These days, fans are familiar with seeing reboots of successful old series. Even shows that fans hold sacred have been plucked from the dusty shadows to see new life.
The Matlock approach turned out to be a very different way of handling a series that has been done before — a show that we might file under legendary status.
Understandably, most fans were skeptical, maybe even protective, when they heard the news that CBS was rebooting a classic.
(Courtesy of CBS Studios)
Is nothing sacred?
In the last decade, we’ve seen more reboots, spinoffs, and book-to-film adaptations than unique original works. Where did the creativity go?
Most reboots don’t fare well. Look at Magnum, P.I., Hawaii Five-O, Saved by the Bell, and the similarly mystery-themed Perry Mason.
S.W.A.T. is a wild card, with its fate changing by the season.
Spinoffs also don’t seem to do super well in the long term. But that doesn’t stop networks from bombarding the TV lineup with new shows to create a franchise based on the success of their original series.
Fans adored the original Matlock series, which aired from 1986 to 1995 and starred Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock, a criminal defense attorney who made big bucks by finding the true guilty party and saving his clients.
(Pluto Screenshot)
During its time, Matlock experienced a network change from NBC to ABC for its final three seasons, like how 9-1-1 avoided cancellation by moving from FOX to ABC.
Decades after its end, fans still adore the show and fawn over its reruns. So, the news that we would be getting a 2020s reboot was met with varying degrees of feelings.
After all, it looked like we were going from geriatric-aged Andy Griffith to a female Matlock Kathy Bates. Could fans handle another poorly re-imagined reboot that’s been modernized and given a main character gender swap?
That seems to be the norm for how networks approach reboots.
(Sonja Flemming/CBS)
We either get a full replica of the basic premise with a reimagined cast, or they pick the storyline up as if the new version is a continuation of the old story, perhaps with the original characters’ family members.
I won’t lie. It worked fantastic for the newest Ghostbusters movies.
Given those formulas, most fans naturally assumed the female-driven Matlock would mean that Kathy Bates would be related to the original Matlock character in some way.
Boy, were we all wrong!
(Pluto Screenshot)
And this is one time I couldn’t be happier about not being right. Among the series remakes out there, Matlock stands superior. And perhaps unique.
Kathy Bates is a genius — both as an actress and in the role of Matty Matlock, a seasoned woman in her 70s who returns to work as a lawyer after 30 years because she has to provide for her grandson as the sole custodian after her husband dies.
What’s so brilliant about that plot? How about the fact that it’s all lies?!
As Matty repeats throughout the Matlock remake, no one pays attention to Matty due to her age, well, other than we viewers and her support system — the grandson she told the truth about and the husband she didn’t.
At the law office where Matty gets a job (did that older woman really resort to blackmail?), she becomes the third member of a team of junior lawyers three times younger.
(Brooke Palmer/CBS)
Everyone assumes she’s a poor old lady struggling to re-enter the workforce at her late age because she needs money. But it seems our dear Madeline is living a double life.
It turns out that Madeline is ultra-rich and still married, and she’s only trying to work at a law firm to discover a sinister plot.
One of the three law firm partners withheld crucial information that would have kept the opioid epidemic. Why does the epidemic matter so much to Madeline? Her only daughter died from an opioid overdose.
Madeline holds the mystery person to blame, and she and her grandson are hell-bent on identifying them and bringing justice.
(CBS/Screenshot)
Their mission causes Matty to go undercover at the law firm to investigate and snoop to get answers and proof. Her cover? A gentile elderly lady with a knack for getting people to let their guard down.
It doesn’t take us long to realize there’s more behind Madeline’s sweet, unassuming nature. How genius is it to use stereotypes to hide in plain sight?
Like Matty says, everyone overlooks the old.
The best part about the new Matlock compared to the old one is that the shows have no connection. They only share a name.
In the reboot, Matlock is an old TV show, just like it is in real life.
Madeline refers to the classic series to imprint her name on her co-workers. It’s a nice way for the new show to pay homage to the original without sullying its memory.
(Sonja Flemming/CBS)
If only other shows had made the same considerations with their reboot attempts.
As someone who loves a good twist no one saw coming, I applaud CBS’s efforts to give us a massive bait-and-switch. The idea is to attract viewers with the comfort of something they know but keep them by giving them something completely unique.
So, will you be lost watching the 2024 Matlock if you’ve never seen the original series?
Absolutely not! Because today’s Matlock has nothing to do with yesteryear. While they share a similar niche of law procedural mystery, viewers don’t have to worry about finding easter eggs or missing hidden references.
Although they exist if you want to test your trivia knowledge.
(Christos Kalohoridis/CBS)
Even if you did watch the original Matlock series, you might still enjoy the remake due to its unique premise and amazing cast.
I chose to watch simply because of the front-runner. I’m obsessed with Kathy Bates and will watch anything starring her.
My favorite is the very underrated comedy Western American Outlaws.
But who doesn’t love Colin Farrell, Alert: Missing Person Unit’s Scott Cann, and the legendary story of Jesse James and the James-Younger gang?
I’m catching up on Billy the Kid when I’m not watching current shows. I’m hooked! I need some kind of western to tide me over until the return of Yellowstone or any of Taylor Sheridan’s series.
Matlock is proving to be one of the best reboot attempts of the century with its unique approach.
(Courtesy of CBS Studios)
Given the show’s early success, we wonder if other shows will start using this method of in-name-only productions.
Or will they continue dragging the old series through the mud with original character story continuations? Basically, where are they now? Or worse, completely overhaul the same stories with modern views? This method has not proven sustainable.
Shows like Bel-Air changed the entire vibe, genre, and ambiance to appeal to today’s environment.
While the ’90s version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was very comedic and family-oriented, today’s reboot is more edgy and dramatic, using the show as a platform to confront real systemic life issues.
The transformation could be due to the current TV landscape, which seems to focus on creating fictional stories that incorporate real-life events and problems.
(CBS/Screenshot)
While TV viewing used to be a way to escape reality and get lost in an alternate world of make-believe, these days, it’s like every show forces specific issues. We can almost say the industry of fictional TV has become a political playground.
As someone who watches a wide variety of shows, it can get exhausting. I miss the days when we could forget all the ugliness in the world and veg out for a brief time, recharge our batteries, and just enjoy being in the moment.
So, for a show to abandon the pattern of depressingly modernizing the same story is like TV gold.
While entertaining and addressing true-life crises, much of the show’s premise could only work in the world of fiction. And for that, this viewer is in love.
I want to live in another world and forget the present. I enjoy shows that let me get lost in the fake. As a human lie detector, it’s fun when TV can make me fall for the lies.
(Sonja Flemming/CBS)
It happens so rarely.
I typically predict what will happen in a story five steps ahead of everyone else. But I did not see the massive twist coming from CBS’s approach to remaking the Matlock series.
It may be too late for all the current shows, but everyone involved in TV should take notes for future series remakes and expansions.
It’s hard to find something completely original with all the stuff out there. Even shows we think are unique, such as The Good Doctor and High Potential, have been done by someone else somewhere else.
(Carlos Lopez-Calleja/Disney)
High Potential is based on a similar French series, HPI Haut Potentiel Intellectuel. The Good Doctor is the American version of a South Korean series of the same name. And CBS’s current hit, Ghosts, is an American reimagining of the UK Ghosts series.
All the same characters and stories. Just tweaked for cultural purposes.
BTW, no judgment. Each of those series is on my Watchlist.
In the world of TV series remakes, Matlock currently stands in a class of its own. Now, we’ll wait and see if other shows will follow this interesting new format.
(Sonja Flemming/CBS)
Maybe it can lead to a reprieve from all the series spinoffs. It seems like every series is trying to become franchise material.
9-1-1 is losing Lone Star, but a new spinoff is in the planning stages. Fire Country is confirmed for two future spinoffs. Blue Bloods may continue in a new, unannounced universe. And NCIS: Origins has time-traveled to the ’90s.
Have you checked out the new Matlock series? How do you like the way the show handled their version of a reboot?
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