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Matlock
Ben Matlock in Court.
Format	Crime Drama
Created by	Dean Hargrove
Starring	Andy Griffith Nancy Stafford Clarence Gilyard Kene Holliday Linda Purl Julie Sommars Daniel Roebuck Brynn Thayer David Froman Richard Newton more...
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	216 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	The Fred Silverman Company Dean Hargrove Productions The Matlock Company
Associate Producer(s)	Viacom
Running time	45 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC (1986-1992) ABC (1992-1995) CBS (1995-1996)
Original run	September 23, 1986 – May 28, 1996
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Matlock was a long-running American television legal drama. The show ran from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, which bumped the long-running series The A-Team to Friday nights, then on November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.

The format of the show was similar to that of Perry Mason, with Matlock figuring out who the murderer was and then confronting him or her in a dramatic courtroom scene near the end. One difference, however, was that whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury.

Coincidentally, some Perry Mason alum appeared on the drama like R. G. Armstrong, Stacy Keach, Sr. etc.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Cast 2 Notable guest stars 3 A roster of guest stars 4 Spinoffs 5 Episodes 6 Trivia 7 Matlock in popular culture 8 References 9 See also 10 External links

The show centered on widower Benjamin L. "Ben" Matlock (Andy Griffith) is a renowned, folksy, popular yet cantankerous defense attorney who is worth every penny of his $100,000 fee. He studied law at Harvard, based his law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived in a modest farmhouse in some neighboring suburb. He is known to visit the scene of the crime to discover clues otherwise overlooked and come up with viable, alternative theories of the crime in question (usually murder). Matlock also has conspicuously finicky fashion sense; he generally appeared in court wearing a trademark light gray suit and, over the nine seasons, was seen behind the wheel of three generations of the Ford Crown Victoria— always an all-gray model (it is interesting to note that Andy Griffith always drove Ford products in his 1960's show, The Andy Griffith Show, as with Matlock). Some Mayberry alum had guest shots on the drama: Don Knotts, Anita Corsaut and Arlene Golonka.

Matlock was noted for his thrift and a fondness for hot dogs. (After the series ended, his penchant for hot dogs was explained in the episode Murder Two of the television show Diagnosis: Murder. In it, Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan for recommending a disastrous investment in 8-track cartridges. Matlock subsequently invested (and lost) his savings of $5000, while he survived by wearing cheap suits and living on hot dogs.)

Matlock's thriftiness, hot dogs, and the demands he placed upon his investigators were often points of comic relief in the series. Andy Griffith's prior career as a comic often showed through in things that Matlock did or said.

Over the years, there were many changes. When the show began, Ben had a law firm called Matlock & Matlock. Ben shared his caseload with his partners, which included a relative, his younger, smiling daughter, Charlene Matlock (Lori Lethin later Linda Purl) and private investigator Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday), a black market whiz whom Matlock lured away from his work. The following season, Charlene left Atlanta to start her own practice in Philadelphia; the elder Matlock filled the void with Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford), a young, attractive legal partner who tried her hand in playing baseball after she majored in physical education, but detested it or might've done better. She met him on his trip to England and he immediately hired her on the spot.

Usually, no prosecutor would compete with Ben except Julie March (Julie Sommars) a redheaded, feisty district attorney, and good friend of Ben's, who left Nebraska to work for the D.A.'s office in Georgia. Throughout the series run, Sommars is one of the actors who appeared in fewer episodes than any other actor.

After Tyler quit (Kene Holliday left the series due to his legal problems with drugs/alcohol, which led to his arrest), Matlock was approached by a young North Carolina sherrif's deputy Conrad McMasters (Clarence Gilyard), to become his new private investigator. Both Matlock & McMasters had a lot in common --- from playing music to a fondness for camping. Proven to be a serious detective, he also falls in love with various girlfriends. He also had the knack of riding horses as being the cowboy he was (it is also interesting that Gilyard himself is a real-life cowboy), when attending rodeo shows.

At the end of the sixth season, Matlock's older divorced daughter Leanne MacIntyre (Brynn Thayer), moved from Philadelphia (where Charlene works as a lawyer) back to Atlanta, giving her the chance to become an equal partner of her father, hence, Michelle gave the job away to her and left (Nancy Stafford left the series when she got married before production moved to North Carolina). The next season, a law school graduate Cliff Lewis (Daniel Roebuck), came to Matlock in hopes of working for him, complements of his father Billy Lewis, who happened to be Ben's old friend. After Conrad left, (Clarence Gilyard already left the show to star in Walker, Texas Ranger for CBS) Lewis became a partner to Matlock, while Matlock hired a new private investigator Jerri Stone (Carol Huston) to help out in each of the cases.

His age increasing, Griffith appeared less and less on the show when it departed NBC for ABC. The Perry Mason-style whodunit format was also adjusted to a more Columbo-style howcatchem format.

Although never officially confirmed, a widespread rumor suggests that the character of Ben Matlock was largely based on well-known Atlanta attorney Bobby Lee Cook. Cook, whose practice also includes representation of plaintiffs for personal injuries, is frequently called the dean of Georgia criminal defense attorneys.

• Andy Griffith - Ben Matlock - A prominent attorney who's fond of wearing gray suits and wins many cases with his clients
• Linda Purl - Charlene Matlock - Matlock's younger daughter who became a partner to her father before she moved to Philadelphia to set up her law practice (1986-1987)
• Kene Holliday - Tyler Hudson - Matlock's first private investigator who was a black market whiz (1986-1989; 1994-1996)
• Kari Lizer - Cassie Phillips - Matlock's younger partner (1987-1988)
• Nancy Stafford - Michelle Thomas - A former baseball player who's became an equal partner to Matlock (1988-1992)
• Julie Sommars - Julie March - A district attorney who became a good friend to Ben Matlock (1987-1992)
• Clarence Gilyard - Conrad McMasters - Matlock's second private investigator who was a former deputy sheriff (1989-1993)
• Brynn Thayer - Leanne MacIntyre - Matlock's older daughter who worked for her father after Michelle left (1992-1994)
• Daniel Roebuck - Cliff Lewis - Matlock's partner and private investigator who graduated from law school. He's also the son of Ben's nemesis, Billy Lewis (1992-1994)
• Carol Huston - Jerri Stone - Matlock's last private investigator (1994-1996)

• Don Knotts - Griffith's old partner in comedy Don Knotts first appeared in a 1988 episode. Titled "The Lemon", Knotts played Ben's new neighbor Les "Ace" Calhoun, a "King of Plastic" who is framed for the murder of the "cowboy" car salesman who talked him into buying a car that later breaks down. In the beginning of the show when he and Ben meet for the first time, he calls Ben "Benge", a reference to their old days in The Andy Griffith Show when Knotts' character Barney Fife sometimes called Andy "Ange". Knotts would continue to make appearances as "Ace" Calhoun on the series until the show's first cancellation in 1992. He even had a small role in two Matlock TV movies ("The Picture" in 1992, and "The Ambassador" in 1988)

• Randy Travis - Country music star Randy Travis appeared in a 1992 (season six) episode "The Big Payoff" as character Billy Wheeler. In "The Mark" (a season seven episode), Travis reprised the role of Wheeler, an aspiring country singer who wins the lottery and shortly thereafter finds himself framed for the murder of his cheating business partner. Both Travis and Griffith originate from the same state, North Carolina.

• Dick van Dyke - Long before he would take the memorable small role as D.A. Fletcher in the 1990 movie Dick Tracy, TV legend Dick Van Dyke had a villainous guest starring role in the first regular episode of Matlock. He played a judge who murdered his lover and then presided over the murder trial where Ben was trying to clear someone's name for the crime. Van Dyke would later hire Griffith to reprise his Matlock role in 1997 on an episode of his own series Diagnosis: Murder. When he played Dr. Mark Sloane of Diagnosis: Murder, Andy Griffith played Matlock in that series for the episode Murder Two, the two universes are linked.

• Brynn Thayer played Matlock's daughter, Leanne MacIntyre, in seasons 7 and 8. However, she also played a client of Ben's in The Suspect.

• David Ogden Stiers played a murderer in Blind Justice and a crook in The Ambassador in Seasons 9 and 10.

• Daniel Roebuck, in addition to playing Cliff Lewis seasons 7-9, also played a resident doctor in The Doctors and a family friend in The Ambassador.

• Bryan Cranston, better known as "Hal" from "Malcolm in the Middle"; appeared in two episodes -- "The Marriage Counselor" and "The Gift". In "The Marriage Counselor" he plays a "Marriage Counselor" who is murdered by not one but three patients with whom he is having affairs.

• Former silent film actor Eddie Quillan made his last television appearance on Matlock in 1987.

• Author Patricia Cornwell played the part of "Denise" in the episode "The Formula".

During its ten-season run on NBC, ABC and CBS, many familiar and/or unfamiliar actors made guest appearances on the show before they became famous: Sheree J. Wilson, Georg Stanford Brown, Jeff Conaway, Cindy Morgan, John Rubinstein, Amy Yasbeck, Lisa Hartman, Piper Laurie, Roddy McDowall, Christian Clemenson, Michele Greene, Don Murray, David McCallum, Bruce Greenwood, Scott Bakula, Bill Mumy, Don Galloway, Betty White, Barry Jenner, James Eckhouse, David Haskell, Stacy Keach, Sr., Dana Sparks, Robert Ginty, Wendy Phillips, Diana Bellamy, Jason Wingreen, Christina Pickles, Timothy Busfield, Shirley Knight, James Cromwell, Lewis Arquette, Patricia Heaton, Jason Bateman, Malcolm Jamal-Warner, Craig Shoemaker, William Schallert, Joel Grey, Teri Austin, Robert Desiderio, Vivica A. Fox, Rene Auberjonois, among many others. Future NYPD Blue stars Dennis Franz and Gail O'Grady also made guest appearances. On one episode, an old friend of Griffith's, R.G. Armstrong, played a sheriff in which he worked with Conrad before he introduced him to Matlock. Beth Boderick was in one episode.

Jake and the Fatman was a spin-off based on a character that originated in "The Don," a two part Matlock episode from season one. In "The Don," William Conrad played prosecutor James L. McShane. Joe Penny played Paul Baron, the son of Matlock's client. Executive Producer Dean Hargrove was responsible for both Matlock and Jake and the Fatman and worked as a writer or producer on a host of other familiar TV mystery shows like Columbo, McCloud, Diagnosis: Murder (which itself was a spin-off of Jake and the Fatman), Father Dowling Mysteries, and Perry Mason.

Main article: List of Matlock episodes

Matlock aired a total of 216 episodes across ten seasons. 216 episodes were hour-long, and 4 were 2 hour long episodes.

• Andy Griffith is the only actor to appear in all 216 episodes of the series on (NBC), (ABC) and (CBS). Nancy Stafford appeared in 73 of the 216 episodes, from 1987 to 1992. Clarence Gilyard was featured in almost every episode of the National Broadcasting Company series (NBC) and all episodes of the CBS era (1994-96), except for several episodes that he has been absent during his last season for the American Broadcasting Company series (ABC) (from 1989 to 1993). Daniel Roebuck was almost in every episode of the series (From 1992 to 1994).

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Matlock is a running joke on The Simpsons, where the show has a huge cult following amongst the senior citizens of the town of Springfield, since it is commonly seen stereotypically as a program enjoyed mostly by elderly people. In one episode, Grampa Simpson supports the planned destruction of the Simpsons' house to make way for a "Matlock Expressway," while in Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy a frail Andy Griffith is mobbed and thrown to the ground by a crowd of obsessive elderly fans. In another scene, when Grampa Simpson quickly boards the Springfield Retirement Castle shuttle bus with the show set to air in five minutes, a passenger tells him to hurry, exclaiming that "each Matlock could be our last". In Cape Feare Grandpa Simpson says "Matlock will find the culprit!" after Bart receives a death threat from Sideshow Bob. In a Halloween special in which Homer Simpson sells his soul to the devil (played by Ned Flanders) in exchange for a doughnut, Lionel Hutz attorney defends Homer in the 'court of infernal affairs' on the basis that "I saw Matlock in a bar last night; the sound was off, but I think I got the gist of it." In the episode "Cape Feare", Grampa refers to hiring Matlock to find the killer, whom he thinks could be "that evil Gavin MacLeod or George 'Goober' Lindsey". The Matlock expressway appears in the video game The Simpsons Hit & Run, although it is nowhere near the Simpsons' house.

• Matlock is a derogatory term for a legalistic know it all.

• On Saturday Night Live Phil Hartman's "Kirok: the unfrozen cave man lawyer" is also a parody of Matlock, who often began sentences with prefixes such as "I may be a simple country-boy" etc.

• In the Arrested Development Episode "For British Eyes Only", George Bluth Senior tries to hire Andy Griffith to sit with him in court to please the jury.

• List of characters in Matlock
• List of Matlock episodes

• Matlock at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock An unofficial Matlock website
• Ben Matlock at TV Acres A page dedicated to Ben Matlock, including notable case synopses and list of Simpsons quotes.
• Matlock at TV.com

v • d • e Matlock
Episodes | Characters
Matlock's family	Ben Matlock | Charlene Matlock | Leanne MacIntyre | Charlie Matlock | Laura Miller
Matlock's friends	Les Calhoun | Billy Lewis | Julie March
Matlock's assistants	Michelle Thomas | Cliff Lewis
Private investigators	Tyler Hudson | Conrad McMasters | Jerri Stone
Other characters	Brad Bingham