<p id=”par-1_67″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/kathy-bates-couldnt-hide-confusion-after-losing-oscar-catherine-zeta-jones.html/”>Kathy Bates </a>has had an illustrious and decorated career. With over 100 acting credits to her name, Bates has done just about everything there is to do in the acting world. Now, she’s ready to retire, but not just yet. Bates’ latest role in the remake of <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/cbs/?swcfpc=1″><em>Matlock</em> </a>is set to be her last. The script actually came across her desk after she had decided to retire.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-kathy-bates-is-retiring-after-matlock-she-almost-retired-before-the-series-ever-happened”>Kathy Bates is retiring after ‘Matlock’; she almost retired before the series ever happened</h2>
<p id=”par-2_42″>Kathy Bates <span style=”margin: 0px; padding: 0px;”>will appear in <em>Matlock</em> as Madeline Matlock. The series will premiere on CBS in late September. While Kathy Bates is committed to seeing the series through, she’s sure this will be her last role. When the series is over, she’ll officially retire</span>.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Kathy-Bates.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Kathy Bates attends a celebration of the announcement of CBS’s new Fall schedule at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, May 2, 2024″ class=”wp-image-3710916″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Kathy Bates | Michael Tran / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-3_57″>Bates told <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/08/arts/television/matlock-kathy-bates.html” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The New York Times</a> that Matlock almost didn’t happen either. The <em>Misery</em> star revealed she was ready to retire after a less-than-stellar experience on a movie set. She even told her agent she was done. They did not agree. Instead, they sent a script a few weeks after she said she was ready to retire.</p>
<p id=”par-4_71″>The idea of the show didn’t move Bates initially, she said. She wasn’t looking for anything in the acting world, but she certainly wasn’t seeking a procedural reboot of a show she was never particularly fond of. Still, she read the script. In the end, Bates agreed to take on <em>Matlock </em>because the script called to her. She insists that after the series is over, she won’t be entertaining anything else.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio” id=”emb-2″><div class=”wp-block-embed__wrapper”>
<iframe title=”Matlock (CBS) Trailer HD – Kathy Bates series” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/-StZwoYw2fg?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div></figure>
<p id=”par-5_60″>Bates didn’t reveal what role had her ready to retire before <em>Matlock</em> came along. Bates has appeared in too many movies in the last couple of years to safely predict which movie set had her ready to call it a day. She appeared in two films in 2023 and three in 2024, including <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/judy-blumes-classic-ya-novel-are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret-is-coming-to-the-big-screen.html/”><em>Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret</em>.</a></p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-in-some-ways-matlock-was-andy-griffith-s-final-role-too”>In some ways, ‘Matlock’ was Andy Griffith’s final role, too</h2>
<p id=”par-6_86″>Bates has made it clear that <em>Matlock</em> will be her final role. If Bates does retire at the end of the series, she’ll have something in common with the actor who starred in the original <em>Matlock, </em>well, sort of. While Andy Griffith never came out and revealed the show would be his last, it was his last starring role in a TV series. Andy Griffith was already a massive star when <em>Matlock</em> came across his desk. He signed on and spent a decade <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/matlock-real-life-lawyers-andy-griffiths-character-based.html/”>portraying Ben Matlock.</a></p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-large” id=”emb-3″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”2560″ height=”2036″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=1024&h=814&strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”Actor Andy Griffith wears his trademark gray suit in the role of attorney Ben Matlock on the legal drama ‘Matlock.'” class=”wp-image-3028864″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=629&h=500 629w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=768&h=611 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=1024&h=814 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=1536&h=1222 1536w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=2048&h=1629 2048w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=1200&h=954 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=75&h=60 75w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Andy-Griffith-Matlock-scaled.jpg?w=150&h=119 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Actor Andy Griffith in the role of criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock on ‘Matlock’ | NBCU Photo Bank</figcaption></figure>
<div class=”related-article related-article–simple”>
<span class=”related-article-flag”>Related</span>
<p class=”related-article__title”>
<a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/kathy-bates-couldnt-hide-confusion-after-losing-oscar-catherine-zeta-jones.html/”>
Kathy Bates Couldn’t Hide Her Confusion After Losing the Oscar to Catherine Zeta-Jones </a>
</p>
</div>
<p id=”par-7_76″>After the series wrapped in 1995, Griffith went on to appear in TV movies, and he took on guest roles in several shows. He also lent his voice to several projects. Still, he did not star in another TV series again. Griffith’s final acting credit came in 2009. He portrayed Grandpa Joe in <em>Play the Game</em>. The movie also starred Marla Sokoloff, Paul Campbell, <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/everybody-loves-raymond-doris-roberts-once-best-part-being-classic-sitcom.html/”>Doris Roberts</a>, and Liz Sheridan. Griffith died in 2012. He was 86.</p>