The original “Matlock,” which aired from 1986 to 1995, was a reimagining of the long-running “Perry Mason” legal drama. But instead of a hardnosed attorney at the center of its case-of-the-week format, “Matlock” leveraged star Andy Griffith’s ability to play deceptively unthreatening, and then, in a climatic courtroom showdown, remarkably effective, even lacerating. With the new version of “Matlock” on CBS, it’s best to go into it understanding that it’s not a reboot so much as a show with a tenuous connection to the intellectual property of its title.
But nothing gets green-lit today unless it’s IP, so here we are. But “here we are” isn’t so bad when it’s Kathy Bates anchoring a series. She plays Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a 75-year-old lawyer who claims she would otherwise be enjoying retirement if only her finances allowed it, so she lands an entry-level job at a slick corporate firm in New York.
(Can CBS bear to set a procedural in any other location?) But her true motivation for working there — revealed at the end of the first episode — is more complicated. That’s the ongoing storyline, while each week there’s also a new client to defend. If Ben Matlock came by his folksy and befuddled charm naturally, Matty’s is a put-on.
Griffith’s portrayal became increasingly doddering as the seasons progressed, but Bates is starting out a good half-decade older than Griffith was when his show ended, and instead of using that as an excus.