An actress is murdered and Ben agrees to represent the director of a local community play.

Ben defends a man against murder charges stemming from a date-rape shakedown scheme.

Ben defends a man against murder charges stemming from a date-rape shakedown scheme.

Ben takes Leanne to meet the wife of his first client back in the early 60s. Mr. Shaw was the cook at the local diner where he was accused of killing the local sheriff after a disagreement in the diner.

When Ben and Leanne go to a wedding out of town, Ben witnesses what could be a crime from his hotel window.

When a mouthy has-been comedian is accused of murder Matlock defends him in court.

Two weeks before con man Adam Spangler's appointment with the electric chair, Det. Campbell Buchard convinces Ben and Leanne to shake the eyewitness testimony that put Spangler on death row and find the real killer.

A dissatisfied patient is suspected of murdering her plastic surgeon, but Ben thinks otherwise.

In Part 1, After taking some hay fever medicine Ben has a strange dream about a 1930s speakeasy club. Everyone Ben knows is in the dream but they are different people. Ben is a lawyer but he's also a drunk. Leeann is a singer married to Billy, who owns the nightclub and is having an affair with one of the musicians. When the musician is murdered, Billy is framed as the murderer. Leeann begs Ben to represent Billy, presumably because she hopes the incompetent Matlock will serve her ulterior motive. Written by Purl Diver

Leanne falls for a client, a philanthropist accused of murdering his partner.

Billy is kidnapped and held for ransom. Agent Wingate of the FBI is assigned to recover him.

Matlock defends FBI agent Wingate when he is charged with murder.

A handsome criminal steals Leanne's private diary and uses its contents to get close to her.

Matlock goes to work when a man accused of stealing a rare book also finds himself facing a murder charge.

Ben, Leanne, and Cliff take part in a murder mystery weekend, and murder becomes reality.

Matlock's neighbor is accused of murdering a councilwoman after she publicly discloses his embezzling. The assistant DA and Matlock share commonalities but come into conflict because they're on opposite sides of the case.

Jesse Morgan runs into Ben at the courthouse. Jesse tells Ben, who is a family friend, that she is going to be moving to Los Angeles to go to school. Before she leaves, Ben tells Jesse where to find her estranged father, Max, when she gets out there. Jesse shows up on Max's doorstep, and finds out he is a private investigator. She moves in with him temporarily until she can find a place of her own. When a job comes up, Max asks Jesse to take pictures of a client's wife, who he suspects is being unfaithful. The client's wife ends up dead, but Jesse got pictures of the getaway car. The car turns out to belong to Max's client, who gets arrested. Max doesn't believe his client did it and now he and Jesse have to prove his innocence. Written by brownsbros3

Ben's goddaughter comes to town for her wedding, causing Ben to deal with uninvited guests, an accident from the past, Cliff's exaggerations, and a murder.

A young lawyer who apes Ben's style is involved in blackmail and murder.

In this legal drama, Andy Griffith plays Ben Matlock, a criminal-defense lawyer based in Atlanta. Matlock typically identifies and confronts the perpetrator in a dramatic courtroom scene. His goal, most often, is to prove reasonable doubt of his client's guilt. Rumor suggests that the character is based on lawyer Bobby Lee Cook, Georgia's colorful dean of criminal-defense attorneys. Written by writermaia