When Does ‘Matlock’ Season 3 Premiere?

Matlock Season 3 is official. The Kathy Bates drama was one of 10 shows renewed by CBS on January 22, 2026. Other renewals included Tracker, Elsbeth, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and more, but the CBS fall 2026 schedule announcement in April revealed a big change for Matlock: It’s not premiering until midway through the 2026-2027 TV schedule.

Beau Bridges gave TV Insider a filming update on Matlock Season 3 in October, implying that filming has begun. We connected with the actor for his guest-star appearance on ABC’s R.J. Decker Season 2.

“I’m going to work on Matlock in December,” Bridges said. “They just started just now, so the timing worked out for me to be able to do R.J. as well.”

Here’s everything we know about Matlock‘s future, including when you can reasonably expect it to premiere.

Is Matlock renewed for Season 3?

Michael Yarish / CBS

Yes, Matlock will come back for Season 3, CBS announced on January 22.

When does Matlock Season 3 premiere?

Matlock Season 3 will premiere in the 2026-2027 broadcast season on CBS, but this time, it’s getting a midseason premiere. That means that Matlock Season 3 will premiere in early 2027, which could be any time between January to March. But keep your eyes peeled for an official premiere date announcement when CBS shares its 2027 midseason schedule.

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Matlock creator Jennie Snyder Urman told TV Insider that she requested the change to a midseason release.

“I asked for it with the network. We had a talk,” Urman said. “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. So 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.”

Who’s in the Matlock Season 3 cast?

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An official cast list has not been announced, but expect series leads Bates and Skye P. Marshall to return. Matlock also stars Jason Ritter, Leah Lewis, Sam Anderson, Aaron D. Harris, and Bridges, with recurring guest stars Justina Machado and Niko Nicotera.

Patricia Belcher will be back as Mrs. Belvin in Season 3 in an expanded role, Urman told TV Insider in our Matlock Season 2 finale interview. Urman also said that the Jane the Virgin alums who appeared in Season 2 — Yael Grobglas, Gina Rodriguez, Yara Martinez, Bridget Regan, and Machado — could all return in Season 3.

Ritter’s wife, Melanie Lynskey, also made a surprise appearance earlier in Season 2 and returned in the penultimate episode. Marshall’s husband, Edwin Hodge, made his Matlock debut later in Season 2 and could return as a love interest for Olympia in Season 3.

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