Matlock (1986 TV series)

Matlock
Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock in court Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock in court Ben Matlock in Court.
Created by	Christopher Canaan Leslie Greif Paul Haggis
Starring	Andy Griffith Nancy Stafford Clarence Gilyard Kene Holliday Linda Purl Julie Sommars Sheree J. Wilson David Froman Richard Newton more...
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	195
Production
Running time	45 minutes
Original release
Network	NBC (1986 – 1992) ABC (1992 – 1995)
Release	1986 – 1995

Matlock was an American television legal drama starring Andy Griffith as attorney Ben Matlock. The format of the show was very similar to that of Perry Mason, with Matlock figuring out who the murderer is and then confronting them in a dramatic courtroom scene near the end; although whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury. The show ran from 1986 to 1992 on NBC, then 1992 until 1995 on ABC. The show can currently be seen in syndication and is distributed by Viacom. In the US, Superstation WGN and Hallmark play the reruns daily.

Background

The show features Ben Matlock as a renowned, folksy, yet cantankerous defense attorney who is worth every penny of his $100,000 fee. Known for visiting the scene of the crime to discover clues otherwise overlooked and his down-home style of coming up with viable, alternative theories of the crime in question (usually murder) while sitting in his office playing the banjo or polishing his shoes, Griffith's character also had conspicuously finicky fashion sense. Ben Matlock always appeared in court wearing his trademark gray suit (though the necktie he always wore would be different) and, over the nine seasons, was seen behind the wheel of two generations of the Ford Crown Victoria—always an all-gray model. Matlock studied law at Harvard, based his law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived in a farmhouse in some neighboring suburb.

Throughout the series, three different women played Matlock's daughters, all of whom worked on cases as his co-counsel. Lori Lethin played Charlene Matlock in the March 1986 pilot episode/TV movie "Diary of A Perfect Murder". Linda Purl starred in this role for the rest of the first season. After Matlock's hired associate counsel Michelle Thomas (Nancy Stafford) left the show at the end of season six, Brynn Thayer joined the cast as Leanne MacIntyre, another daughter. In the second to last episode of season six, Matlock's daughter Leanne, this time played by Sheree J. Wilson, arrived as an attorney, successful in her own right, who returned home to work with her father for a while after breaking up with her former husband. Leanne's ex-husband Peter MacIntyre (Robert Desiderio) appeared in a season seven episode entitled "The Debt" when he needed her help to defend himself against a murder charge. Julie Sommars played assistant district attorney (A.D.A.) Julie March, Matlock's good friend.

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.

Notable guest stars

• Don Knotts - Griffith's old partner in comedy Don Knotts first appeared in a 1988 episode of the series. 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 Matlock's old friend Billy 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 6-8. 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.

• 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.

Matlock's fellow investigators

Matlock had four investigators working for him over the course of the series' nearly nine year run. First Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday) in seasons one through three and later Conrad McMasters (Clarence Gilyard Jr.) during seasons four through six. In season seven (1993) Daniel Roebuck's Cliff Lewis character became the regular sleuth. For the ninth season, Carol Huston's Jerri Stone became the sleuth. Roebuck, of The Fugitive fame, and Warren Frost (Cliff's father Billy Lewis) became regular cast members until the conclusion of the ninth season and the series in 1995. Roebuck appeared on at least four previous occasions playing characters Dr. Bobby Shaw ("The Doctors", 1987), Alex Winthrop ("The Ambassador", 1988 and "The Priest" 1989), and Assistant District Attorney Sadowsky ("The Assassination", 1992).

Spinoffs

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, Conrad played prosecutor James L. McShane. Styles 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, Father Dowling Mysteries, and Perry Mason.

Matlock in popular culture

• 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. In one episode, the Simpsons' house is almost destroyed to make way for a "Matlock Expressway", while in another 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 one episode Grandpa Simpson says "Matlock will find the culprit!" In the 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."

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

• In the Adult Swim show The Venture Bros., a character in the first season finale, Tiny Attorney, is a parody of Matlock and of Kuato of the movie Total Recall.

• On the Matt Groening cartoon show Futurama An inept, giant, blue space chicken with a genteel southern accent serves as a lawyer and Matlock parody on several occasions.

• On an episode of Arrested Development, The family finds out that they can hire Andy Griffith to play Matlock for their trial, for 500,000 dollars he would read the paper at the table, Grey suit cost extra.

• 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.

See also

• List of characters in Matlock
• List of Matlock episodes

External links

• Matlock at IMDb
• 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