Chef James Samuel A...

Metro D Line to Resume Service, Paving Way for Future Westwood and West LA Connection

July 24, 2025

July 24, 2025

The work is part of Metro’s “Twenty-Eight by ’28” initiative—a slate of infrastructure projects aimed at improving transportation ahead of...

More than 80 West LA Restaurants will Showcase Cuisine and Flavor in DineLA 2025

July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

The Westside features restaurants offering prix-fixe lunch and dinner menus ranging from $15 to $65 From the sandy shores of...

CineMalibu Returns with Free Outdoor Movie Nights at Malibu Bluffs Park

July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and low-back chairs, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis CineMalibu, a beloved...

County Sheriff Oversight Elects New Leadership Team

July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

Established in 2016, the commission aims to enhance LASD transparency and public trust through policy analysis and community engagement The...

Amid Federal Funding Cuts, County Seeks Input on Public Health Priorities

July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

DPH is urging residents to share how public health efforts affect their communities and identify key areas for future focus...

CicLAvia to Open 6.75 Miles of Car-Free Streets from Culver City to Venice

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025

The event features four hubs: Arts District on Washington Blvd., Downtown Culver City near the Culver Hotel, Mar Vista on...

(Video) Where great minds grow at The Willows Community School

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025

The Willows, a DK-8 co-educational school, enrolls 474 students from 57+ zip codes annually. As a balanced, progressive educational leader, experiential learning,...

Mayor Bass, Veterans Demand Troop Withdrawal as Marines Exit City

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025

Bass, alongside California State Senator and Marine Corps veteran Caroline Menjivar, condemned the deployment as “unnecessary, unprecedented, and unconstitutional.” Los...

Investigators Probe Marina del Rey Site in Deadly LA Sheriff’s Facility Explosion

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025

The explosion, which occurred Friday morning at the training academy, claimed the lives of Detectives Joshua Kelley-Eklund, Victor Lemus, and...

UCLA Team Installs Air Quality Network in West LA

July 22, 2025

July 22, 2025

The project spans from Topanga State Park through Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, and Santa Monica, addressing pollution risks from the blaze...

Culver City Votes to Install Digital Kiosks on Sidewalks

July 21, 2025

July 21, 2025

Projected revenues could range from $750,000 to $1.3 million annually for Phase I, with totals potentially reaching $53 million over...

What We Know So Far About the Santa Monica-Linked Explosion That Killed Three Deputies

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

The probe traces back to Thursday, when residents of an apartment complex on the 800 block of Bay Street in...

County Offers $58M in Parks Grants, Hosts Info Session Wednesday

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

The grants aim to enhance park equity, access, and environmental benefits, with awards ranging from $100,000 to $4 million The...

(Photos) See Inside This $60M Holmby Hills Mansion Inspired by a Madrid Museum

July 20, 2025

July 20, 2025

Soaring 30-foot ceilings, adorned with 400-year-old Moorish columns and 16th-17th century Florentine carvings, greet visitors Nestled on the prestigious 133...