It’s ironic that a show about a woman trying to get revenge for her daughter’s opioid overdose death is so addicting, but here we are.
Kathy Bates’ Matlock is one of the 2024 season’s most popular new shows, and with good reason. People love her undercover mission, raw talent, and the twists in every episode.
If you love this show, there are a number of other legal series you have to check out, going all the way back to the late 1980s.
The Original Matlock (1986 – 1995)
The original Matlock is very different from Kathy Bates’ version, but if you haven’t seen the ’80s version in a while, you’ll probably enjoy it more now that you can compare it with our Matlock.
Andy Griffith’s Matlock could arguably be seen as a reboot of Perry Mason, or at least based on it. Like the legendary Raymond Burr character, Ben Matlock was a defense attorney who put his energy into defending innocent clients and often got the guilty party to confess on the stand.
It was part of the Golden Age of cozy mysteries when lighthearted shows featuring non-professional sleuths were popular. Every week, someone was falsely accused of murder, and Matlock came to the rescue.
Of course, Kathy Bates’ Madeline Kingston is a fan, which is why she took the pseudonym Matlock. Watching the original can give you additional insight into why she chose Ben Matlock as her alter ego.
Like Madeline, Ben Matlock was a soft-spoken older person from the Deep South. In his case, it was specified that he practices in Atlanta, Georgia.
For both of them, that gentle Southern charm is a facade that allows people to think they are too ignorant to catch on to lies and manipulation.
Leaning into stereotypes about Southerners helps both of them gain the suspects’ trust and gather the information they need to prove their case against the real villain.
Watch The Original Matlock Online
L.A. Law (1986 – 1994)
L.A. Law is the definitive lawyer show of the 1980s, and without it, the genre probably wouldn’t have taken off.
This classic legal drama is far more fast-paced, and the cast is younger. There’s even a young Jimmy Smits. If his presence seems to doom shows to being one-season wonders now, he was once a verifiable TV star.
L.A. Law offers lots of courtroom drama similar to the cases Olympia tries every week on Matlock, and some of them are heartbreaking cases about controversial topics, such as the case of a gay man with AIDS who killed his lover out of mercy.
If you enjoy the courtroom aspect of Matlock, you’ll love the cases on L.A. Law.
There is also plenty of personal drama reminiscent of what Madeline is learning about her co-workers’ lives as she investigates the cover-up at Jacobson and Moore.
Watch L.A Law Online
The Practice (1997 – 2004)
The Practice is one of the most character-centered legal dramas in television history.
This classic lawyer drama focuses on the professional and personal lives of the lawyers at Donnell and Associates. The firm is led by Bobby Donnell (Dylan McDermott), who often bends the rules to get clients out of trouble.
This is the kind of law firm that could easily do the things that Jacobson and Moore does, except Bobby’s associates talk him out of his worst impulses.
The courtroom battles are often secondary to personal drama, but this show has a fair number of quirky judges, making the legal stories highly entertaining.
When The Practice ended, it was spun off into Boston Legal, which will also appeal to Matlock fans because of its strong characters, strange cases, and courtroom battles.
Watch The Practice Online
Boston Legal (2004-2008)
Boston Legal was a sequel series to The Practice starring James Spader and William Shatner.
Shatner’s Denny Crane was a self-described loose cannon who used his advanced age and early signs of cognitive decline to get away with saying and doing outlandish things.
This gives him something in common with Madeline, as he also uses people’s perception of his age against them.
Spader’s Alan Shore also used ethically questionable methods to win cases as he had also done on The Practice Season 8.
Boston Legal is one of the most critically acclaimed legal dramas in television history. While the characters were morally questionable, their work behind the bench was some of the best.
Madeline would likely love to expose a firm like this, but while she’d be aghast at the partners’ antics, she’d be sucked in by their dedication to the law.
Watch Boston Legal Online
The Good Wife (2009 – 2016)
If you haven’t seen The Good Wife yet, you need to check it out.
It’s sad to think that an early 2000s show is now old enough to be considered a classic lawyer drama.
Nevertheless, it is worth watching if you haven’t already. This show is the first that comes to mind when I think of Matlock.
Like the Kathy Bates drama, The Good Wife is about a lot more than the cases of the week.
There are ethical dilemmas, political maneuvering, and certain lawyers who only care about how much money they can make.
Alicia Flores of The Good Wife tries to balance work and family issues, which is another thing she has in common with Madeline. The firm’s vast array of individuality assures that there is plenty of subterfuge involved in maintaining her high ideals.
The series was so popular that it spawned two spinoffs. The Good Fight is similar to The Good Wife and Matlock, while Elsbeth comes full circle by being a lighthearted mystery like the original Matlock.
Watch The Good Wife Online
Suits (2011-2019)
Suits is like Matlock from the point of view of the people who engineered the coverup of documents at Jacobson and Moore.
The premise is that Mike Ross is not actually a lawyer. He’s a college dropout whose photographic memory allows him to act like a lawyer, a secret that drives the series’ narrative.
Sometimes, it seems like the firm could go extinct from levels of corruption, making his license the least of their concerns. Mike and his partner win cases despite and because Mike is not actually licensed, which is something never seen before on TV.
Although Suits has plenty of courtroom drama, the real tension comes from the awareness that Mike will get caught sooner or later. Each close call is nerve-wracking for the audience.
(Yes, he’s so good that we want him to keep getting away with practicing law without a license!)
Watch Suits Online
Harry’s Law (2011-2012)
If you’re looking for a classic lawyer drama similar to the one starring Kathy Bates, why not try another of her shows?
Harry’s Law stars Bates as a patent lawyer who is out of work after she is fired from her job.
Bates joins forces with several other people she encounters, and they decide to open a law firm in an old shoe store.
Sadly, the show only lasted two seasons, but it would be interesting to rewatch it to compare Bates’s performance as Harry to her performance as Matlock.
While it’s not currently available on streaming or currently in print on DVD, you can find it boxed sets on eBay quite easily.
Over to you, Matlock fanatics.
Which classic lawyer drama would you recommend to your fellow Matlock fans? Have you seen any of the ones on this list?
Hit the comments and let us know!
Matlock airs on CBS on Thursdays at 9/8c and on Paramount+ on Fridays.
Watch Matlock Online