Grandpa Simpson claimed that” Matlock!” was his favorite television program in an episode of” The Simpsons” that first aired in the fall of 1994. Thirty years later, the show that The New York Times described as “endur]ing ] in the cultural memory mostly as a punchline about shows old people like to watch” has returned.
The new variant, which features Oscar winner Kathy Bates as sun and professional manufacturer, attempts to thread a needle. Its use of the” Matlock” title and a faster rate and dataset put to entice younger people is intended to appeal to senior citizens.  ,
Folksy Attorney…
The opening scene of the movie’s finale event provides a first look at the movie’s idea. Madeline” Matty” Matlock, a senior citizen and former lawyer who wants to re-enter the workforce, is played by Bates, who she claims is “like the Screen show.”
Matty makes a point while crashing her way into a business law company and the regular lover meeting. ( The episode’s opening to Matty is almost immediately explained, as is the case with corporate attorneys who are depicted as vipers. ) She uses information she has obtained to get a settlement from an outsider firm named Jacobson Moore.
But a Unique Feeling
Matty then turns that success into a brief audition for the company, which continues throughout the opening event. In her first project, she must try to salvage a pro bono situation involving a man who was imprisoned after being wrongly convicted and facing allegations of officers problem. The situation has turned into a dead close for the company.
The first situation provides some examples of how the rebooted from the earlier” Matlock” influenced the first one. With a murder mystery “whodunit” format that allowed people to speculate on the criminal in each event, the classic display focused on criminal legislation. Likewise, this year’s edition looks at civil legislation and particularly corporate litigation. Additionally, there are ample amounts of warring play that are popular at corporate entities ( or at least Television shows about it ), as well as two divorcing attorneys, with the firm’s founder acting as both the father and the father-in-law to the other.
The current edition also discusses topics gently discussed, if explored at all, in the unique. The original” Matlock,” which featured family-friendly actor Andy Griffith as star and executive producer, would never have featured her conversation with a former prostitute ( or “old hoe,” as she allegedly liked to refer to herself ). And while the initial show featured a varied cast from 1986-1992 on NBC and for a number of seasons later on ABC, it scarcely addressed racial and social justice issues that the remake addressed in its starting episode.
In fact, other than the soft notion of “folksy attorney/senior member” and references to the original display and its concept music, these two versions of” Matlock” have about as much in common as other court and legal plays. Other than attracting eyeballs for the premiere, one wonders why network executives even used the name.
Show Within a Show
In the past several weeks, CBS advertised the reboot as” not the’ Matlock ‘ you’re expecting” — in part for all the reasons listed above. However, the final scene of the premiere elaborated on that claim by using flashbacks from the previous 40 minutes of television to demonstrate that Matty also has a story behind her story.  ,
In an ad after the premiere, Bates appealed to viewers to keep the show’s underlying premise” Matlocked” until audiences had a chance to watch the first episode. Without giving away any spoilers, the cliffhanger revealed yet another way the plots of the original” Matlock” will differ: While the original show’s was largely self-contained within a one-hour window, this series will function more as a series, with a significant plotline lasting from week to week.
Bates, who is roughly seven years older than Griffith when the first season of this” Matlock” was over, stated to the Times that this would be her final acting role. One can see how much this adaptation of” Matlock” and Bates ‘ role in it are infused with the speech Matty makes in the opening scene of the premiere, which states that women of a certain age become invisible but still have value.  ,
Initial returns appear positive,” Matlock’s” premiere episode opened to strong ratings. How well will Bates and company maintain viewer interest in their premise before deciding whether to make up the stark distinctions between this” Matlock” and the original.
” Matlock” will air Thursdays at 9 p. m. Eastern on CBS and is also available on Paramount Plus.