This post contains spoilers for the premiere of the newCBSdramaMatlock, which is now streaming on Paramount+.
Well, hold up there, my friends!
Because I am here to tell you that this newMatlockisnotwhat you think!
Ritter, Bates, and Marshall (from left) in ‘Matlock’Sonja Flemming/CBS
Well, mostly it is.
And then in some ways it is very, very,verymuch not.
But Mattys whole brand is about disarming people with her fundamental existence.
(whose run, coincidentally, overlapped a bit with the originalMatlock).
And if the newMatlockwere content to be just that, it would probably do OK for itself.
While she could make a perfectly straightforward remake of the Griffith show, she has something else in mind.
Madeline Matlock is not, in fact, Madeline Matlock, but rather Madeline Kingston.
Its OK if you oughta take a moment to re-read that last one.
Its a lot, I know.
Because of course this new Matlock now has a murder board.
Now, what Urman has done isnt that unusual in the modern IP Is Everything television landscape.
What often happens, though, is that these reimaginings become neither fish nor fowl.
Mostly, though, the issue is that it plays too lightly for the apparent stakes.
Will that meta quality appeal to the CBS audience?
I wouldnt have a go at guess, but at least its an interesting experiment.
