How are the new ‘Matlock’ and the original TV series related?
(Warning: The following contains spoilers for the “Matlock” pilot that airs in an encore episode on Oct. 10.)
Kathy Bates is getting high praise for breathing new life into “Matlock.”
Yep, that’s right, “Matlock,” the throwback legal drama from the 1980s and ’90s that originally starred TV veteran Andy Griffith. Griffith played a folksy, sometimes cantankerous Atlanta defense attorney named Ben Matlock who had a knack for solving mysteries thanks, in part, to his wiliness in the courtroom.
Griffith’s Matlock, whom viewers first met when the series premiered in 1986 on NBC, demonstrated an uncanny ability to coax confessions out of criminals on the stand.
Enter 76-year-old Bates, who puts a new spin on the role in CBS’s gender-swapped “Matlock” reboot, which debuted in a critically acclaimed pilot on Sept. 22 that will air again in an encore episode on Oct. 10.
Bates stars as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a seemingly sweet old Southern lady who’s every bit as crafty as her namesake.
In the twist-filled pilot, which was also a ratings hit in September, Matty, who’s in her 70s, introduces herself as a down-on-her-luck widow and an ex-lawyer when she gets hired at a prestigious law firm in New York City. By the pilot’s end, viewers learn that bio of Matty’s is, well, a lot of hooey.
Just like her fellow CBS sleuth Jessica Fletcher — shoutout to “Murder, She Wrote” fans — Matty relies on her shrewd observations about people — and their tendency to see older women as “invisible”— when she sets out to expose criminal misdeeds.The reboot, helmed by “Jane the Virgin” creator Jennie Snyder Urman, shows how sly Matty is able to use other people’s sexist and ageist biases to collect information pertinent to her case.
Bates, who won an Oscar for her role in “Misery,” told The New York Times that she accepted the part of Matty because she knew she could pour all her talent into it.
“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” said Bates.
Bates also liked the part because she and Matty both use their work to help process grief. “Maybe on some deep level that’s why I was attracted to this,” she told the publication.
Read on to learn more about how the new “Matlock” puts its own fresh spin on the original series.
‘Matlock’ is a gender-swapped reboot of the original series
CBS’s new “Matlock” reboot is a gender-swapped version of the original “Matlock” series that starred Andy Griffith and aired for nine seasons from 1986 to 1995.
Oscar winner Kathy Bates takes on the reboot’s title role of Matty Matlock, a septuagenarian sleuth who’s determined to expose certain criminal activity in New York City.
In the show’s pilot, which originally aired on Sept. 22 and will air again as an encore on Oct. 10, Matty, presents herself as an ex-lawyer and a widow when she lands a job working alongside much younger associates at the prestigious Jacobson Moore law firm in New York City.
Though Matty kvetches about being broke and stuck caring for her tyrant of a teenage grandson, viewers soon learn that wily Matty isn’t who she appears to be.
In fact, Matty Matlock isn’t even really Matty Matlock. More on that below.
Matty Matlock uses sexism and ageism to her advantage
While Ben Matlock was revered as a seasoned and respected lawyer in the original “Matlock” series, the seemingly timid Matty Matlock knows full well that women her age tend to be underestimated if not ignored altogether.
So Matty skillfully uses other people’s sexist and ageist notions to her advantage while she works to nail the criminals she’s targeting.
“There’s this funny thing that happens when women age,” Matty says in the pilot. “We become damn near invisible.”
“It’s useful, because nobody sees us coming,” she adds.
Matty shows her younger co-workers that women her age have skills
Matty’s new job at Jacobson Moore has her working with the firm’s bright young associates.
Though some of her Gen Z colleagues initially struggle to relate to someone of her generation, Matty ends up impressing them with her knowledge of the legal system.
Matty isn’t telling the truth about her identity
“Matlock, like the old TV show,” Matty says when introducing herself to her colleagues in the pilot. (“What TV show?” some of the Gen Z folks respond.)
So is Matty the daughter of Ben Matlock? His niece? How about: none of the above.
The pilot concludes with a surprising twist: Matty, who’s supposedly pinching pennies thanks to her late husband’s gambling, is actually a rich woman.
After telling co-workers she can’t meet after work for celebratory drinks, Matty is seen getting on a city bus to head home. But after just one stop, she hops off the bus and slides into a limousine where a driver calls her “Mrs. Kingston.”
Matty Kingston soon arrives home to a beautiful house, where she’s greeted by a husband who — surprise! — is alive and well, plus a teenage grandson who seemingly adores her.
That’s when viewers also learn that Matty chose the phony surname Matlock, because “Matlock” was, it turns out, her late daughter Ellie’s favorite show.
Ellie died from opiates made by one of Jacobson Moore’s most powerful clients, a Big Pharma company that was supposed to have had taken the drugs off the market.
See where this is going?
Who else stars in the new ‘Matlock’?
Bates leads a cast that also includes Skye P. Marshall, Jason Ritter, David Del Rio, Leah Lewis as series regulars and Beau Bridges and Andrea Londo in recurring roles.
When and where does ‘Matlock’ air?
“Matlock” will re-air its pilot as an encore episode Oct. 10 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
An all-new second episode of the series will air Oct. 17 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.
