Nowadays, fans are familiar with reboots of successful old series. Even shows held sacred by fans have been pulled from the dusty shadows to see new life.
Matlock’s approach proved to be a very different way of approaching a series that had been done before – one we’ll probably file away as a legend.
Understandably, when most fans hear the news that CBS is rebooting a classic, they’re skeptical and maybe even protective.
Nothing is sacred?
Over the past decade, we’ve seen more remakes, spin-offs, and film adaptations than unique originals. Where did the creativity go?
Most reboots don’t work well. Look at Magnum, PI, Hawaii Five-O, Saved by the Bell and similarly mystical-themed Perry Mason.
SWAT is a wild card whose fortunes change with the seasons.
Derivatives also appear to underperform over the long term. But that doesn’t stop networks from bombarding their TV lineups with new shows to build franchises on the success of their original series.
Fans loved the original Matlock series, which aired from 1986 to 1995 and starred Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock, a A criminal defense lawyer who made a lot of money by finding the real guilty parties and saving his clients.
In the interim, Matlock has endured network changes from NBC to ABC for the final three seasons, much like how “9-1-1” avoided cancellation by switching from Fox to ABC.
Decades after the show ended, fans still love the show and welcome its revivals. So the news that we’re getting a reboot in the 2020s is met with varying degrees of concern.
After all, it looks like we’re going from an older Andy Griffith to a female Matlock Kathy Bates. Will fans accept another reboot that’s reimagined, modernized, and gender-swapped?
This seems to be the norm for network restarts.
Either we get a complete replica of the basic premise and a redesigned cast, or they choose storylines as if the new version is a continuation of the old story, perhaps with family members of the original characters.
I won’t lie. It worked really well for the latest Ghostbusters movie.
Given these formulas, most fans naturally assume that a female-driven Matlock means that Kathy Bates will be related to the original Matlock character in some way.
Boy, were we all wrong!
This was the first time I felt happy about my mistake. Of the existing series remakes, Matlock stands out. Perhaps unique.
Kathy Bates is a genius, both as an actress and as Matty Matlock, a seasoned woman in her 70s who returns to law practice after 30 years job because she must be the sole guardian to raise her grandson after her husband’s death.
What’s so exciting about this plot? So what if it all turns out to be a lie?
As Marty keeps repeating throughout the Matlock remake, because of her age, no one pays attention to Marty except us the audience and her support system – her grandson who told the truth that she didn’t out husband.
At the law firm where Marty gets a job (can that older woman really do blackmail?), she becomes the third member of a team of junior lawyers three times younger.
Everyone thought of her as a poor old lady struggling to re-enter the workforce in her old age because she needed money. But our dear Madeleine seems to be leading a double life.
It turns out that Madeleine is extremely wealthy and still married, and she just wants to work at a law firm to uncover a sinister conspiracy.
One of three law firm partners withheld critical information sustaining the opioid epidemic. Why is the epidemic so important to Madeleine? Her only daughter died of an opioid overdose.
Madeleine believes the mysterious man is responsible, and she and her grandson are determined to find out their identities and seek justice.
Their mission has Marty going undercover at a law firm to investigate and snoop to get answers and evidence. Her cover? An affable old lady with a knack for making people relax their guard.
It didn’t take long for us to realize there was something more behind Madeleine’s sweet, humble personality. How genius is it to use stereotypes to hide in plain sight?
As Marty said, everyone ignores the old.
The best part about the new Matlock compared to the old one is that the shows don’t have any connections. They only share one name.
In the reboot, Matlock is an old TV show, just like in real life.
Madeline referenced this classic series to remind her colleagues of her name. It’s a great way for a new show to pay homage to the original without tarnishing its memory.
It would be nice if other shows took the same consideration when trying to reboot.
As someone who loves a great twist that no one sees coming, I applaud CBS for their efforts in giving us a great bait and switch. The idea is to attract your audience with something familiar, but retain them by giving them something completely unique.
So if you’ve never seen the original series, will you be lost watching Matlock 2024?
Absolutely not! Because the Matlock of today has nothing to do with the past. While they both share similar legal procedural mysteries, viewers don’t have to worry about finding Easter eggs or losing hidden references.
Although if you want to test your trivia knowledge, they exist.
Even if you did watch the original Matlock series, you’ll probably still enjoy the remake due to its unique premise and amazing cast.
I chose to watch just because of the lead. I am obsessed with Kathy Bates and will watch any movie she stars in.
My favorite is the underrated comedy Outlaws of the American West.
But who doesn’t love Colin Farrell, Alert’s Scott Kahn, and the saga of Jesse James and the James Young Gang?
When I’m not watching current affairs shows, I’m binge-watching Billy the Kid. I’m obsessed! I need some westerns to tide me over until Yellowstone or any of Taylor Sheridan’s series returns.
Matlock, with his unique approach, proved to be one of the best reboot attempts of the century.
Given the show’s early success, we wonder if other shows will start using this titular production approach.
Or will they continue to drag the old series into the mud with original character story continuations? Basically, where are they now? Or worse yet, completely subvert the same story with a modern perspective? This approach has not yet proven to be sustainable.
Shows like Bel-Air change the entire vibe, genre, and atmosphere to fit today’s environment.
While the ’90s version of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air was very comedic and family-oriented, today’s remake is edgier and more dramatic, using the show as a platform to confront real, systemic life issues.
This shift may be due to the current television landscape, which seems focused on creating fictional stories that incorporate real-life events and issues.
While watching television was once a way to escape reality and get lost in a fictional alternate world, today it seems like every show raises specific questions. One could almost say that the fictional television industry has become a political playground.
As someone who watches a wide variety of shows, it can be exhausting. I miss those days when we could forget all the ugliness in the world, relax for a short while, recharge our batteries, and enjoy the moment.
So for a show to abandon the formula of frustratingly modernizing the same story is like TV gold.
While the show is entertaining and addresses real-life crises, much of the show’s premise only works in a fictional world. For this reason, this viewer fell in love.
I want to live in another world and forget about the present. I love shows where I get lost in the illusion. As a human lie detector, it’s funny when television hooks me into lies.
This rarely happens.
I usually predict what will happen in the story five steps ahead of everyone else. But I don’t see a huge shift in CBS’s approach to reviving the Matlock series.
It may be too late for all current shows, but everyone involved with television should take notes for future series remakes and expansions.
It’s hard to find something completely original among so many out there. Even shows we think are unique, like The Good Doctor and High Potential, are produced by other people elsewhere.
“High Potential” is based on the similar French series “HPI Haut Potentiel Intellectuel”. “The Good Doctor” is the American version of the Korean TV series of the same name. CBS’s current hit “Ghost” is the American retelling of the British “Ghost” series.
All the same characters and story. Just tweaked for cultural purposes.
BTW, no judgment. Each of these series is on my watch list.
In the world of TV series remakes, “Matlock” is currently in a league of its own. Now, we’ll wait and see if other shows follow this interesting new format.
Maybe this will give all the series spin-offs a reprieve. It seems like every series is trying to be franchise material.
9-1-1 is about to lose Lone Star, but a new spin-off is in the planning stages. “Fire Nation” has confirmed that there will be two spin-offs in the future. Blue Bloods may continue to exist in an unannounced new universe. “NCIS: Origins” has traveled to the 1990s.
Have you seen the new Matlock series? What do you think of the way the show handled the reboot?
