Rob Owen, TV writer for Trib Total Media, offers a viewing tip for the coming week.

Note: This column contains spoilers for the premiere episode of CBS’ “Matlock,” which aired last month.

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Despite constant ridicule while Grandpa Simpson howled “Matlock!” in late 1980s/early 1990s “Simpsons” episodes, there was a reason the trial starring Andy Griffith ran for nine seasons: It offered a cozy mystery long before the term was coined, with a likeable star in the title role.

So I was more than surprised when my ten-year-old son watched intently with me the first two episodes of the new CBS series “Matlock” and then asked for more episodes, to which he cheered: “Matlock!” Matlock! Matlock!” as a critics screener of the third episode climaxed in the courtroom.

Apparently the appeal of the original “Matlock” extends to CBS’s apparent reboot that is NOT a reboot. The new “Matlock” averaged more than 7 million viewers in its preview last month, the best non-post-Super Bowl debut ratings for a CBS series in nearly six years. The first episode will be repeated on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. and the second episode of the series will air on October 17 at 9:00 p.m.

Everyone who saw the premiere learned that Madeline “Matty” Matlock (Kathy Bates) is not who she pretends to be to her new colleagues at the law firm. She uses the alias Matlock to find out which lawyer was responsible for hiding documents in a case that could have taken opioids off the market ten years ago, saving the lives of thousands, including Matty’s daughter.

While Matty presents herself to her colleagues as a slightly unsteady septuagenarian who has to go back to work as a lawyer to pay her bills, it turns out that her real name is Madeline “Grammie” Kingston and that she is wealthy enough to have a chauffeur She then goes home to her husband (Sam Anderson) and the grandson (Aaron D. Harris), whom she is raising.

Reimagined by Jane the Virgin creator Jennie Snyder Urman, this new Matlock fits right into the elevated procedural genre, with a new case of the week in each episode as well as the ongoing, ongoing storyline of Matty’s efforts to bring down the unscrupulous lawyer at her firm.

“She comes with an agenda … and what she thinks is a pretty simple mission: ‘I’m going to figure this out and then exit stage left,'” Snyder Urman said during a July visit to the “Matlock” set on the Paramount lot Pictures. “Suddenly she realizes that these friendships she’s building go much deeper. She suddenly realizes that these are people who are relying on her, and that complicates things even further. …Then the most surprising thing for her is how relevant she feels and how good the work feels and how she’s making a difference again and how important she is to the world. … That’s the surprise and the wish fulfillment and the hope of the series.”

The second episode of the series evokes viewers’ memories of the original series in its opening moments – no spoilers here – and part of the plot revolves around a mistake Matty made in the premiere episode when she said that “Matlock “was originally broadcast from 1984 to 1992. The original “Matlock” aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992, but continued until 1995, when it moved to ABC.

Was this mistake intentional in the first episode or was it discovered later and made a difference in episode 2?

“It was a mistake that I originally wrote in the script that I could have corrected,” Snyder Urman said. “But then I thought it would be useful because Matty tracks everything. …This is just a small example of how much she has to keep track of all the time. And it’s also a nice introduction to the meta-storytelling for the second episode, and I knew it would help me set the table a little bit.”

Another oddity about the new “Matlock” that perhaps only the most eagle-eyed TV junkies will notice: Like the title, the show’s law firm set is recycled.

“This is the first set I have ever worked on that has been repurposed in three different ways,” explained Adam Rowe, production designer for “Matlock.” “For those of you familiar with CBS, this was the hospital in (the 2022 medical drama) ‘Good Sam.'” And it was used (as the makeup company’s office) for “Glamourous,” that 2023 on Netflix.”

“Good Sam” and “Glamorous” were filmed in Toronto, where the set was originally built. CBS shot the “Matlock” pilot in Toronto, and when “Matlock” was picked up for series, the producers had the set dismantled and transported to Paramount’s Los Angeles location. There was just one problem: the Paramount soundstage was significantly smaller than the one in Toronto.

“We’re actually looking at a set that’s been cut in half,” Rowe explained. “It was a lot bigger. If you go to the reception area, it’s another 90 feet in that direction.”

For actress Skye P. Marshall, who plays Olympia, Matty’s boss at the law firm, the lead role in “Matlock” is a daily déjà vu experience: she previously worked on this set as Dr. Lex Trulie in Good Sam.

“These are the same stairs, these are the same hallways,” Marshall said, standing in Olympia’s office, which was a patient room on Good Sam. “When ‘Good Sam’ was canceled, I had no idea the set would follow me here. … That same turn (in the hallway) where I’ve been chasing Sophia Bush (‘Good Sam’ star) all the time, there’s Kathy Bates chasing me.”

As Matty hunts down the lawyer she blames for her daughter’s death, Snyder assures Urman that the mystery won’t drag on forever.

“We will definitely find out who did what by the end of season one,” she said. “When this puzzle is solved, something else will be launched, and there will be tentacles. But I firmly believe that you have to give the audience that satisfaction.”