In addition to Matlock returning later than usual, the hit CBS series will be going through some surprise shakeups to further the plot.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly at the MPTF NextGen Summer Party on Sunday, May 31, Jason Ritter teased what fans can expect from season 3, saying, “I know that it exists. I know that it’s coming.”
Ritter, 46, who plays Julian, noted that he hasn’t “heard very much about it.”
“I think I’ve heard that there will be a time jump, but who knows how long exactly,” he hinted. “I think we’ll be seeing a lot of character shakeups.”
Matlock isn’t just getting a schedule change — but a time jump as well. “Season 3 will not pick up directly [after the season 2 finale],” creator Jennie Snyder Urman told Deadline. “It’ll be six months to a year, I would say.” Urman also confirmed this in an interview with TVLine, teasing how Matty (Kathy Bates) […]
As Ritter pointed out, Julian’s trajectory would likely change the most after his arrest, sharing, “Certainly for my character, we ended the last season with me in a little bit of trouble. So we’ll see if I’m able to hold on to my law license or if I have to recreate myself.”
Season 3 would also open the door for new faces.
“I know that the team of writers that we have are always so wonderful and they always come up with the best case scenario,” Ritter told Us. “Every time I think I know where something’s going, they surprise me in the best possible way so I just can’t wait to open the gift of season 3 — along with everybody else.”
Jason Ritter and Kathy Bates. Sonja Flemming/CBS
He continued: “No, we don’t have scripts yet. I think we start shooting maybe in September so the writers are taking a good long time to really make sure that they have season 3 right.”
CBS previously announced its schedule in April with viewers noticing some substantial changes. Ghosts, Matlock and NCIS: Sydney received a shakeup by having their premieres moved to 2027 for midseason. They will join the new show Einstein, which is finally premiering in 2027 as well.
Matlock’s time slot will be given to Elsbeth to allow Cupertino to premiere on the same night. NCIS: Sydney, meanwhile, is moving to midseason as NCIS: Origins — which received a shorter episode order — takes over to pair off with NCIS: New York.
“I asked for it [to be pushed] with the network. We had a talk,” creator Jennie Snyder Urman told TV Insider ahead of the second season finale in April. “I just feel like we had so much stuff to think about because we really landed the plane on this, and we really thought that was important because we didn’t want to keep dragging out the same story, and the characters have to get to someplace real emotionally.”
Urman, 50, confirmed that season 2 would wrap up the Wellbrexa story line, which meant a complete “reset” for the series.
“When we took this two-hour finale and really paid a lot of things off, what came with that was I’m going to need time after that to really build the architecture so that we have it for the next seasons,” she teased. “I’m excited about it, but I am also grateful because we needed a little bit of time.”
Urman addressed possible disappointment from viewers, adding, “Sad for audiences, but actually really good for me and the writers because I want us to plot this new mystery and make sure it’s airtight.”
She continued: “We had a lot of pieces going in, so we really had to create this new piece of it. I feel lucky that the network’s giving us time to get it right because I don’t want the quality to drop.”
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