Kathy Bates recently announced that she will retire from acting once her new show,Matlock, ends. In 2023,CBS ordered aMatlockrebootwith the premise of a female version of Ben Matlock, now renamed Madeline Matlock. Despite being a contemporary re-telling of the iconic Andy Griffith series, it will take a different route than the original show. As theMatlocktrailer indicates, however, there is a deeper connection between the original TV show and the reboot.
Matlockwill premiere on Sunday, September 22, at 8 p.m. on CBS, but the official time slot will be Thursdays at 9 p.m. on CBS, beginning on October 9.
Matlockfeatures an impressive cast of charactersjoining Bates in the new CBS series. It will see Madeline Matlock coming out of retirement to return to her legal career, planning on using her age as a secret advantage. The stakes forMatlockare high, considering the success of Andy Griffith’s ’80s show. However, if that isn’t enough, Bates' personal career decision makes it more important than ever for CBS to nail this reboot of the beloved show.
Kathy Bates Plans To Retire After CBS' Matlock Reboot
Matlock Will Be Kathy Bates' Last Acting Role
Bates recently announced that theMatlockreboot will likely be her final project before she retires from acting. This announcement has a massive impact, given her lengthy filmography spanning over 50 years. Throughout that brilliant career, Bates has earned multiple accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Actress.Bates has countless great moviesand TV shows under her belt, and it will be disappointing if she ends her stint in the industry with an underwhelming series.
Ideally,Bates' career should wrap up with a bang. She has an impressive acting history, with projects such asMisery,Titanic,Revolutionary Road,The Blind Side, andAmerican Horror Story. More impressively, she has ventured into many different genres on the big and small screen, delivering the same level of acting quality. It will be dishonorable for both the legacy of Andy Griffith’s Matlock and Bates' personal career if the upcoming CBS reboot ends up being a failure and is canceled after just one season.
How Bates' Matlock Can Replicate The Success Of Andy Griffith’s Original
The Matlock Reboot Should Honor The Original Show While Keeping The Plot Fresh
Bates and her team’s work is cut out to ensure that the newMatlocklives up to the quality of the original show.Sadly, despite their popularity, many reboots often fall short of recapturing the magic of their predecessors. The good thing is that, occasionally,some reboots have higher rankings than the original shows. Bates’Matlock needs tomake its own statement while still honoring the original show. That could mean maintaining the premise of the series but updating the rest of its story elements in a way that makes it feel fresh for modern viewers.
…older viewers can enjoy this contemporary Matlock on Griffith’s show without feeling like it’s just a rip-off, while new viewers can fall in love with it despite not having any previous knowledge about the ’80s series.
Another thing to focus on is attracting both old and new audiences. This way, older viewers can enjoy thiscontemporary take on Griffith’sMatlockwithout feeling like it’s just a rip-off, while new viewers can fall in love with it despite not having any previous knowledge of the ’80s series. Luckily, CBS is already seemingly taking this creative route. The reboot isn’t simply copying the originalMatlock.Instead, it’s taking its core storytelling trick and using it differently.
Matlock
Cast
Matlock (2024) follows the return of Madeline Matlock, a brilliant septuagenarian, to a prestigious law firm. Utilizing her unassuming demeanor and astute strategies, she navigates the legal world to win cases and uncover corruption. The series draws inspiration from the classic television series of the same name.
