Matlock: Season 4

Andy Griffith returns (again) as Ben Matlock. He always solved and had won his cases in court, whose clients have been accused of killing a person. Nancy Stafford returns as Michelle Thomas, Ben's young lawyer's assistant and Julie Sommars also returns as Ben's friend, the feisty, Julie March. The biggest change on Matlock was Clarence Gilyard Jr. would join the cast as young private investigator, Conrad McMasters, that the multi-talented, Kene Holliday, who was fired after a long battle of drugs/alcohol, prior to being sober, three months before and for not getting along with his castmates. Prior to Holliday's departure, when the episodes were aired out of order, he made 2 cameo appearances in this season. With Clarence, he had the distinct pleasure of getting more screen time, plus have a lot of interaction with Andy. I've watched all the episodes where Matlock solved real hard and proved evidence of the clients who hadn't committed this murder. It was by far a good show, for the best season.

This season has 5 disc, consisting of 24 episodes, 3 of them that broke into two-parts:

* Episodes that features an appearance with Kene Holliday

1) The Hunting Party (Pts. 1 & 2) - Matlock travels to Manteo, North Carolina, to defend Spencer Hamilton, the man who was accused of killing Ryan Bartell. He also was approached by a handsome young sheriff, Conrad McMasters, who hired him as a private investigator. After Conrad calmed Matlock down, realizing he was framed for all the dope he had in his car, he investigates the three guys who killed Ryan Bartell, whom were all liars.

2) The Good Boy - Calvin Ritter badgered his son into going into military school, but refuses. When his son, Tony kills his father, he knew he hated him, framing his mother for the murder. Overhearing this, Bonnie thought she'd never loved her husband, hence, Matlock & Michelle looked for all the evidence, which led to Tony's plea of finding him guilty.

* 3) The Best Seller - When the friend of the world-renown novelist was dead after taking Cynthia's prescribed allergy pills, emotions run high on Philip, who was framed for the killing of her best friend. While Matlock is off on business for a while, Julie takes the case. As she was getting Philip off, she knows it wasn't all peaches and cream at the Slayton's.

4) The Ex - Matlock and Julie both travel to Baltimore, to help defend the man who was accused of killing a newspaper editor who used his name, while Conrad is busy working on another case.

5) The Clown - Homer Fleming's longtime partner, Simon Le Simple was found dead, and Matlock is more than happy to defend the case with the elder clown. Matlock also asked Conrad to go undercover as a roustabout at the circus, this was before he learned Simon Le Simple, was the man whom everybody loved to hate.

6) The Star - A young, looking movie actress, Catherine McKay, who had the only blockbuster movie was found dead, with the actual knife. A lot of actors/directors thought horror film director, Noel Bishop had actually done it. Matlock found out Noel didn't want anything to do with Catherine, appearing in the movie.

7) The Con Man - A man who's been conned by a group of con men was framed for murdering one of them. Matlock is more than happy to defend Brian Davis, all the while, Michelle almost connects to one of the con artists who's behind all this, her boss find out, as does Michelle, herself.

8) The Prisoner (Pts. 1 & 2) - Matlock actually goes to the prison himself to the defend one of the prison guards, who was framed for killing Rudy Chambers, while Conrad spend the night with his boss, prior to him tracking down who killed Rudy. Prior to Matlock and Tiny, finding the actual murder weapon, Conrad works outside of the prison to get John Jackson off and keep his boss safe.

9) The Fugitive - Matlock knew Drew Carey (not the comedian that I know) since he was a little boy. He is actually framed for the murder of his uncle, prior to his crazy temper tantrums. Matlock thought Drew was a nice person, when Drew himself turned into a corrupt, young man, who refused to follow his lawyer's orders suspecting that Valerie (a young woman who married her husband) actually had done it, when she was having an affair with a construction worker. Despite Drew finding himself innocent for not killing his uncle, the judge also sentenced him to an indefinite community service, due to his behavioral problems, both inside and outside the court.

10) The Buddies - The three college classmates go under investigation, by Matlock, for the charge of murdering a hitchhiker, almost thirty-five years ago, after he was hit by an ignition bomb that almost killed him.

11) The Scrooge - A serious, yet disagreeable businessman is arrested for the killing of his faithful partner, for being 'good' at Christmas. When all hell was breaking loose, Matlock is more than happy to take the case. Les told Conrad that Matlock was as mad as mad can be that Steve Abbott's fee costs more than what it used to be.

* 12) The Witness - Matlock is headed to California for a business meeting, he asks Michelle to defend Jimmy Newton, the guy who was accused of killing Sandra Townsend's lovers, whom she actually killed the lover herself, after he was threatened to expose the nightlife to her employers. Michelle suspects that Sandra is the prime witness in this case, knowing that she must destroy her, once and for all. She also have heard of her best friend's lies.

13) The Student - Matlock wants to go back to school to get some education, as being a student there, he learned that one of his students was arrested for the murder of his professor, a young lady was having an affair with.

14) The Talk Show - Matlock and Michelle both investigate as to whether the three female guests on Dan Galloway's talk show had committed this crime, after Dan was murdered that he fired his executive producer, which had a shortage of suspects.

15) The Victim - Matlock finds out that a paraplegic husband of Cathy's had killed her.

16) The Kidnapper - Michelle and Conrad search through Matlock's original cases to find out who actually kidnapped him.

17) The Pro - After being found guilty of killing Victor Tomassio, Dave Travis is in prison for the murder of his rival. While Matlock must defend the bastardize young man accused for the murder, while in prison, he talks Michelle and Conrad to go to Los Angeles to figure out who actually killed Dave, in order for Dave to remain calm.

18) The Informer (Pts. 1 & 2) - Matlock agrees to defend David O'Malley, Susan's jealous husband who was framed for the murder. Conrad and David's private investigator, Angela Page, goes undercover for this innocent killing. After David fired Angela (whom she was asked not to go to the memorial service, when she did, against her boss's orders), she then turned to Conrad to investigate the informer, they think is responsible for the murder of Sam's Chandler.

19) The D.A. - When Julie March, the assistant district attorney, becomes the prime target of a witness of psychological problems, Matlock and Conrad figures out who is threatening her.

20) The Blackmailer - A cartoonist has kept Atlanta so fascinated with his recent storyline "The Peach Pit," about an affair by Sen. Peter Dolan. At one point, the woman who was involved in this affair was going to appear her name in print, when the strips vanished.

21) The Cookie Monster - Katie White is so excited to work for smaller baking companies that led to one of her killers. When she ate the cookie that had hazelnuts, which led to her killing, Matlock agrees to take the case of Bobby Neil.

Over the course of 9 seasons, Andy Griffith's Ben Matlock became like one of the family. Much like Columbo, he was smarter than his rumpled demeanor suggested, and at heart considered himself an old country lawyer. While less serious or dramatic than the terrific Perry Mason, the stories centered around the cast and their interactions nearly as much as the cases. It was fun having a hot dog with Ben before he figured out just who committed the murder and pulled a rabbit out of his hat to trick them into revealing their dirty deed on the witness stand. It's blend of humor and mystery was hard to beat.

Nancy Stafford would portray Michelle Thomas for several years and the chemistry between the two made the show splendid entertainment. Things were cozy by season four, Assistant D.A. Julie March (Julie Sommers) and Ben sharing more time outside of court. Clarence Gilyard Jr. joined the gang in season four as Conrad McMaster, replacing Kene Holliday as Tyler Hudson. He later went on to star with Chuck Norris in Walker, Texas Ranger, and brought a nice element to both shows. And of course, it was great to see Don Knotts back with Andy as pal Les Calhoun.

By season four this was a comfort show. We could prop up our feet, snack in hand, and know we'd enjoy an hour with Ben and the gang. The episodes in four included three two-parters, keeping fans waiting a week to see how the transplanted Atlanta lawyer would spring his client. Those episodes are listed below.

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THE HUNTING PARTY (1&2) - THE GOOD BOY - THE BEST SELLER - THE EX - THE CLOWN - THE STAR - THE CON MAN - THE PRISONER (1&2) - THE FUGITIVE - THE BUDDIES - THE SCROOGE - THE WITNESS - THE STUDENT - THE TALK SHOW - THE VICTIM - THE KIDNAPPER - THE PRO - THE INFORMER (1&2) - THE D.A. - THE BLACKMAILER - THE COOKIE MONSTER
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Matlock is a nice part of television history and is missed. You could grab a bite to eat and visit old friends each time we heard that Southern Matlock theme playing over the opening credits. Somehow, it always made you hungry for a hot dog with the works.

I enjoyed watching Matlock season four. It was perfect. My husband and I like all the Matlock episodes

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