Matlock series premiere ratings wow at CBS; what’s next?

We knew entering the Matlock series premiere on CBS that there was potential for the show to be a big success; yet, at the same time, we still did not know what we were getting ourselves into.

Is this the best pilot for a network TV show in years? It honestly feels like you could say that, mostly because it did something that very few programs of its kind, especially on network TV, do: Legitimately surprise us. The cast and crew did a brilliant job of never once speaking about the big-time twist at the end of the premiere. It completely alters what this show is, and also casts so much of the story into another layer of meta. It is absolutely the sort of thing that will cause the show to spread via word of mouth; the only unfortunate thing is after this preview, it will not actually be back until mid-October.

In total, TVLine is reporting now that commercially, the show got off to a great start, drawing 7.73 million live+same-day viewers for the first episode. This is the best start for a series not airing after the Super Bowl for CBS in more than five years. Can you say that football still helped the show? Maybe, but it did not air directly after a big NFL game / 60 Minutes in most markets. This premiere was largely a self-starter buoyed by a good ad campaign — and once again, the network did a great job of never once advertising or leaning into the central twist.

If the ratings remain anywhere close to this for the remainder of the season, Matlock feels like a sure thing to get another season. In between this, Tracker, and Elsbeth, you really have to give the network some credit for managing to pivot into a lot of new content on the fly the past few years. This is without even mentioning Fire Country, which is heading into its third season.

Related – Get some more news on Matlock right now, including some other updates on what lies ahead

What did you think about the Matlock series premiere, especially that big twist?

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