It ran on CBS from September 21, 2014, to December 8, 2019, for a total of 120 episodes aired. The series was renewed for a final 10-episode sixth season in May 2019, which premiered October 6, 2019.
Premise
The first five seasons of Madam Secretary explore Elizabeth McCord's life as the reluctant but determined United States Secretary of State. She drives international diplomacy, battles office politics, and circumvents protocol if needed as she navigates global conflicts. The show also focuses on McCord's personal life and family, and their relationship with her work. She is married with three children.
At the end of the fifth season, McCord announces her candidacy for President of the United States; as the sixth season begins, the audience learns that she has won the election, and the remainder of the series follows her tenure as the USA's first female president.[3][4][5][6]
Bebe Neuwirth as Nadine Tolliver (seasons 1–4), Elizabeth's chief of staff. Nadine had a six-year affair with the late Secretary of State Vincent Marsh, beginning when he was a senator from Illinois. Originally suspicious and resentful of the new Secretary of State, Tolliver soon learns to trust McCord, and the two cultivate a strong working relationship. In the first season, Nadine romances NASA Administrator Glenn, and later falls into a relationship with political consultant Mike Barnow. In the fourth season, Nadine's son Roman tells her he is going to have a child. She subsequently retires from the State Department to spend more time with her family in San Francisco (and leaves the series).
Željko Ivanek as Russell Jackson, White House Chief of Staff.[7] McCord appoints him as her White House Chief of Staff 98 days into her presidency. His objective of keeping the president politically secure often results in confrontation with McCord due to her unorthodox diplomatic techniques.
Erich Bergen as Blake Moran, Elizabeth's personal assistant and the only member of her staff as Secretary of State that she hired rather than inherited. In the fifth season, McCord fires him, only to rehire him as her new assistant policy advisor.
Patina Miller as Daisy Grant, Elizabeth's press coordinator. Daisy briefly dates speechwriter Matt Mahoney in the first season. In the third season, she dates "Kevin" from the Bureau of Budget and Planning, who turns out to be an undercover CIA operative investigating the State Department. After he is killed in a weapons-trafficking conspiracy, Daisy learns she is pregnant with his child. In the fourth season, Daisy gives birth to their daughter, Joanna Grant.
Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Elizabeth's speechwriter. Matt briefly dates Daisy in the first season; the two are implied to have renewed their relationship toward the end of the series.
Wallis Currie-Wood as Stephanie "Stevie" McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's daughter and oldest child. Stevie attended Lovell University and Georgetown University, and later applied to Harvard Law School. She serves as an intern to Russell Jackson and was engaged to Jareth Glover. In the fourth season, Stevie begins a secret relationship with Dmitri Petrov while he is undercover, placing them both in peril. In the series finale, Stevie and Dmitri marry in a ceremony officiated by former president Dalton.
Kathrine Herzer as Alison McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's younger daughter.
Evan Roe as Jason McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's only son and youngest child. Jason is a leftist and self-proclaimed anarchist who is generally critical of his mother's political views but protective of her personal reputation.
Keith Carradine as Conrad Dalton (seasons 2–6; recurring season 1), President of the United States. Conrad served in the United States Marine Corps as a second lieutenant during the Vietnam War and was Director of the Central Intelligence Agency during Elizabeth's career at the CIA. In the third season, Dalton is re-elected, but as an independent candidate after failing to secure his party's nomination, partly due to a controversial change in policy championed by Elizabeth. He offers Elizabeth the role of vice president during his campaign, but eventually taps Teresa Hurst for the position instead.
Sebastian Arcelus as Jay Whitman (seasons 3–6; recurring seasons 1–2), Elizabeth's chief of staff and (formerly) senior policy advisor. In the third season, Jay and his wife Abby (Stephanie J. Block) separate because of his punishing work schedule. She has custody of their daughter Chloe. Jay is promoted to chief of staff in the fourth season. In the fifth season, while stuck at Shannon Airport in Ireland due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland, Jay meets noted Dutch chess player Annelies De Runnow (Marissa Neitling). They develop a mutual attraction after many hours at the airport, and agree to start a long-distance relationship. When Elizabeth decides to run for president, Jay initially passes on the chance to serve as her chief of staff in order to start a life with Annelies. Elizabeth later rehires Jay as her chief of staff.
Kevin Rahm as Michael "Mike B." Barnow (season 6; recurring seasons 1–5), a sarcastic political consultant and operative who serves in positions among the departments of the United States Cabinet. Barnow is a Rhodes Scholar who is said to have left a brilliant legal career for a political career that was cut short by a scandalous divorce. His unofficial role as an advisor to Elizabeth earns him a reputation as her 'hatchet man'. Elizabeth later appoints him as her campaign manager during her presidential run. Following her victory, she appoints him as her White House Chief of Staff. After her first 100 days in office, Elizabeth asks him to remain as chief of staff, but he refuses and instead chooses to serve as Counselor to the President. Mike is rarely seen without his beloved Australian Cattle Dog Gordon.
Jason Ralph as Harrison Dalton (seasons 1–2), the son of President Dalton and a long-time friend of Stevie McCord. Harrison suffers from drug addiction; in the fourth season, it is revealed that he is back in rehab.
Cotter Smith as Darren Hahn (seasons 1–2), President Dalton's first National Security Advisor
Patrick Breen as Andrew Munsey (season 1), the director of the CIA and a protégé of President Dalton
Marin Hinkle as Isabelle Barnes (season 1), a CIA analyst and Elizabeth's close friend, who assists the McCords with their investigation of the death of Secretary of State Vincent Marsh
Nilaja Sun as Juliet Humphrey (season 1; guest season 3), a former CIA analyst and friend of Elizabeth and Isabelle
Julian Acosta as Craig Sterling (season 2), a former Department of Defense official and rival of Elizabeth's who becomes National Security Advisor in the second season, much to Elizabeth and Russell's dismay
Kobi Libii as Oliver Shaw (season 2; guest season 3), a cybersecurity coordinator. Shaw looked into the cyberattack against Air Force One and becomes romantically involved with Daisy Grant in the second season.
Chris Petrovski as Dmitri Petrov (seasons 2, 4; guest seasons 3, 5–6), a 24-year-old Russian Army captain who attends the National War College. Dmitri is recruited by Henry McCord on behalf of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and becomes an American spy in exchange for his sister Talia to receive cancer treatment in Stockholm. Dmitri is eventually discovered and captured by the Russians, and is later returned to the United States as part of a prisoner exchange. Dmitri feels abandoned by Henry following his capture, and begins to act bitter towards him. He is eventually placed into a witness protection program and is sent to Phoenix under the name Alexander Mehranov. In the fourth season, Dmitri is recruited by the CIA as an analyst; he eventually begins a romantic relationship with Stevie, and the two are married in the series finale.
Masha King as Talia Petrov, Dmitri's sister who is placed into witness protection alongside her brother
Carlos Gómez as Jose Campos (seasons 2–3), a Murphy Station (Hizb-al Shahid task force) member. While he initially has a combative relationship with Henry, the two eventually become friends.
Tonya Pinkins as Susan Thompson (seasons 3–6), Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs and, as of the end of the fifth season, Secretary of State under the McCord Administration. She serves as a key voice in bringing African issues to Elizabeth's attention, and encourages her to intervene in the Angolan election in the third season.
J. C. MacKenzie as Sam Evans (season 3), Governor of Pennsylvania and eventual presidential nominee for Dalton's party. Evans is particularly vindictive during the campaign and, following Dalton's victory, threatens to have the vote overturned due to a little-known law he claims Elizabeth broke. He is manipulated into accepting the terms of the vote, however, after Russell Jackson threatens to expose his possession of a gene that makes him likely to develop early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Christopher O'Shea as Jareth Glover, Stevie's upper-class English fiancé. Jareth gave up a fellowship at Oxford University to be with Stevie after she had trouble adjusting to life in England; the couple eventually breaks up in the fourth season.
Sam Breslin Wright as Dylan Larson, an ex–Army Ranger and CIA operative
Christine Garver as Molly Reid, a CIA operative who started her career as a field agent in Chechnya. She is pregnant from the beginning of the fourth season.
Tracee Chimo as Nina Cummings, Elizabeth's assistant who takes over from Blake after he vacates the position. In season six she begins working at the White House as Russell's assistant.
Wentworth Miller as Senator Hanson (season 6), a senator leading the congressional investigation into poll fraud accusations made against Elizabeth's presidential campaign
In August 2013, it was announced Madam Secretary was in development at CBS, co-written by Barbara Hall.[3][4]Madam Secretary is about "the personal and professional life of a maverick female secretary of state, as she drives international diplomacy, wrangles office politics and balances a complex family life."[4][5][6]
The show's pilot episode was directed by David Semel.[8] On May 9, 2014, Madam Secretary received a series order at CBS.[5][6] A preview trailer was released on May 14, 2014.[9]Madam Secretary premiered on CBS on September 21, 2014,[10] and on October 27, 2014, CBS picked up the series for a full season of 22 episodes.[11]Madam Secretary was renewed for a sixth season on May 9, 2019.[12] On May 15, 2019, it was announced the sixth season would be the series' final season and would comprise 10 episodes.[13] It premiered on October 6, 2019.[14] Filming for the series was completed on November 13, 2019.[15]
Bebe Neuwirth left the series after the third episode of the fourth season.[24][25]Sara Ramirez joined the cast as Kat Sandoval, replacing Bebe Neuwirth as a series regular. Of Ramirez, Hall stated, "She brings a fresh perspective and a fun, energetic quality to the State Department staff."[26][27][28]
On August 6, 2019, it was revealed that Ramirez would not return as a regular for the sixth and final season.[citation needed] On September 3, 2019, it was revealed that regulars Arend, Roe, Herzer, Carradine, and Arcelus would also be dropped from the main cast; however, Carradine was expected to make at least one guest appearance, and the others would appear in recurring roles according to their work schedules.[citation needed] Additionally, Kevin Rahm, who had recurred as McCord's advisor Michael "Mike B." Barnow since the second half of the first season, would be upgraded to regular status.[citation needed]
Broadcast
As of November 2023, all six seasons of Madam Secretary are available on Netflix (US).[29] The series is particularly popular in Finland: 9% of Finnish people watched the first episode when it premiered on MTV3 on January 1, 2015.[30][31]
Reception
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per season of Madam Secretary
Note: In seasons four through six during the fall, the series was scheduled to air at 10:30p.m. ET/9:30p.m. CT to allow for football and golf overruns (there were no delays from Mountain Time westward). Since its move to the last hour of primetime, this resulted in several new episodes being delayed a week at the last minute due to a game's overrunning, to allow CBS affiliate local newscasts to start as close to 11:00p.m. ET/ 10:00p.m. CT as possible; in this case, a repeat aired in the Mountain Time Zone westward instead, with Canadian broadcaster Global following CBS's scheduling in order to take advantage of simsub advertising opportunities.
Critical reception
Madam Secretary has been met with generally positive reviews from TV critics. On Metacritic, the show has a score of 66 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[50] On Rotten Tomatoes, the show holds a rating of 67% based on reviews from 52 critics. The site's consensus for the first season reads, "Bolstered by Tea Leoni's strong central performance, Madam Secretary is a solid but unspectacular political drama."[51]
Three former United States Secretaries of State were apparent fans of the series. On April 27, 2022, during a eulogy at the memorial service for Madeleine Albright (Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001), Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013) disclosed that she, Albright, and Colin Powell (Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005), "loved and actually watched" Madam Secretary. All three former Secretaries of State made a cameo appearance together in the fifth-season premiere of the show, which aired on October 7, 2018.[52]
Criticism
Three women have served as United States Secretary of State to date: Madeleine Albright from 1997 to 2001 under Bill Clinton, Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2009 under George W. Bush, and Hillary Clinton from 2009 to 2013 under Barack Obama. Shortly after the series' debut, Fox News asked if the show served as a campaign ad supporting Hillary Clinton, but quoted the Los Angeles Times saying the lead character was "no Hillary knock-off" and a New York publicist calling the casting of a woman "simple business and smart on CBS' behalf."[53] Conservative activist organization Culture and Media Institute said "The connections in the show between Elizabeth and Hillary are clear, from the blond hair to the pantsuits."[53]
When the trailer of the fifteenth episode of the third season titled "Break in Diplomacy" was released showing McCord responding to unwanted sexual advances by fictional Philippine president Datu Andrada by punching Andrada in the face, the series became controversial in the Philippines. Viewers noticed parallels between Andrada and real-life Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, who was known for making inappropriate and sexist remarks.[54] The Philippine Embassy in Washington published a statement protesting the negative depiction of the presidential character on its Facebook page.[55]
The fourth-season premiere, "News Cycle", led to a protest from East Timor's Minister of State José Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He said, "It is a slander against a country that only shows ignorance and racism."[56] The show used the border dispute between Australia and East Timor in the Timor Sea as background story. (The dispute is transferred in the TV show to the South China Sea, although neither Australia nor East Timor borders it.) East Timor is shown as a country controlled by a Mexicandrug cartel and used for the shipment of drugs. Secretary McCord asks China to take measures to prevent the leader of the drug cartel from making a narco-state out of East Timor.[56]
In the 4th episode of the first season, "Just Another Normal Day", the series used stock footage shot in Hoi An, Vietnam, but noted the location as Fuling, China. This caused anger among the Vietnamese government, who said that the episode "offended Vietnam's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Soon after, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information of the Ministry of Information and Communications of Vietnam ordered a ban on the series, and asked Netflix to remove the series from the Vietnamese version of Netflix.[57]
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