When most people think of “Matlock,” they envision a burly, white-haired Andy Griffith as the titular character, a folksy but clever defense attorney with a Southern drawl who often sported a seersucker suit.

But Jennie Snyder Urman has given Matlock a makeover: Instead of a man, the character is now an older woman who is a superhero of sorts, armed with butterscotch candies and wily tactics that win cases and expose corruption.

The “Jane the Virgin” creator and showrunner had been in search of preexisting series to produce through her company, Sutton St. Production. When she landed on “Matlock” as a title with modern potential, she learned the rights had already been secured by another production company, Cloud Nine, and they were looking for a writer to helm it.

“I did the same thing I did with ‘Jane the Virgin’ — I never say yes or no to anything,” Urman recalled. “I say, ‘I’ll think about it.’ And I take a long walk.” So she did, taking a roughly two-hour stroll near her home. “By the time I finished the walk, I had the pilot from start to end of what this take would be,” she said. “And then I pitched it.”

Her vision — now airing Thursdays on CBS — features Oscar- winning actor Kathy Bates as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a crafty septuagenarian trying to reenter the workforce. But she has an ulterior motive in shrewdly finagling her way into a job at an esteemed Chicago law firm.

Eric Olsen, the actor and founder of Cloud Nine, suggested that Matlock is “like Batman — she goes to her lair,” Urman said. “I hadn’t thought about that at all. But that’s interesting, because where is the older woman superhero? She is. She’s doing it. She’s a complicated character.”

This interview with Urman has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Less than five minutes into the show, you let it be known: This isn’t the “Matlock” you think it is.

A: Yeah, that had to be in the very, very beginning. We had to really explain to the audience what the parameters are of the world that they’re watching. Right away, she is Matlock, but she isn’t Matlock. “Matlock” exists in the world. She knows there’s a TV show, she’s acknowledges it. What we want to do in that moment was put everyone at ease, both in the building and outside of the building. We know what you’re thinking: This is a reboot like you’ve seen before, but it’s not. But we’re not pretending it doesn’t exist. It allowed us to do a bunch of work at once, both character work and show work. I think it’s why I wanted her to say it right away to them — it just puts people at ease. You get that, “Oh, ‘Matlock,’ my grandmother used to like that show.”

Q: The series stars Kathy Bates. Why was she the best person to embody this quasi-revival of the famous fictional character?

A: The levels that Matty has to be operating on all the time — who, but Kathy, can be doing that? — where you understand she is playing folksy, but she’s got a steel spine underneath, and she is going to make you totally love her. Then suddenly, in a flip, you’re going to realize, “Oh, my God, I didn’t understand her at all.” It’s all of those levels that are packed in. Kathy and I talk a lot about lines in the scenes because we try to make our lines do three things at once: give a little bit of character; give a little bit of you think this, but this is happening; and advance the plot. What I love is that, after the pilot, you’re on the inside with her. You understand, “Oh, this interaction I thought was straightforward, it has so many other layers to it.” And Kathy can do that. So, when we talk, in shorthand, I can be like, “her mask drops” and Kathy gets it.

Q: How did you engage with the original series as you set out re-imagining it?

A: I watched a lot of “Matlock.” I wanted to absorb the rhythms, I wanted to absorb the feeling, and I wanted to absorb what the expectations would be. I’ve seen it before, but this was a different kind of rewatch, so that I would know, when we’re doing these small moments, if we were referring to the original or not.

Q: What struck you about the rhythm of the original? There is much to admire about the simplicity and unhurried nature of that storytelling.

A: It really takes time setting stories in a way that we can’t now. They really went into a lot of worlds and were really specific about it. They have so much more time. You can do just these long table- setting scenes, which we can’t. Every sort of ounce of our real estate has to be used in three different ways at once. Then, also, just coming to that courtroom at the end, where he’s always gonna get the “I gotcha” moment — there’s something really comforting about that, too, knowing that he’s gonna get the bad guy and that the truth is gonna be exposed.

I understand why we watch it. We want to feel the rhythms. We want to feel that things work out the way they’re supposed to. He’s funny. I wanted all those pieces where you can have humor, you can have a character who is beloved, everyone knows them, and they’re always going to give you what you expected. Our Matlock was going to trade on the familiarity of the original, both in terms of tone for the show and for the viewers, and then inside the world too; that she was going to be that folksy, knowable person who you didn’t have to fear because she was going to help you out.

Q: Nostalgia is big in Hollywood. You’ve worked on adaptations or reboots before, whether “Jane the Virgin” or “Charmed.” How has your outlook on it evolved?

A: For me, it’s project by project. If it’s interesting enough, and if it feels like there’s a need, then I’m interested in it. And if there’s a chance to do something different than what was originally done. That’s my philosophy. You’re always surprised by where the creative spark comes from.

I was surprised during that walk that suddenly this was the show that I was going to be 100% writing. I’ve written things in between “Jane” and “Matlock” that didn’t get made. It’s a hard business, and it’s hard no matter where you are, and it’s hard no matter what you’re doing. I have the original piece that I am, like, “Now, are you ready? Now, are you ready?” But it didn’t get made. And it’s not that I would write something just to get it made, because this job is too hard. It’s too hard to do it if you don’t have the real creative spark, inspiration and passion.