Matlock

From Wikipedia:

Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986, to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.  A total of 195 episodes were made.

The format of the show was similar to that of Perry Mason, with Matlock identifying the murderer 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.

The show centered on widower Benjamin L. "Ben" Matlock (played by Andy Griffith). Matlock is a renowned, folksy, popular yet cantankerous defense attorney, (based on attorney "Big" Ben Baker, from Young Harris, Georgia,). He has also solved and subsequently won at trial almost every case he has taken, especially murder cases where everyone else was sure his client was guilty. Usually, at the end of the episode, the person who is sitting on the stand being questioned by Matlock is the actual killer.

He studied law at Harvard, based his law practice in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived in a modest farmhouse in a 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 (Andy Griffith always drove Ford products in his 1960's show, The Andy Griffith Show, as with Matlock). Some Mayberry alumni had guest shots on the drama: Don Knotts, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn 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 Joyce Burditt's Diagnosis: Murder. In it, Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) 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, liking for 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 (played by Lori Lethin in the pilot, later Linda Purl) and private investigator Tyler Hudson (played by 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 (Linda Purl left the show because she was unhappy with her character, and for not getting along with her castmates); the elder Matlock filled the void with Michelle Thomas (played by 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 after a cocky law student graduate. Cassie Phillips (played by Kari Lizer for season 2 only) also applied for a job with Matlock, but since Charlene was already working with him and there were therefore no openings for associates, Cassie was hired as a file clerk. She left the next year. After the series' fourth year, Stafford was one of the regulars whose appearances have been limited.

 Usually, no prosecutor would compete with Ben except Julie March (played by 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 was the second regular with the fewest appearances.

After Tyler quit (Kene Holliday was fired from the series due to his long battle with drugs/alcohol, after he was sent to rehab, which eventually forced him to miss 7 episodes sporadically in his third season, before being 3 months sober, and for not getting along with his castmates), Matlock was approached by a young North Carolina sheriff's deputy Conrad McMasters (played by Clarence Gilyard), to become his new private investigator. Both Matlock and McMasters had a lot in common --- from playing music to a fondness for camping. Proven to be a serious detective and one of Matlock's loyal partners, Conrad also falls in love with various girlfriends. He also had the knack of riding horses, a skill he acquired in past work as a cowboy (it is also interesting that Gilyard himself is a real-life cowboy), displayed when attending rodeo shows.

At the end of the sixth season, Matlock's older divorced daughter Leanne MacIntyre (played by 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. However, this caused some confusion to viewers who remembered that Matlock mentioned he only had one daughter in the Linda Purl episodes. Michelle Thomas gave the job to Leanne and left (Nancy Stafford left the series to spend more time with her husband, when she didn't want to leave him, hence, production moved to North Carolina). The next season, law school graduate Cliff Lewis (played by 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 co-star in Walker, Texas Ranger for CBS Productions). Lewis became a partner and a private investigator to Matlock, while Matlock hired a final private investigator Jerri Stone (played by Carol Huston) to help out in each of the cases. Unlike her boss's former co-worker, Conrad McMasters, both Matlock and Stone had at least something in common, from driving a Blue Ford SUV to singing classic songs (it is also interesting that Huston is a very good singer herself), including lullabies.

Midway throughout the series, the show focused mostly on Matlock & Michelle, then Matlock & Conrad on NBC. When the show moved to ABC for its last three seasons, it focused on Matlock & Leanne, and finally, Matlock, Cliff & Jerri.

His age increasing, Griffith appeared less and less on the show when it departed NBC for ABC. During the NBC era, production was filmed in Los Angeles, California. When the show moved to ABC in 1992, production was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina 's EUE Screen Gems Studios. Griffith's home state is North Carolina. 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 Georgia 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.

The long-running show finally came to an end in 1995, when Andy Griffith, who was the only actor to appear in all 195 episodes of the series on NBC and ABC, decided to slow down to spend more time with his family.