Kathy Bates’ Matlock achieved impressive ratings upon its debut, rivaling CBS’s post-Superbowl premiere ratings of recent years.

The legal drama drew 7.73 million viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day numbers. Sunday’s premiere is CBS’ most-watched non-Superbowl premiere in over five years, since the April 2019 debut of “The Code,” which followed “NCIS.”

In Canada, the episode was the most watched show in terms of total viewers, with nearly 1.2 million viewers.

After debuting its first episode as a preview on Sunday, “Matlock” returns to its regularly scheduled night and time on Thursday, October 17 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the pilot episode of “Matlock,” Bates was introduced as Madeline Matlock, who fought her way into a job at the prestigious law firm Jacobson Moore through her humble demeanor.

As she fights for a place in the firm and works under chief counsel Olympia (Skye P. Marshall), Matty poses as a down-on-her-luck former lawyer who must return to work to care for her grandson after the death of her daughter. But the final moments of the first episode reveal that Matty is anything but predictable and has a secret ulterior motive.

“The challenge I set myself as a writer on ‘Matlock’ was to create a character who is constantly telling others and the audience that they are underestimating her,” series creator Jennie Snyder Urman told TheWrap. “(But) if you underestimate her, you risk that. There’s more going on with her than you think.”

In addition to Bates and Marshall, “Matlock” stars Jason Ritter as Julian, who is both Olympia’s ex-husband and the son of the company’s CEO, as well as David Del Rio and Leah Lewis, who play the firm’s younger partners, Billy and Sarah.

“Matlock” releases episode 2 on Thursday, October 17. Episodes can also be streamed on Paramount+.

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