Kathy Bates to Star in CBS Classic Series Reboot

CBS's Highly Advertised New Series Matlockscheduled to premiere on Sunday in September, well before its usual October premiere, is probably not the show you were expecting.

Only now that I've told you, you're changing your expectations for Matlockso now it might be exactly what you expected.

Sorry. Obviously stop reading if this seems more spoiler-y than you're looking for… in a Matlock revision.

Shyness is key to the new series, which has so far garnered press mostly for star Kathy Bates' promise that this could be her final acting role (though, given the length of some CBS procedurals, this farewell could put Bates well into her 80s). Or at least it is for the first episode; after that, the show is simply what it is. I'll just note that revealing what the new Matlock in fact it would probably attract some viewers with no interest in a Matlock reboot, while alienating some viewers with a passionate interest in a Matlock restart.

Do you understand what I mean?

I'll try a little harder, while also trying not to reveal too much, with this simple summary: I liked it. Matlock definitely more than I expected, but my interest was starting to wane after the last of the six episodes sent to critics.

Bates plays Madeline Matlock — “Matty” for short, CBS preferred, though it could also be “Maddy” — a widow who arrives in New York City from somewhere in the hazy Deep South (“Georgia,” perhaps). Faced with debt and parental responsibilities to her nephew (Aaron D. Harris' Alfie), Matty decides to return to the practice of law for the first time in 30 years.

Aiming for the top, Matty lands an initially temporary assignment at Jacobson Moore, a prestigious firm with a lucrative corporate department. She’s assigned Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), a junior partner who was once a rainmaker but has begun to take an interest in more personal and charitable cases, much to the chagrin of her doting soon-to-be ex-husband Julian (Jason Ritter), son of the firm’s aptly named senior partner Senior (Beau Bridges).

A little older than the typical new partner, Matty is treated with immediate distrust by Olympia's more ambitious partner, Sarah (Leah Lewis), and immediate affection by her less ambitious partner, Billy (David Del Rio). She quickly proves her worth through her unstoppable ability to get outsiders talking on the typical TV show. Matlockthat exists in this universe primarily as a reference that older people grasp and younger people do not.

You see (and this is not a spoiler), Matty is not a gender-swapped version of Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock, memorable for his sharp suits, cross-examinations, and clever inversions of geriatric tropes. No, she’s a 75-year-old woman notable for coincidentally sharing a last name and a penchant for clever inversions of geriatric tropes with a fictional character. Note that when women reach a certain age, they achieve a level of invisibility, which she wields as her superpower when she’s not using her ready supply of butterscotch and her generally grandmotherly aura.

So there are traces of the original here, but even without getting to the real spectacle beyond the basic premise, what this Matlock you're more likely to remember that it's a less convoluted, less politically oriented, and generally lighter version of CBS The good wifeIt's a dramatic comedy in which the fish out of water is older and less urbane than the fish around him and doesn't always understand the new fishing technology, but he comes equipped with a native set of skills and connections that almost immediately ensure that his quirks are an advantage.

Matlock was developed (with credit to the original creator, Dean Hargrove) by Joan the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman, who has previously worked on procedurals but is much more of a character-driven writer. For at least a few episodes, she is a godsend. Matty is a complex protagonist and even, at times, downright funny. She is positioned to play enough mind games that it is entirely understandable why the project would appeal to Bates. The Harry's Law The veteran (and, sure, Oscar-winning and whatnot) gives great speeches and alternates between silly and very serious jokes as part of expanding the narrative beyond the case-of-the-week format.

Those episodic works, built around Olympia's semi-altruistic tendencies, are generally OK: lots of class action lawsuits that allow the studio to make a lot of money doing the right thing, plus the occasional attempt to stretch the formula, such as one instance where the studio takes it out on itself, complete with talk of firewalls. The serialized plot would be thin and obvious if it were the premise of an FX drama, but in the context of a CBS procedural called Matlockit's almost, almost, close enough to being vaguely current.

The twist that happens Matlock not the Matlock what you expect was what kept me interested enough to continue. But it didn't last. From the fourth to the sixth chapter, the show no longer did some of the basic things I expect from a good series, especially when it comes to character development.

Marshall has a fiery side that pairs well with Bates' folksy appeal, but the need to make that character play out repeated cycles of “offend someone, get punished, prove how the offense was done for the right reasons” gets tiring. Same goes for Lewis, who is wildly funny and stays just on the right side of the Type-A stereotype but still goes through the familiar “worries Matty's squeezing her out, realizes Matty's not squeezing her out” motions. For now, both Ritter and Bridges are mostly playing variations on their signature innate decency, which makes me suspicious.

Many of the best performances, not surprisingly, come from seasoned character actors who landed welcome opportunities in an anti-aging series like Matlockincluding the always welcome Patricia Belcher and Sam Anderson.

I also really enjoyed the one-off guest appearance of Joan the VirginYael Grobglas. She plays a human lie detector who works as a jury consultant and her return might be just what it takes to get me back to Matlock at some point. “Better than I expected” is one thing, not the same as “good enough for long-term enthusiasm.” But it’s a start.