‘The Good Doctor’ Spinoff in the Works at ABC

The Good Doctor executive producers David Shore and Liz Friedman are about to prove there is more than one “good” profession. The first Good Doctor spinoff is reportedly in the works and will be a legal drama called The Good Lawyer. As with most spinoffs, the new characters will be introduced in the main show before their own series begins. The Good Lawyer would not air until the 2023-2024 season.

Two of the main Good Lawyer characters will be introduced midway through The Good Doctor Season 6 in an episode that will serve as the backdoor pilot, reports Deadline. Casting is underway for the characters, named Joni and Janet. Freddie Highmore’s Dr. Shaun Murphy will meet the new characters when he finds himself in legal trouble. Shore and Friendman wrote the episode. The upcoming series will be produced by ABC Signature, Sony Pictures Television, and Shore’s Shore Z Productions.

The Good Lawyer will center on Joni, a 20-something lawyer who recently joined an upscale law firm. She quickly passed law school and the bar exam, but her OCD has taken a toll on her personal and professional life. She is a great lawyer who wants to be treated just like her colleagues, but she is inspired to threaten a lawsuit when her firm wants to fire her.

Janet is the other main character. She is a seasoned veteran who previously represented Richard Schiff’s Good Doctor character, Dr. Aaron Glassman. When Shaun finds himself in trouble, Janet is the first lawyer Glassman thinks of. Janet is a bit cynical and attempted to fire Joni. Shaun wants Joni to represent him in court, forcing Janey to keep Joni at the firm. Janet and Joni have a mentor-mentee relationship similar to Glassman and Shaun’s, but they have a very different dynamic. Unlike Shaun, who is on the autism spectrum, Joni is not and The Good Lawyer is not expected to involve autism.

ABC loves its spinoffs. This season, ABC will debut The Rookie: Feds, a spinoff from The Rookie after Niecy Nash’s character debuted in the Nathan Fillion-starring series last season. ABC is also home to the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Station 19. The Good Doctor Season 6 kicks off on Monday, Oct. 3 at 10 p.m. ET.

The Good Lawyer is also not the only female-centric lawyer show ABC is developing for the 2023-2024 season. Earlier this month, Deadline reported that a sequel to Ally McBeal is in early development, with Calista Flockhart being approached to return. The new show would center on the daughter of Ally’s roommate Renee Raddick (Lisa Nicole Carson), who joins the same law firm in the original series. Karin Gist will write the pilot. Ally McBeal aired on Fox, and was produced by the now-Disney-owned 20th Century Television. All five seasons are streaming on Hulu.