CBS Orders Four New Series Including MATLOCK Reboot Starring Kathy Bates and a Spinoff of THE GOOD WIFE Starring Carrie Preston
CBS has ordered two “new” series for their network, including a reboot of the classic 1980s-90s crime drama Matlock, starring Academy Award and Emmy-winning actress Kathy Bates (Misery, Richard Jewell, American Horror Story) in the starring role, as well as a spinoff of The Good Wife starring Carrie Preston, who starred in the original series The Good Wife, as well as True Blood.
The new version of Matlock hails from Jennie Snyder Urman, who will write and executive produce the pilot under her Sutton Street Productions banner. Bates will executive produce in addition to starring. Joanna Klein of Sutton Street will also executive produce along with Eric Christian Olsen and John Will. Sutton Street is currently under an overall deal at CBS Studios, which will produce the pilot.
The official logline for the show states, “After achieving success in her younger years, the brilliant septuagenarian Madeline Matlock (Bates) rejoins the work force at a prestigious law firm where she uses her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Based on the classic television series of the same name.”
The Good Wife spinoff is titled Elsbeth, named after Preston’s character Elsbeth Tascioni whom she played on both The Good Wife and streaming series The Good Fight.
Elsbeth is written by The Good Wife and The Good Fight creators Robert and Michelle King, with Robert also set to direct the pilot. The Kings and Liz Glotzer executive produce via King Size Productions. CBS Studios is also producing Elsbeth, with the Kings under an overall deal there as well.
In the show, “After her successful career in Chicago, Elsbeth Tascioni (Preston), an astute but unconventional attorney, utilizes her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD.”
In addition to the two pilot orders, CBS is also opening writers’ rooms for two drama projects for potential straight-to-series pickups for the 2024-2025 season.
The first of those projects is titled Watson. Inspired by the characters from Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries, the show is a contemporary take on the Dr. Watson character. And although CBS previously aired the modern Sherlock Holmes series Elementary starring Johnny Lee Miller as Holmes and Lucy Liu as Watson, this show is a completely separate and new project.
In the new show, “Shortly after the death of his friend and partner Sherlock Holmes at the hands of Moriarty, Dr. John Watson resumes his medical career as the head of a clinic dedicated to treating rare genetic disorders, only to uncover a startling secret that puts him in the crosshairs of Moriarty once again.”
Finally, CBS is developing the medical drama The Pact from writer and executive producer Marcus Dalzine. The series is based on the book The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Dr. Sampson Davis, Dr. George Jenkins, and Dr. Rameck Hunt, with Lisa Frazier Page.
Per the logline, “After a childhood pact leads three friends from inner-city Newark to become doctors, they reunite in their hometown to open a medical center to serve their community.”
Are you looking forward to these series coming to CBS? Which ones do you look forward to checking out?
via: Variety