Older viewers will recognize the joke behind CBS’s Matlock. Andy Griffith starred as the defense attorney Ben Matlock in the legal drama which ran on CBS from 1986 to 1992, and then on ABC from 1992 to 1995. Kathy Bates takes on the lead role in the reboot which owes nothing to the original except the title. Whenever she introduces herself as Madeleine “Maddie” Matlock, she anticipates – wrongly, in most cases – that someone will mention the old series. Except for a few, the attorneys in her new firm weren’t even in high school when Griffith made the show a must-see. Since it takes a lot to build an audience on network TV in an era of streaming, this strategy may help this new offering stand out.
Beau Bridges as Senior (Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
The ace in this winning hand, however, is Academy Award winner Kathy Bates, who played a patent attorney on NBC’s Harry’s Law from 2011 to 2012. This time around, Bates’ Maddie is older and desperate, using whatever trick she can to land a job at the Manhattan law firm, Jacobson & Moore. Few are impressed with her senior citizen status, but admire her chutzpah, getting past security and then bursting into a partner meeting to ask for a job. Since one of the lawyers has a case that is understaffed, the top partner, played by Beau Bridges (identified only as “Senior”), offers her an associate position on a two-week probation.
Left to right: Nicole de Boer as Carlin, Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock, David Del Rio as Billy Martinez and Leah Lewis as Sarah Yang. (Photo: Brooke Palmer/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
Maddie wastes no time proving she can do the job. Junior partner, Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), is negotiating a settlement for a client who was wrongly incarcerated for 26 years. Maddie manages to track down the prostitute, Carlin (Nicole de Boer), he was accused of assaulting and, through that contact, finds someone who witnessed the attack. When the jury delivers its verdict, the offer underlines Maddie’s worth to the team. The two young associates she’s working with – Billy Martinez (David Del Rio) and Sarah Yang (Leah Lewis) – quickly attach themselves to her side.
Once a top corporate attorney, Maddie stepped back after a personal tragedy. Now that she’s back, she’s eager to get assigned to the firm’s high profile cases. Based on her performance in just the pilot episode, she will soon be granted that option.
Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved)
Streaming services have long recognized the value of having older actors headline series. To name just a few: Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in Grace and Frankie; Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in The Kominsky Method; Jean Smart in Hacks; Jeff Bridges in The Old Man; Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King; Harrison Ford in Shrinking; and Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas in Slow Horses. And while the original goal may have been to attract Baby Boomers, all of these series have gone on to win nominations, awards, and younger viewers.
Matlock with Kathy Bates may be the next series to win a wider audience. Future episodes will deal with serious topics, including the opioid epidemic. Deaths from fentanyl overdoses, while slowing and, in some states, dropping, still are too high and those responsible have never been held accountable. Any show that can shine a light on this epidemic will find viewers, no matter their age or where they live.
Reviewers have been asked not to reveal a plot twist at the end of the pilot. So I won’t. Just know that it’s a doozy. That first episode has been recording great numbers on Paramount+ where it will also be streaming. Matlock will settle into its regular slot on CBS at 9 p.m. Thursday beginning on October 17.
Top: Kathy Bates as Madeline Matlock. Photo: Brooke Palmer/CBS ©2023 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
