Okay, but then why even call it Matlock? The brand is either worth enough to use, or not worth enough that people will even care. So you might as well set it in the same universe or a version of the same universe. You don't even have to worry about the back story and character exposition, because none of that stuff even matters, because as you point out, nobody really remembers. Sure, some diehard fans are going to complain, but clearly that's not something the entertainment industry cares about anymore.Here's the problem: Matlock's original run was 30-40 years ago, and it appealed to an over-50 audience even then. Yeah, some younger people have seen it in re-runs, but if you built it on the back of the original, the audience that would get it without a ton of backstory and character expositon would be over 80.
Better to start fresh, acknowledge the name (because even most of those who haven't seen the original have heard about it), and move on.