Jason Ritter’s Wife Melanie Lynskey Jokes About Having to Watch Matlock

Jason Ritter’s wife, Melanie Lynskey, is excited to keep watching him on Matlock now that the show was renewed — and not just because she has to support her husband’s work.

Lynskey, 47, took to X on Tuesday, October 22, to share the news that the hit CBS procedural was picked up for season 2 after only airing two episodes so far.

“So proud of my husband! This show is SO GOOD,” Lynskey wrote. “Jason is amazing on it, and Kathy Bates continues to be the pinnacle of greatness and everything I hope to be as an actor. Skye P Marshall is a superstar.”

The actress found a way to poke fun at Ritter, 44, adding, “I would watch this even if it wasn’t my marital obligation.”

Matlock, which premiered in September, follows a wealthy retired lawyer named Madeline Kingston (Kathy Bates) who pretends to be a poor widower named Matty Matlock to get a job at a firm. As it turns out, Matty thinks someone at the company is complicit in the opioid epidemic that resulted in her daughter’s death.

Ritter plays Julian, who is a senior partner at Jacobson & Moore. He is married to Skye P. Marshall‘s character, Olympia, who filed for divorce from Julian before the events in the pilot.

Before joining the cast of CBS’ newest hit, Ritter shared the screen with Lynskey on multiple occasions. The couple met while filming The Big Ask in 2013 and later collaborated on projects such as We’ll Never Have Paris and The Intervention. Ritter also scored cameo roles in Lynskey’s shows Candy, The Last of Us and Yellowjackets.

“We’ve worked together a few times and it’s always been really fun, but I mean, I’ll do anything with him. He’s so talented,” Lynskey exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2023. “I love his face. I love looking at his face.”

Lynskey, who welcomed a daughter with Ritter in 2018, joked that there were no more plans for them to work together.

“No, that’s it. Thank you!” she quipped. “He can’t be the favorite! I just don’t want the crew to like him more. That was my only issue was that everybody — nobody could stop talking about how kind he was and wonderful and easygoing. And at a certain point, I was like, ‘I got it.’ Yeah, I got it. He’s great. He’s the best.”

Ritter’s appearance on Yellowjackets has remained a mystery after it didn’t air during season 2. After the series was renewed for a third season, Entertainment Tonight reported that Ritter would still join Yellowjackets in the future.

“It was great. But I came back to work and everybody was like, ‘Your husband’s the nicest person in the world. He’s our favorite,’” Lynskey recalled to Us. “And I think, previously, I felt like I was some people’s favorite.”

Lynskey added: “Everyone was like, ‘We still love you.’ And I was like, ‘I know he’s nicer. He’s nicer than me. He’s easier to be around. He never complains.’ So he became the new favorite. It was hard for me to give up the title, but I was also happy.”

New episodes of Matlock air on CBS Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.