All hail Kathy Bates. The Oscar-winning veteran’s return to broadcast TV with CBS‘ Matlock delivered Reside+Identical Day linear viewership numbers we hardly ever see anymore. The “sneak peak” premiere of Jennie Snyder Uraman’s reimagening of the Andy Griffin basic with Bates because the eponymous lawyer averaged 7.73 million viewers Sunday in time adjusted Quick Nationwide L+SD Nielsen scores.
That was CBS’ largest viewers for a non-post-Tremendous Bowl collection premiere in 5 and a half years, since The Code‘s April 9, 2019 debut after NCIS.
Whereas benefitting from some Steelers-Chargers halo impact (and free promotion by way of Chargers star Scott Matlock’s jersey), Matlock didn’t instantly comply with the sport — it aired behind its lead-out, newsmagazine 60 Minutes.
Time-adjusted numbers for 60 Minutes will not be out there (CBS’ primetime was delayed in a number of East Coast markets), however preliminary estimates recommend that Matlock constructed upon its 60 Minutes lead-in by about 1 million viewers. That’s one other main feat for the rookie, whose premiere was pushed to this fall from final season as a result of Hollywood strikes.
The massive scores begin adopted robust critiques, with Matlock at present at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The CBS Studios-produced collection additionally has been embraced by followers who’ve flooded social media with optimistic — and shocked — reactions, approving of the pilot episode’s shock twist, which Urman dissected in an interview with Deadline.
That could be a validation for CBS and CBS Studios who supported Urman’s imaginative and prescient for a collection with an older lead, casting 70-something Bates because the title character.
In Canada, the Matlock sneak peek premiere was Sunday’s #1 present amongst whole viewers, with practically 1.2 million tuning in to look at.
The primary episode of Matlock is at present streaming on Paramount+ with encore CBS broadcasts scheduled Oct. 8 and Oct. 10. The collection will begin airing originals in its common Thursday 9 PM time slot on Oct. 17.
