CBS' hit legal drama Matlock is racing toward its two-hour season 2 finale, which will bring the series' gripping Wellbrexa cover up mystery to a close. Thankfully, we can already look forward to another chapter in Matty Matlock's second act as a lawyer as CBS renewed the show for season 3. But for the first time since the series premiered in 2024, we're going to have a long wait for new episodes.
When CBS announced its Fall 2026 schedule, there were some surprising changes made by the network when it comes to what's on and when and some actual surprises, like a new NCIS spinoff coming from the clear blue sky. The network also shook up its fall slate by shifting two of its biggest shows to midseason, those shows being Ghosts and Matlock.
That's right, Matlock season 3 was pulled from the Fall 2026 schedule and will make its premiere on CBS in midseason. More than likely, that means we won't rejoin the Jacobson Moore team until sometime in early 2027 following the season 2 finale April 23, 2026. Why did CBS choose to push the legal drama to the next calendar year? The show's boss is revealing the reason.
Matlock showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman spoke with TV Insider ahead of the season 2 finale and spoke about the third season's shift to a midseason premiere in 2027. According to Urman, the move from Fall 2026 didn't come directly from the network and instead was a decision that she made in order to give herself and the writing team more time to craft the show's next mystery.
"I asked for it with the network. We had a talk. I just feel like we had so much stuff to think about because we really landed the plane on this and we really thought that was important because we didn’t want to keep dragging out the same story and the characters have to get to someplace real emotionally," Urman explained about wrapping up the Wellbrexa storyline.
Why Matlock season 3 being delayed is a good thing for fans
Since season 3 marked a "big reset" for the series, according to Urman, she and the team wanted to focus on quality. "When we took this two-hour finale and really paid a lot of things off, what came with that was I’m going to need time after that to really build the architecture so that we have it for the next seasons. I’m excited about it, but I am also grateful because we needed a little bit of time."
While she noted that the delay is "sad for audiences," its actually a great thing in the long run for the health of the series. Rather than the writers being rushed to expertly craft a captivating new mystery for Matty and Olympia, the writers will have a longer period of time to plan and write before filming begins on season 3. That ensures the series will continue to be one of the network's best shows.
More than anything, fans should be relieved that CBS agreed to give Urman an extended hiatus. The network's powers that be could have turned down her request and pushed her to get the show back on the air by fall. Obviously, that strategy didn't prevent the second season from being just as good, maybe even better, than the first. But season 3 is heading into new territory.
From Urman's years as the boss of Jane the Virgin, we know that she always delivers when it comes to whipping up new mysteries and dropping unexpected plot twists. We'll have to stay patient for Matlock season 3's premiere next year, and we will surely get more details after the season 2 finale airs and when the new season begins production likely later this summer or fall.
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