It's still very early in Matlock season 2's run, but I'm officially worried about it. Spearheaded by Kathy Bates, CBS's quasi-reboot of Andy Griffth's beloved classic show was initially met with skepticism when it was first confirmed. While revivals have been the Hollywood norm in the last decade, it's also no secret that there's growing fatigue over it, especially since a substantial number of such projects usually flops. That said, Matlock season 1's game-changing twist effectively squashed any of those doubts, setting it up to be one of the most successful shows of 2024.
Because of this, Matlock was one of the most anticipated shows coming into the 2025-2026 TV season. It helped that the season 1 finale featured some major revelations about its overarching storylines, including the mystery about the Wellbrexa documents and the identity of Alfie's father. If anything, the way the writers ended Matlock's debut year set it up for a more interesting season 2. Unfortunately, several weeks in, new data reveals a disappointing status for the CBS series.
Matlock Dropped From The Top Most Watched List For The First Time
When Matlock season 2 premiered in early October 2025, it garnered 6.58 million viewers, which is impressive. By episode 2, that dropped to 4.20 million — the lowest it has ever been since its debut in 2024. It has stayed in that range since then. Despite the sharp decline in viewership, Bates' show continued to rank as one of the most-watched network shows week after week, but that changed in episode 6.
Per Matt's Inside Line, referring to Nielsen's data, "Harm Reduction" failed to make it to the top 10 most-watched shows for the week of November 10-16. This marks the first time for the show. Considering that it's a fairly new series, not to mention comparing it to its numbers last year, this is a major decline in terms of live and same-day viewers, and is something to keep an eye on. Interestingly, competition doesn't seem to be that much of a factor here, since 9-1-1: Nashville on ABC isn't bringing significantly more viewers than Doctor Odyssey.
What makes this more disappointing is that "Harm Reduction" is one of the better episodes of the show in general. It had a compelling case, with Matty and Olympia tackling an issue between nuns who are trying to help struggling people and the community that their church belongs to. Matlock season 2, episode 6 also featured interesting developments for its overarching plots, particularly the efforts to take down Senior.
Can Matlock's Ratings Drop Result In Its Cancelation?
The question now is how CBS sees this ratings drop for Matlock. In terms of ratings in general, the show is still a hit — granted that it isn't as big as before, but an average of 4+ million viewers a week remains solid in the greater scheme of things. That said, the network has also pulled the plug on other popular shows in the past, such as FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, NCIS: Hawai'i, and Blue Bloods. Cost is also an important factor when deciding about these things.
A few things could offset Matlock season 2's ratings decline, however. Firstly, it's critically-acclaimed, with Bates getting nominated for the 2025 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. While the ratings don't accurately reflect it, Matlock continues to come up with solid storytelling. Secondly, Matlock might still be doing great numbers for Paramount+, which is where its streaming post-broadcast. That said, its future will still boil down to CBS's plan for its programming moving forward.
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