Oscar-winning actressKathy Bateshas made no secret that portraying shrewd defense lawyerMatlockwill be the final role of her decorated 55-year Hollywood career. The iconicMiseryactor stars as Madeline “Matty” Matlock in the rebooted legal drama, which premiered on CBS on September 22,2024. Although assuming the mantle left behind by Andy Griffith in the originalMatlockis no easy feat, Bates stands to make TV history for the first time since 2015 if all goes to plan.
Should Bates win a probabilistic Emmy Award for her acting swan song, she will become the first woman to win a Best Leading Actress honor for a network production in 10 years. It would be an ideal way to bid a fond farewell to one of history’s most diversely talented acting careers, reminding old and new fans that Bates can handle comedy and drama with the best of them. Here’s how Kathy Bates stands to make TV history for the first time in a decade withMatlock.
Who Is Kathy Bates?
With over 130 credits since 1970, Kathy Bates is an American actor, director, and producer who elevates nearly every project she participates in. After getting her start on the long-running soapAll My Children, Bates made her big screen debut opposite Dustin Hoffman in the underrated 1974 crime movieStraight Time. Bates continued to work on the big and small screen throughout the ’80s,culminating in her Oscar-winning roleas Annie Wilkes inRob Reiner’s 1990 horror-thriller Misery.
Following her iconic Oscar-winning turn inMisery, Bates earned Academy Award nominations for Mike Nichols’Primary Colorsin 1999, Alexander Payne’sAbout Schmidtin 2003, and Clint Eastwood’sRichard Jewellin 2020. Working with everyone from James Cameron (Titanic), Taylor Hackford (Dolores Claiborne), and Warren Beatty (Dick Tracy) to Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road), Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes), and more, Bates has collaborated with some of Hollywood’s finest directors.
No stranger to television, Bates' notable small-screen credits includeSix Feet Under, The Office, Harry’s Law, Disjointed, The Big Bang Theory,andAmerican Horror Story.During her career, Bates earned 12 Primetime Emmy nominations and two wins. Bates won her first Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series forTwo and a Half Men,and her second for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie forAmerican Horror Story: Coven. With two Supporting Primetime Emmy victories, Bates could add a Leading Actress trophy to the mantle withMatlock.
What Is Matlock About?
Conceived asa playfully meta-rebootof the original 1986 series,Matlockis an American legal drama premiering on CBS in September 2024. Bearing no relation to Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock,the reboot revolves around Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a sassy 70-something posing as a widowed defense attorney at the Jacobson & Moore law firm. However, Matty conceals her identity as a wealthy socialite named Madeline Kingston. Along with her still-living husband Edwin (Sam Anderson), Mattie raises their 12-year-old grandson Alfie (Aaron D. Harris).
Traumatized by their daughter’s fatal drug overdose,Matty aims to get to the bottom of the opioid crisis plaguing her town.To do so, she uses her experiences as a former lawyer to work for Jacobson & Moore. Matty believes her boss Olympia (Skye P. Marshall) or her estranged husband Julian (Jason Ritter) buried documented evidence proving how the opioid epidemic could have been avoided. If it isn’t her new co-workers, Matty suspects their father-in-law, Senior (Beau Bridges) could be the primary culprit.
Slated for 10 episodes in its inaugural season, only theMatlockpilot has aired thus far. With Season 1 set to conclude in December 2024, all eyes turn to Bates' commanding lead performance as the frontrunner to win a Primetime Emmy in 2025, marking TV history for the first time in a decade.
Kathy Bates' Best Performances, Ranked
Whether she’s playing a kindly maternal figure or an evil yet unassuming woman, her immovable power as a performer always rises to the surface.
How Kathy Bates Can Make TV History in Her Final Role
Knowing thatMatlockis Bates' final acting role,she becomes the favorite to win Best Leading Actress for her portrayal at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards. For such significant actors ending their careers on television, the Emmy voters often bestow acting honors as a lifetime achievement award that encompasses the full scope of one’s work. Bates doubles her chance at winningthanks to her excellent performance, which blends heartfelt pathos with a hilarious personality.
Matlock’s Episode 1 Twist and What It Means for the Show, Explained
The Matlock reboot introduced Madeline Matlock as an unassuming heroine and then turned her into television’s most surprising villain.
If and when Bates wins an inevitable Primetime Emmy for her portrayal of Matty Matlock,she will become the first actress to win for a network TV program since Viola Davis in 2015. Davis earned the honor for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series forHow to Get Away With Murder. Davis portrayed criminal defense attorney Annalise Keating in the crime drama for 90 episodes between 2014 and 2020.
Therefore, if Bates wins an expected Primetime Emmy forMatlockin 2025, the last two honors will go to excellent actors playing professional lawyerson network legal dramas. Although Bates and Davis have never shared the screen, they’re on course to be the two most recent actresses to win Primetime Emmys for network TV shows, while both depicting defense attorneys.
Matlockis available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Fubo & Paramount+.
