MATLOCK’s Jennie Snyder Urman Reflects on Her Partnership with Kathy Bates: ‘It’s Been Beyond My Dreams’

CBS has found success in recent years by rebooting classic titles with a new twist (HAWAII FIVE-0, MAGNUM P.I., MACGYVER), and the latest on its roster is MATLOCK.

The new series (which debuts with a special sneak peek on Sunday, September 22 before making its Thursday, October 17 time slot debut) follows Kathy Bates as a gender-flipped Madeline “Matty” Matlock who reenters the workforce at a prestigious law firm. Naturally, her new colleagues are skeptical of her, so Matty has to go above and beyond to prove herself to them.

But the series also made headlines recently when Bates made it clear she was considering retirement…until she read the script for the MATLOCK pilot.

“Everything I’ve prayed for, worked for, clawed my way up for, I am suddenly able to be asked to use all of it,” she told the New York Times. 

The script was penned by Jennie Snyder Urman, a longtime TV vet whose credits include showrunning JANE THE VIRGIN, who is visibly emotional when Bates’ comments are brought up during a recent interview with Give Me My Remote.

“I think it’s hard to process when someone like Kathy Bates says something like that about your work,” Urman says, after pausing to gather her thoughts. “It’s incredibly meaningful to me. I feel emotional about it because running a show and writing is a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of vulnerable work. And I feel so grateful for the partnership. It’s been beyond my dreams.”

Urman compares the relationship she’s crafting with Bates to the one she shared with Gina Rodriguez on JANE. “We had this really beautiful relationship, and I thought, ‘Oh, that was a whole new thing and that doesn’t happen all the time,’” she recalls. “And then I have this beautiful relationship with Kathy where it’s totally different, but so sacred to me and so meaningful to me, and has enriched my life as an artist so deeply. And I’m just so grateful for the opportunity.”

The bond has continued as the duo has continued collaborating on MATLOCK’s first season. (The CBS drama is currently in production on its 18th episode.)

“We work really well together, we really do,” Urman says. “We communicate constantly. We really trust each other. And that’s the big thing: When you meet people, you have to build trust. And we built that trust instantly by believing in each other. And so that’s why it’s been such an amazing, rewarding, life-changing experience for me.”

MATLOCK, Series Premiere, Sunday, September 22, 8/7c, CBS

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• MATLOCK Season 1 Cast Photos
• MATLOCK: New Trailer for Kathy Bates-Led CBS Drama Teases Matty Isn’t What Viewers Are Expecting
• MATLOCK on CBS – First Look
• CBS Orders MATLOCK, ELSBETH, and POPPA’S HOUSE

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