Cheers to Kathy Bates. The Oscar-winning veteran returns with CBS’ Matlock Live+Same Day delivered linear viewership numbers we rarely see anymore. The sneak peak premiere of Jennie Snyder Uraman’s reimagining of the Andy Griffin classic, starring Bates as the eponymous lawyer, averaged 7.73 million viewers in time-adjusted Fast National L+SD Nielsen ratings on Sunday.

This was the largest audience CBS recorded for a series premiere outside of the Super Bowl in five and a half years, The code‘s debut on April 9, 2019 after NCIS – The Movie.

While they benefited from a certain Steelers-Chargers halo effect (and free advertising through the jersey of Chargers star Scott Matlock), Matlock did not follow the game directly, it was broadcast after the opening credits, according to the news magazine 60 minutes.

Time-adjusted figures for 60 minutes are not available (CBS primetime has been delayed in some East Coast markets), but preliminary estimates suggest that Matlock built on its 60 minutes Pre-run of around 1 million viewers. This is another great achievement for the newcomer, whose premiere was postponed from last season to this fall due to the strikes in Hollywood.

The big start in the ratings followed strong reviews with Matlock currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The CBS Studios-produced series has also been welcomed by fans, who flooded social media with positive – and shocked – reactions and approved of the pilot episode’s surprising twist, which Urman analyzed in an interview with Deadline.

This is a vindication for CBS and CBS Studios, who supported Urman’s vision of a series with an older lead character and cast the 70-year-old Bates in the title role.

In Canada Matlock The sneak peek premiere was the No. 1 show in terms of total viewers on Sunday, with nearly 1.2 million tuning in.

The first episode of Matlock is currently streaming on Paramount+. CBS reruns are scheduled for October 8 and 10. Original episodes of the series will begin airing October 17 in their regular Thursday 9 p.m. time slot.