Matlock (2024)

Cafe Society
1

Anyone else watching?

In case anyone is skipping it thinking it’s a reboot of the Andy Griffith show - it’s not. I have not actually watched the old show, but the tie-in here is actually … a spoiler for the first episode.

It’s that Bates’ character is playing the role of someone she is not, and needed a new identity to get in with a law firm, so her family chose “Maddie Matlock” as her new name. As a joke. But then she also uses the name as a bit of an ice breaker to tell people she’s not related to the Matlock tv show, it’s just a weird coincidence.

It’s not the world’s greatest lawyer show. I haven’t watched many lawyer shows but I did really enjoy Boston Legal and of course Law & Order. I haven’t watched a lawyer show in a while and this one is really keeping me interested.

Kathy Bates is really killing it. There’s a good bit of dialogue about dealing with your loved ones’ addiction and death and it’s quite good. Some clever stuff. Some fun stuff.

Other than Bates, there’s occasional screen time for Beau Bridges. Jason Ritter is the only other name I recognize in the cast, but I’m not familiar with his work. It’s mostly a new-comer cast.

I find myself looking forward to it each week now. I wonder how long it will go on? I think Bates said this is her final role and she’ll be retiring after it.

2

I’ve been recording it but haven’t watched anything but the pilot because I’m saving it for a friend who will be visiting me next week.

3

I wonder about the assumed name bit; doesn’t a law firm verify someone is licensed as an attorney before hiring them on?

4

She’s not practicing law, just working as a paralegal.

The general gist is that between her, her husband and her genius grandson they have done a superb job of getting her fake background all set. Like fake Linkedin law partners and whatnot.

You gotta roll with it.

5

I thought she was working as a junior attorney, though I may not have been paying close attention.

6

I wasn’t paying close enough attention at the beginning either so you may be right! I think she did do some questioning in court didn’t she?

Now I’m invested. I make this a “put your phone down and watch closely” show.

7

Mrs. Homie and I are into it, and that’s saying something, because neither of us is really into network TV, to say nothing of courtroom sitcoms/dramas. However, Mrs. Homie’s mom would not shut up about how great of a show it is, and we gave it a shot. Now we’re hooked (no pun intended).

In my head, Maddie has a law license, issued in her maiden name, and she showed it to HR when she got the job. Nobody on her team has thought to question it any further.

Also in my head, the notion that Senior (the senior partner, whatever his name is) is the guy who hid the documents about opioids is a red herring. He’s too obvious. I think it’s going to be Olympia.

8

I think it’s going to be Olympia but for some benevolent-sounding reason.

9

Yep. Definitely enjoying it, in a casual way. You could nitpick the reality of it a dozen ways, but its a fun show to watch. She really gives a great emotional range in her acting. I also really, really enjoy the scenes with her and her husband. Showing a loving senior couple is just a great thing. And they put in some realistic stuff “I’m a retired art history professor. What the heck do I know about transferring fingerprints? Its darn hard!”

10

Haven’t seen it yet, though it would be cool if she wore the same suit every day like Griffith did.

11

“Well, you see, there’s this funny thing that happens when women age. We become damn near invisible”

She’s definitely playing it as a lawyer - albeit one that hasn’t practiced in years.

A couple of ‘gotchas’ that she has pulled have been fantastic.

I really wish they would have mentioned her time in Cincinatti when she was re-capping her history in episode one.

12

I was recently recommending it to someone, emphasizing KB’s excellent acting. It very much feels like an old school, broadcast tv show yet I’m really enjoying it.
I can’t stand Olympia but I’m not sure if I don’t like the actress, or the actress is so good she’s making me dislike her because she’s playing a not so likable character.

@ZipperJJ , don’t mean to junior mod here - we don’t find out the truth about Maddie’s real identity until the end of the first ep, and it’s a pretty big surprise. Do you think it would be worth it to spoiler that part (or I guess for a mod to spoiler it)?

13

Welp I’ve already ruined it for LurkMeister and BobLibDem but I’ll see if I can get some help with it.

I’m far enough into the show that I forgot that it was a big reveal already!

14

I am really enjoying it! I had zero interest in watching it since I had thought it was just a remake of the old series. Then my dad saw the pilot and said it wasn’t what you think so I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised! It’s not a serious drama to nitpick and pay too much attention to realistic law details. You kind of just have to go with it, but it’s fun!

15

It’s one of my new favorite shows. I like how they show at the end how she had everything figured out.

16

I’m enjoying the show.

Of course I was predisposed to liking it as soon as I heard Kathy Bates was starring.

I’m still a bit pissed off that NBC canceled Harry’s Law. Overall viewership if that show was pretty high, but fans skewed older than NBC wanted. I suspect they rued that decision when it became evident that a lot of the coveted younger viewers stopped watching broadcast TV.

17

This show is on CBS and I think their audience tends to be older. Googling, the average age of a CBS viewer is almost 68 years old.

18

Harry’s Law was canceled in 2012. I have no idea what the average age of a CBS viewer vs. an NBC viewer was then.

I will say though that The Golden Girls aired on NBC from 1985 to 1992. I suspect the average age of the viewer for that show was pretty high. I’ll bet NBC didn’t consider canceling that show.

<Hijack over, OK?>