Kathy Bates Receives Major Golden Globe Nomination for ‘Matlock’

Nominations for the 82^nd annual Golden Globe Awards have been announced, and Kathy Bates is up for a major award for Matlock. The actress has been nominated for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama for her role as Madeline Matlock on the freshman CBS series. Bates is up against Emma D’Arcy, Maya Erskine, Keira Knightley, Kerri Russell and Anna Sawai.

After being pulled from the 2023-24 schedule because of the strikes, Matlock finally premiered on Sept. 22 with a sneak peek and officially made its debut on Oct. 17. Just a few days later, CBS gave Matlock an early Season 2 renewal after the premiere gave the network a record-high in five years for a non-Super Bowl premiere. A reimagined version of the classic Andy Griffith legal drama, Matlock was “Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes with a 100% average Tomatometer score, so Bates’ nomination is not so surprising.

The nomination also comes after Bates shared that she was planning to retire after Matlock but was still hoping for many seasons to come for the series. Between the renewal and the Golden Globes, it seems like Bates will be busy for years to come with Matlock. That’s the hope, anyway. Even though she is up against some pretty tough competition, it’s nothing she can’t handle. Including this year, Bates has been nominated for the Golden Globes nine times. She won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for Misery in 1990 and again in 1996 for Best Supporting Actress – Television for The Late Shift.

Along with Bates, Matlock also stars Skye P. Marshall, Jason Ritter, David Del Rio, and Leah Lewis. The show centers on retired lawyer Madeline “Matty Matlock” Kingston, who returns to practice seeking justice for the death of her daughter, Ellie, in the opioid epidemic. Jennie Snyder Urman developed the series, which is inspired by the original Matlock. While the two shows are not directly related to one another, there was a fun reference to Andy Griffith’s show in the series premiere.

The 82^nd Golden Globe Awards will air live on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. Fans will soon find out if Kathy Bates will add another Golden Globe to her collection. Meanwhile, the Matlock fall finale airs tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.