Season 2 of Matlock was off to a strong start before an investigation into David Del Rio's alleged sexual assault of costar Leah Lewis led to an offscreen firing. CBS introduced a gender-swapped - and very plot different - version of the original Matlock series with Kathy Bates at the helm. Matlock followed a fictional lawyer hoping to get hired at a prestigious law firm - and she just happened to share the same last name as the iconic Matlock series from the '80s. The season premiere, however, revealed that Matty's (Bates) was all an act.