Except for the fact that it’s a genderswapped reboot starring the Kathy Bates, Matlock is hard to distinguish from the rest of the legal dramas airing on network TV. It follows the same formula shows like Suits, Law & Order, and The Good Fight do, where each episode is dedicated to an interesting case that also happens to reveal something new about the characters and whatever they’re going through. But what sets it apart (again apart from Bates, a force to be reckoned with), is its folksy humor and a consistent, throughline advocacy that would be a spoiler to reveal if you haven’t seen the pilot yet. That advocacy is a strong one, and not all that is represented yet on TV, so for the show’s enlightening and empathetic take on it alone, it’s a good watch. But add reliably engaging procedural cases and enjoyable performances, what you have is something great—or at least way better than most things currently on weekly TV.
"Finally, a reboot that’s not a reboot, a revival that’s not a revival, and a new incarnation of I.P. that doesn’t require you to know the difference between those two distinct words. How refreshing! Well, it was refreshing. For a few weeks."
— Ben Travers
"Toying with our expectations of a recognizable persona like Matlock, CBS’s newest legal drama honors the original while creating something new entirely."
— Cristina Escobar
After achieving success in her younger years, the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock rejoins the workforce at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Inspired by the classic television series of the same name.
In this reboot of the 1980s classic, elderly lawyer Madeline Matlock comes out of retirement and makes her way into a top firm supposedly to earn enough money to pay her debts. But Matlock has a deeper motive, which she keeps from the firm for as long as she can.
Bates and her effortlessly switchable personas!
Kathy Bates, they’ll never make me get tired of you.
