Matlock episode 2 won't air in September, here's when the show returns!

Matlock had a big premiere, but it’ll be a while before we see more episodes! Find out when it returns!

Caution: This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the Matlock series premiere

The premiere of the new CBS series introduced us to Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Kathy Bates), an elderly woman who joined the law firm of Jacobson & Moor. Matty was quick to joke on how she had the same name as the old 1980s TV show. 

Matty proved how easily she could use her status as an elderly woman to get information to help the firm out. She was soon working for Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), who was divorcing Julian (John Ritter), the son of Senior (Beau Bridges), a managing partner. 

During the episode, Matty shared with folks her tales of a tough life with a late husband who was a horrible gambler, a daughter dying of an opioid overdose, and helping her young grandson. She was finally hired and left her first day of work to board a bus. 

Then came the twist: Matty left the bus to head to an alley where a private car was waiting to pick up “Mrs. Kingston.” He took her to a huge mansion where her very much alive husband was waiting with their grandson, Alfie. Alfie was the one who helped Matty create her fake identity and the name was because his mom had loved watching the old Matlock TV show with her parents. 

The reason for this subterfuge? The one thing Matty was telling the truth about was that her daughter had died of an opioid overdose. She believes someone at Jacobson & Moore buried documents that would have gotten those drugs off the street earlier. This whole thing was Matty going undercover in the firm and the episode ended with her looking at a board of photos of Olympia, Julian, Senior and others and determined to find out who was responsible. 

This wild twist throws the show in a new direction as upcoming episodes will have Matty continue her secret mission and use her skills on cases. But when will we see it?

When are new episodes of Matlock coming?

The show had a fantastic premiere with 7.7 million viewers, the highest for a non-Super Bowl CBS series debut since 2019. One might expect CBS to continue that momentum, but the show is taking a break. 

The next new episode will air Thursday, Oct. 17 in its regular time slot of 10/9c. Having that long of a delay is surprising, but it seems there are reasons for it. 

CBS clearly wanted to get a jump on the Fall TV season and use the lead-in of NFL football to give Matlock a bigger audience. It also made it one of the first Fall TV network premieres, and the huge rating shows that worked. It’s similar to how CBS premiered Elsbeth on February 29 to get attention before the series aired new episodes in April. 

The network has been waiting until mid-October for many of their huge series premieres, so Matlock will work there with the usual Thursday lineup. It may be tricky to delay the show after the premiere, but it also allows it to build more buzz from that twist ending and prepare for its run.

So fans have to wait a bit to see Matlock continue but if the show lives up to that wild premiere, it should be a great watch.

Matlock returns Thursday, Oct. 17 at 10/9c on CBS.