Matlock’s Been Renewed, But There’s Some Good And Bad News For Fans Ahead Of Season 3

Kathy Bates as Maddie Matlock holding a box of files in Matlock. — (Image credit: Michael Yarish/CBS)

Since Matlock began, its primary conflict has revolved around the Wellbrexa story. While we’ve known that Senior was the big bad behind it for a while, it's also continued to provide its fair share of twists and turns throughout Seasons 1 and 2. Now that this story that drove Matty to Jacobson and Moore in the first place is coming to a close, there’s both good news and bad news tied to it and the CBS series' Season 3 renewal.

The Good News: Matlock Will Wrap Up The Wellbrexa Story

So, here’s the good news: Matlock has been renewed for Season 3, and it will come back. Adding to that great news: We’ll get a fresh and new mystery. That’s because the Wellbrexa plot will be all wrapped up by the end of Season 2’s finale.

The finale will air on Thursday, April 23, at 9 p.m. ET (you can stream it the next day with a Paramount+ subscription), and according to the episode's logline, the team “confronts an unexpected final hurdle they need to overcome to bring Senior to justice for his role in the Wellbrexa cover up.” That means the loose ends with this situation that’s driven the show will be tied up on the 2026 TV schedule.

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However, while that’s wonderful, there is some not-so-great news that came with it.

The Bad News: We’re Going To Have To Wait A While For Matlock’s Return

Well, I gave you the good news first, so now it’s time for the bad. However, it’s also not terrible news. So, let me just say it: We’re going to have to wait a while for Season 3 of Matlock, because it will not return until the mid-season. Explaining why this wait is happening, executive producer Jennie Snyder Urman told TV Insider:

We really, 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. I’m excited about it, but I am also grateful because we needed a little bit of time.

I do see what she’s saying. The first two seasons of Matlock were built around Wellbrexa. So, big changes have to happen in order for the show to move forward. That means the writers need to craft a new mystery, and they need time to do that (and do it well). That perfectly explains why Urman asked for Season 3 to be delayed to the mid-season, as she stated:

I asked for it with the network. We had a talk. 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.

Honestly, I get this. Yes, I’m bummed that Matlock won’t be back until 2027. However, it’s great that when it does return, it will hopefully do so with a bang. Having until next year rather than just the summer to figure out how to proceed will hopefully help. So, that time will be worth it for both them and us.

I’ll be the first to admit, the wait will be hard. However, as they say, patience is a virtue, and hopefully it will pay off like the Wellbrexa storyline when Matlock returns for Season 3.

Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.

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