‘Matlock’: Kathy Bates led Reboot to Premiere on October 17th!!

Nearly 30 years since Andy Griffith‘s down-home detective Ben Matlock conducted his last case, the date is set for a reimagined Matlock to follow in his footsteps. CBS has unveiled the premiere dates for its entire slate of fall shows, confirming that multi-talented Oscar winner Kathy Bates will become a fixture in its lineup as the star of the upcoming mystery series on Thursdays, beginning on October 17 from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Before Madeline “Matty” Matlock can settle into a permanent time slot, however, viewers can catch a sneak preview of the series far earlier than the rest of the upcoming season of television on Sunday, September 22 in the 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. spot.

Matlock is one of a few new shows coming to CBS in the fall, yet, unlike the Young Sheldon spinoff Georgie & Mandy’s First Wedding or the NCIS Gibbs-centric prequel NCIS: Origins, it’s not directly attached to one of the network’s flagship programs. Instead, it puts a new spin on one of television’s most prolific and cantankerous attorneys to ever grace the screen, as Bates plays a septuagenarian lawyer looking to prove she can still manage cases at a prestigious law firm. Using her unassuming appearance to her advantage, she becomes a star all over again by unraveling mysteries in a case-of-the-week format and exposing corruption from within the system. It both calls back to Griffith’s nine-season run as the titular lawyer beginning in 1986 and calls out the biases and misconceptions surrounding the capabilities of older women through its exceptional star.

Bates is a huge addition to the CBS family, bringing a resume that includes a legendary, Academy Award-winning turn in the Stephen King adaptation Misery and a bevy of other acclaimed roles from Titanic to Primary Colors, About Schmidt, American Horror Story, and Richard Jewell. She’s kept busy of late too, with this year seeing her appear in The Great Lillian Hall for Max, the heartwarming comedy Summer Camp, and A Family Affair for Netflix. Trailers have already showcased the charm and wit she brings to the role, promising a skillful comedic edge to the courtroom drama that makes her appear as the perfect successor to Griffith.

Who Else Stars in ‘Matlock’?

The supporting cast also features some serious star power, with Emmy nominee Jason Ritter set as Bates’s co-star alongside Skye P. Marshall, David Del Rio, and Leah Lewis. Adding to the promise of Matlock is a strong creative team at the helm steering it towards success. That includes Kat Coiro, who has previously shot episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Girls5eva, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, directing the pilot from a script penned by Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman. Both are also executive producers alongside Bates, Joanna Klein, Eric Christian Olsen, and John Will.