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''Matlock'' is a long-running American Television Legal Drama . The format of the show was very 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. Additionally, Perry Mason never pulled an evidence gun on a jury. 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 . BACKGROUND 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 known for being very thrifty with his money. His favorite food was hot dogs. His 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, the next day. She met him on his trip to England and 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 Holiday had begun to arrive on the set late and forgetting his lines) Personal Phone conversation with actor who appeared in Matlock (Not Griffith) 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. 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. Cast
NOTABLE GUEST STARS
A ROSTER OF GUEST STARS During its nine-season run on both , 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, as well. 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. Also Beth Boderick was in one episode SPINOFFS '''' (which itself was a spin-off of ''Jake and the Fatman''), '' Father Dowling Mysteries '', and '' Perry Mason ''. EPISODES See Also: List of Matlock episodes ''Matlock'' aired a total of 195 episodes across nine seasons. 191 episodes were hour-long, and 4 were 2 hours long episodes. TRIVIA
MATLOCK IN POPULAR CULTURE
REFERENCES SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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