The Original 'Matlock' Lasted a Decade, but Ended in Anti-Climactic Fashion

If there's one thing the last 10 years of Hollywood entertainment has taught us, it's that no piece of intellectual property is dead forever. Matlock was a hugely popular legal series that originally aired from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s. That incarnation of the show starred Andy Griffith as an aging lawyer who defended his clients and often found the guilty party in a variety of criminal cases.

The 2024 reboot of the series stars Kathy Bates in a similar role as a woman who decides to return to the legal profession at a prestigious law firm and proves herself to be uniquely adept at exposing both corruption and her opponents in court. Now that there's a reboot, many want to know how the original Matlock ended.

The original Matlock ended somewhat anti-climactically. It's final episode was a two-parter called "The Scam," and focused on Matlock's close friend Cliff, who had been accused of murder. As he always does, Matlock gets to the bottom of the case and exonerates his friend, but there were no huge suggestions that the show was ending. This was partly because a different episode was actually supposed to be the finale, but it was not uncommon for older procedural series to simply go off the air without much ado.

The episode that was originally supposed to serve as the finale was called "The Assault" and featured a poignant moment in which Matlock looks out at an empty courtroom following a birthday party.

While that ending might feel slightly more appropriate because the show did not have tons of serialized elements, it wasn't as difficult to end as the shows that came after it.

In the teaser for the reboot, Kathy Bates says her name is Madeline Matlock, "like the old TV show," so it doesn't seem as though the new Matlock takes place in the same universe as the old one. Instead, it seems instead to be a soft reboot that features the same basic premise but is gender-flipped. The series was a great swan song for Andy Griffith's long television career, and it seems possible that Kathy Bates is looking at it the same way.

In fact, Kathy has said as much in recent interviews, explaining that she was considering retirement following her role on the show. At the Emmys, she clarified that the whole thing was "kind of a misunderstanding."

“I was very flattered that everybody was upset," she added during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

The confusion started after Kathy gave an interview with The New York Times in which she said that the role was her "swan song" and her "final dance." Kathy has clarified, though, that she hopes this swan song doesn't come to an end anytime soon.

“We’ll see, you know, as long as this swan sails for another eight years or so,” she explained. So Kathy's not going anywhere just yet, and she can be seen on Matlock for at least this TV season.