In 1986, Dean Hargrove & Fred Silverman cast comedy icon Andy Griffith in the original Matlock, with Griffith in the title role as a lawyer who might've lost a step or three, but still managed to get the goods on the bad guys. Matlock ran for 9 seasons between NBC & ABC, outlasting Griffith's self-titled CBS series (1960-8), and reruns, at last check, are still on Me-TV, among other places.
In 2023, there's a new Matlock in town. Except this time, it's a woman, and there are meta references, as you'll see in the trailer, to the original.
Kathy Bates lands the lead in the new Matlock, set to debut this fall, but likely delayed to 2024 due to the writers' strike. Check the trailer.
The fact that Matlock is ticketed for CBS this time is not a factor here. However, the network was home to the likes of Murder, She Wrote, Jake & The Fatman, & Diagnosis: Murder, and network suits seem to think that the trend of veteran stars in new roles may be revived. We'll see.
4 comments:
It seems to me I've heard that song before ...
First off, this is plainly not a remake/reboot/reimagining/whatever of Andy Griffith's old series, its recycled title notwithstanding.
This one is a completely different character, in a completely different circumstance, and apparently doing completely different stories; they might as well call her Perri Masonette ...
A few years back, Kathy Bates did a series called Harry's Law, in which she played a tough-minded old lawyer taking on tough cases and such; if Ms. Bates was inclined to a TV comeback, why not simply bring back Harry?
As memory serves, that was a pretty good show, which fell victim to Quick-Yank-Itis at NBC, during a tough season there.
There's a whole new TV world out there, and I can't say that I like it all that much ...
I remember Harry's Law. I'll get around to taking a look at that someday soon. I made a point of noting there is a meta reference to the original Matlock in the trailer, establishing that this is a totally new show with a familiar brand attached to it. Which is actually a good thing, since straight remakes of hits from the 70's & 80's have flopped badly in recent years (i.e. remakes of Kojak, Bionic Woman, Knight Rider, Night Stalker).
A True Story From The Past:
Back about 1963, a would-be actor named Eugene Weingand tried to legally change his name to Peter Lorie: he bore a sort-of resemblance to the real Peter Lorre, and wanted to use it as a kickstart to his own career.
On the day the case came to court, Mr. Weingand met up with a surprise witness:
"State your name for the record, please."
"My name is Peter Lorre - I hope you believe me."
The real Lorre (whose birth name was Laszlo Lowenstein) was quite protective of his screen name, and didn't care that Mr. Weingand would be poaching on it; the case was dismissed,and that was the end of it.
... For the moment ...
... Until the real Lorre died in 1964, whereupon Eugene Weingand started calling himself 'Peter Lorre Jr.' and offered himself as a character actor for movies and TV.
Weingand cooked up a faux "biography", alleging himself to be the offspring of an early German marriage by the real Lorre - and for a while, he actually got away with it ('Lorre Jr.' actually scored a few TV credits in the mid-'60s).
Weingand's scam didn't hold up, though, and he faded away after a while (the story is recounted in detail in The Lost One, a biography of the real Peter Lorre that appeared a few years ago).
You know, I'm wondering what brought this story to mind just now ...
A story I didn't know about until now. Thanks.
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