The long-awaited reboot of “Matlock” will finally debut in the 2024 TV schedule on CBS. The series has been heavily promoted on the network and kept Kathy Bates from retiring, so it seemed all but guaranteed that many people would tune in for the premiere. Well, I was one of those who made sure to watch, and I was largely unimpressed… until the last five minutes threw a twist in a way that had me immediately checking to see when Episode 2 would air. Kathy Bates clearly had a lot of fun with the role of Madeline “Matty” Matlock from the start, and the episode did a great job of showing rather than telling about Matty’s diminished circumstances. (Or so I thought, but more on that in the next section!) But I’ve seen a lot of legal dramas in my time — including three that literally have “Law” in the title — and I just wasn’t that happy with them. getting hooked on what seemed like a pretty average thing with a predictable resolution. Matty was clearly smart, but that’s not necessarily enough to make a hit show.