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The biggest surprise during CBS' Super Bowl coverage was the announcement that "The Good Wife" is ending.

Well, it's not entirely unexpected that the show will not be returning for an eighth season. Creators/executive producers Robert and Michelle King had already announced they're leaving, and star Julianna Margulies had not said whether she was interested in coming back without them.

Still, the news that "The Good Wife" (Sundays, 8 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2) is down to its final nine episodes was a bit startling. And the immediate question is whether the Kings have time to wrap things up and give the show the kind of send-off it deserves.

Yes, according to the Kings, who originally figured the show would probably be canceled after its initial 13-episode order.

"We really had no thought beyond what those 13 episodes would do," Robert King said. "And if you go back … and watch those first 13 episodes, it kind of tells a complete story of a husband who goes to jail, a wife who moves on and then him coming back again."

When "The Good Wife" began in September 2009, Alicia Florrick (Margulies) was rocked when her prosecutor husband (Chris Noth) was sent to prison after a sex scandal. She had to go back to work as a defense attorney and try to rebuild her life while caring for their two children. He was eventually exonerated, but the marriage seemed irretrievably broken.

It wasn't until CBS picked up the series for a full, 23-episode season — en route to 150 total — that the Kings began to ponder how long it could continue.

"We pretty quickly thought that the story of Alicia Florrick could only support seven years. So we started to build toward that," Robert King said.

That's the sort of thing you'd expect him to say, but there's clear evidence to back him up.

"You will see that seven-year plan in the way that we title the episodes," Michelle King said. Season 1 episodes had one-word titles; Season 2 two-word titles; Season 3 three-word titles; Season 4 four-word titles.

"And after the fourth, we started counting down again," she said. "So Season 7, we're back to the one-word titles."

The Kings knew they were leaving after seven seasons, but they weren't sure the show would be ending until the Super Bowl announcement.

"The story won't change from what we were intending, but it allows us to be a little more definitive," Michelle King said.

"I like [shows] that end with some resonance," Robert King said, pointing to "Breaking Bad" and "Six Feet Under."

Yikes. A lot of characters died in those two finales.

"But that doesn't necessarily have any impact on what we're doing," Robert King said.

Whew!

And the Kings didn't leave the impression that they're planning on killing anybody off.

"What I admire is when an ending feels both inevitable and surprising," Michelle King said.

That's a tall order.

Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune . Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.