‘Matlock’ Star Reveals Hilarious Way Kathy Bates Announced Series Renewal

Kathy Bates as Matty and Skye P. Marshall as Olympia in 'Matlock' Season 1 Episode 6 - 'Sixteen Steps'
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Sonja Flemming / CBS

Skye P. Marshall found out on her birthday that Matlock was renewed for a second season, and she heard it straight from Kathy Bates as a birthday present. The actor tells TV Insider that she spilled the renewal beans to a crowd of senior women outside of a Broadway theater in Manhattan out of sheer excitement during this video call with Bates and showrunner/creator Jennie Snyder Urman. When she screamed the news, the women cheered and said, “I love Matlock!” Marshall reveals. Luckily, the news was announced to the world the very next day, and those women turned out to be trustworthy protectors of spoilers. Marshall shares the full story of how she learned about Matlock‘s “incredible” renewal with TV Insider.

Matlock‘s Season 2 pickup was announced on October 22. Only two episodes had aired on CBS by then, leaving the cast and creators stunned and delighted by the early renewal, Marshall tells TV Insider. Snyder Urman and star/executive producer Bates called Marshall together to share the happy news on her birthday, October 21, but Marshall’s excited yells drowned out their comments about keeping the news a secret. Oops!

“You’re the first person I’m going to share this with. True story: I was in Times Square with my girlfriend, who actually is the one who helped me with the audition for Matlock,” Marshall starts off. “She and I were heading to a Broadway play to see Left on Tenth, and I’m walking down and there’s the long line outside of the theater full of people over 65 because, you know, it’s Left on Tenth. I get the call and it’s on my birthday, my actual birthday. So I’m like, oh, they’re calling to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ because I’m the only cast member that didn’t have a birthday while filming. This is cool. So they called me and they’re just like, oh, happy birthday! And then Jennie Snyder Urman says, ‘Kathy has a birthday gift for you.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, what do you got for me? You already sent me these beautiful flowers!’ And she’s like, ‘We got picked up for a Season 2.'”

“I said, what?! And I’m screaming at the top of my lungs because I was not expecting this after two episodes,” Marshall goes on. “Then all these cute senior dolls who are in line are like, ‘What are you celebrating, love?!’ And then Jennie is saying to me on the Zoom, ‘Skye, but you can’t say anything! It’ll be publicly announced tomorrow.’ But I’m not hearing that because I’m still screaming. So I turned to this long line of senior citizens, and I’m like, ‘My show Matlock got picked up for Season 2!’ And they’re like, ‘Oh my God, I love Matlock!’ And Jennie and Kathy are like, ‘Skye, no, no! You’re not supposed to say anything!’ And then I’m like, what? And they’re like, ‘You’re not supposed to say anything!'”

Marshall jokes that there was no other way she could’ve reacted. The birthday gift was too great.

“I was like, ‘Well, what do you expect me to do? You clearly saw I was in Times Square and New York City is not a safe space for public emotions, guys! They want to know what happened!'” she teases. “Next thing you know, this one woman’s like, ‘Is that Jennie? I know Jennie! Hi, Jennie!’ And I’m like, what is happening? The whole cast has their hands on their forehead. Like, oh my gosh, Skye just made a mess of this. And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry! You guys, they’re not going to say anything.’ Like I know these women, right? Like 40 of them. But that was a hilarious moment for me, and they all had a laugh. And that’s how I found out.”

Marshall was delighted to be surrounded by these supportive strangers, ones who luckily were not likely to be active on social media to reveal the news before CBS could.

“It was amazing. And they all gave me that mom energy that I needed in that moment,” Marshall recalls. “They were like, ‘We’re so proud of you, love.’ And I was like, ‘Aw, thank you.’ And they were hugging me. It was just the sweetest thing that if my mom was there, it would’ve been her times like 15.”

That’s a birthday she certainly won’t forget! The call is indicative of the close bond Marshall has formed with Bates and Snyder Urman as well, a bond that certainly shows on screen.

Marshall’s Olympia and Bates’ Matty got closer in the November 7 episode of Matlock, which showed them helping a group of imprisoned women win a class-action lawsuit against a jail that allowed them to be abused by prison guards. Next week is a major episode for Olympia and her ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), one that will answer questions about their divorce and bring Olympia and Matty closer together.

Sit back and relax with CBS’ Matlock reimagining. It’s going to be around for a while.

Matlock, Thursdays, 9/8c, CBS