The first season of '' Madam Secretary'', an American political drama television series, originally aired in the United States on CBS from September 21, 2014, through May 3, 2015. The season was produced by

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

, with Barbara Hall as

showrunner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also th ...

and executive producer. The pilot was ordered in January 2014, and CBS picked up the series in May 2014. In October 2014, CBS ordered nine more episodes of ''Madam Secretary'', bringing the total episode order to a full season of 22 episodes. In January 2015, CBS renewed the series for a second season. The series follows Elizabeth Adams McCord ( Téa Leoni), a former CIA analyst who is appointed to the position of

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...

by incumbent Republican

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

Conrad Dalton (

Keith Carradine Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...

). In accepting the position, McCord must negotiate not only with foreign dignitaries, but also with her husband Henry ( Tim Daly), and a staff inherited from her deceased predecessor, including his mistress Nadine Tolliver (

Bebe Neuwirth Beatrice "Bebe" Jane Neuwirth ( ; born December 31, 1958) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. On television, she played Dr. Lilith Sternin, Frasier Crane's wife, on both the TV sitcom ''Cheers'' (in a starring role) and its spin-off ''F ...

Cast and characters

Main

* Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, the U.S. Secretary of State * Tim Daly as Henry McCord, Elizabeth's husband, a religious scholar, and an NSA operative *

Erich Bergen Erich Bergen (born December 31, 1985) is an American actor, singer and presenter, best known for his roles as Bob Gaudio in the biographical musical drama film ''Jersey Boys'' and as Blake Moran in the CBS television series '' Madam Secretary''. ...

as Blake Moran, Elizabeth's

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties ...

* Patina Miller as Daisy Grant, Elizabeth's press coordinator * Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Elizabeth's speechwriter * Katherine Herzer as Alison McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's younger daughter *

Evan Roe Evan Christopher Roe (born February 9, 2000) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Jason McCord on the CBS political drama series '' Madam Secretary.'' Career Roe began his career as a child actor, appearing in a 2012 e ...

as Jason McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's son *

Wallis Currie-Wood Wallis Currie-Wood (born December 12, 1991) is an American actress. She played Stephanie "Stevie" McCord in the CBS drama '' Madam Secretary''. Early years Wallis Currie-Wood was born December 12, 1991 in Austin, Texas. Career Before attendi ...

as Stevie McCord, Elizabeth and Henry's older daughter *

Željko Ivanek Željko Ivanek (né Šimić-Ivanek; ; ; born August 15, 1957) is an American actor, known for his role as Ray Fiske on ''Damages'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on '' Homicide: Life on t ...

as Russell Jackson, White House Chief of Staff *

as Nadine Tolliver, Elizabeth's

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...

Recurring

as Conrad Dalton, the President of the United States *

Sebastian Arcelus Sebastian Arcelus (born November 5, 1976) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Lucas Goodwin in the Netflix TV series ''House of Cards'' (2013–2016) and Jay Whitman in the CBS TV series '' Madam Secretary'' (2014–2019). Arcelus ...

as Jay Whitman, Elizabeth's

policy advisor Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tele ...

* Patrick Breen as Andrew Munsey, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency * Marin Hinkle as Isabelle, a CIA analyst, friend and former colleague of Elizabeth *

Nilaja Sun Nilaja Sun (born Nilaja Sun Gordon) is an actress, playwright, and a teaching artist from the Lower East Side in New York City. Sun has taught theatre in New York City public schools since 1998 and is best known for her award-winning one-person pl ...

as Juliet Humphrey, a CIA analyst, other friend and former colleague of Elizabeth *

Francis Jue Francis Jue (born September 29, 1963) is an American actor and singer. Jue is known for his performances on Broadway, in national tours, Off-Broadway and in regional theatre, particularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and at The Muny in St. Louis ...

as Chen, the Foreign Minister of China

Guests

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

as Laurent Vasseur, a Catholic priest and an old friend of Henry's * Shivam Chopra as Sanjay * Sam Daly as Win Barrington * William Allen Young as Steven Cushing, the

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State The deputy secretary of state of the United States is the principal deputy to the secretary of state. The current deputy secretary of state is Wendy Ruth Sherman, serving since April 2021 under secretary of state Antony Blinken. If the secretar ...

. *

Tom Skerritt Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in over 40 films and more than 200 television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in ''M*A*S*H'', ''Alien'', '' The Dead Zone'', ''Top Gun'', '' A R ...

as Patrick McCord, Henry's father *

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

as himself, a former moderator of '' Face the Nation'' * Marsha Mason as Kinsey Sherman

Episodes

Production

Development

In August 2013, it was announced ''Madam Secretary'' was in development at CBS, with the pilot written by Barbara Hall and directed by

David Semel David Semel is an American film and television director and producer. His television directing credits include ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', ''Person of Interest (TV series), Person of Interest'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Boston Public'', ''7th ...

. ''Madam Secretary'' was ordered to series on May 9, 2014. On October 27, 2014, ''Madam Secretary'' received an order for nine additional episodes, bringing the total to a full season of 22 episodes. On January 12, 2015, ''Madam Secretary'' was renewed for a second season.

Casting

In January 2014, the pilot was cast with Téa Leoni as Elizabeth McCord, Tim Daly as Henry McCord, Geoffrey Arend as Matt Mahoney, Patina Miller as press coordinator Daisy Grant,

as Elizabeth's chief of staff Nadine Tolliver,

as Blake Moran,

as Elizabeth's son, Jason McCord, Katherine Herzer as Elizabeth and Henry's daughter Alison McCord,

as Russell Jackson, and

as Elizabeth and Henry's older daughter Stephanie "Stevie" McCord.

Broadcast

Season one of ''Madam Secretary'' premiered on CBS in the United States on September 21, 2014, with the season forty-seven premiere of ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' as its lead-in. The season finale aired on May 3, 2015.

Ratings

Home media

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 3501074, Madam Secretary 2014 American television seasons 2015 American television seasons Season 1