- 8.3/10160 votesLoading...
#1 - The Scandal
Season 9 Episode 3 - Aired 10/20/1994
When Matlock defends an attorney accused of murdering her boss, he also uncovers a history of sexual harrassment involving the law firm.
Director: Frank Thackery
Writer: Brian Alan Lane
- 8.3/10112 votesLoading...
#2 - The Target
Season 9 Episode 13 - Aired 2/9/1995
Matlock is the unlikely witness when a boat blows up killing Judge Michael Sterns. Had it not been for Ben's sea-sickness, he would have been on the boat. Convinced that someone was out to get him and not Judge Sterns, Matlock, Cliff and Jerri take a look through some of Ben's old cases to find out who did it, and Matlock takes on the case of the man accused of the crime, a former lawyer who had been disbarred for jury tampering exactly five years earlier.
Director: N/A
Writer: Joel Steiger
- 8.3/10117 votesLoading...
#3 - The Assault
Season 9 Episode 14 - Aired 2/16/1995
While Cliff, Jerri and Billy plan to throw Ben a surprise party for his birthday, Ben goes to the city to pick up barbecue. While there, his car breaks down, he's mugged, the phone eats his last quarter ... and by the time he is rescued by activist Stan Johnson and returned to his car, it's half-stripped and they've stolen his barbecue. Matlock is very impressed by the young man, and when he's accused of trying to kill the landlord of the apartment complex he lives in, Matlock steps in to defend him and to stand up to the landlord, who is a very respected man in the legal community.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/1096 votesLoading...
#4 - The Kidnapping (1)
Season 8 Episode 13 - Aired 1/13/1994
Abductors tries to kidnap Leanne but takes Billy instead and hold him for ransom.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
- 8.2/10106 votesLoading...
#5 - The Heist (1)
Season 9 Episode 15 - Aired 4/27/1995
Matlock and Jerri head out to the beach with Billy and Cliff as Cliff prepares for an upcoming triathlon. Once there, Matlock is surprised to run into retired F.B.I. agent Ed Wingate, who is investigating a case of his own. While Matlock keeps himself busy occasionally running into Ed, Cliff throws himself into the competition, and Billy throws himself at Anita Montrose, the real estate agent who rented them the beach house they're staying at. When one of the people Ed is investigating is found dead, Matlock agrees to defend his old friend.
Director: Leo Penn
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/10120 votesLoading...
#6 - The Outcast (2)
Season 6 Episode 15 - Aired 2/7/1992
Matlock retires from law after bungling up a case and forgetting his client's name. He heads out of town to do some fishing, but after a hitchhiker he gave a lift to dies mysteriously, he sticks around to investigate the case.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/10107 votesLoading...
#7 - The Capital Offense
Season 8 Episode 7 - Aired 11/11/1993
Matlock continues his five-year struggle to save a con artist from the electric chair.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: N/A
- 8.1/1093 votesLoading...
#8 - The Dating Game
Season 9 Episode 7 - Aired 11/17/1994
When Cliff's friend Fred is accused of murdering Melissa, a woman he met through the dating service Perfect Harmony, he and Matlock take the case, and Jerri goes undercover to investigate. She sets herself up as one of the datees, much to the frustration of a loca police officer. Unfortunately, she has better luck than she hoped, as one of her dates is a killer in disguise.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10311 votesLoading...
#9 - The Judge
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 9/23/1986
Ben Matlock accepts the pro bono case of Kevin Meredith, a young man accused of murdering his lover, whom Ben soon realises had a much more powerful lover.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: Robert Hamilton
- 8.0/10115 votesLoading...
#10 - The Foursome
Season 6 Episode 11 - Aired 12/20/1991
Matlock reluctantly agrees to defend millionaire Ellis Blake when he's accused of murdering his daughter's fiancé, Jeffrey Holden, an enterprising golf caddy who supplemented his living by blackmailing the men he caddied for. At the same time, Matlock is dealing with a brand new deputy district attorney, Lauren Richmond, who just seems too sweet to be real.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10116 votesLoading...
#11 - The Diner
Season 8 Episode 4 - Aired 10/14/1993
Matlock takes Leanne to meet Martha Jordan, the wife of his very first client back in 1962. Stan Shaw was the cook at the local diner when he was accused of killing the local sheriff after a disagreement in the diner. Charlie Matlock pushed Ben, who had recently quit his job as a district attorney to take the case, but not everyone in town was happy with the Matlocks siding with the black cook accused of killing the white sheriff. Despite Cyrus Jordan's attempts to get the Matlocks to drop his case for their own safety, father and son were determined to prove that Cyrus never killed anyone.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10106 votesLoading...
#12 - Dead Air
Season 9 Episode 9 - Aired 12/8/1994
A radio personality is accused of killing his partner, but Ben suspects the victim's girlfriend. The only problem is that she seems to have an airtight alibi...Ray's neighbor, Mr. Yates, watched her 'find' the body.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10240 votesLoading...
#13 - The Sisters
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 11/11/1986
Harold Scully is a boring man. But at least he knows that. When he begs old acquaintance Ben Matlock to defend him on charges of murdering his wealthy wife Esther, Matlock reluctantly agrees. The more investigating he does, the more he realises that there is something seriously wrong with Harold's two nieces, sisters Julia and Emily.
Director: Alan Cooke
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10104 votesLoading...
#14 - The Witness Killings (2)
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 10/18/1991
After a second young man dies under mysterious circumstances, Matlock continues to do his best to defend Russ Gifford, and tries to keep his animosity with the town at a minimum while Julie makes friends with the local women, and Conrad investigates the tattoo that ties the whole case together.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10129 votesLoading...
- 7.9/10102 votesLoading...
#16 - The View
Season 8 Episode 5 - Aired 10/28/1993
Matlock realizes he has become a witness in a murder case involving two theater actors and an unhappy husband.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/10106 votesLoading...
#17 - The Accused (1)
Season 9 Episode 1 - Aired 10/13/1994
Matlock defends a journalist who killed an underworld figure in self-defense after meeting with him for an interview.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
- 7.9/1095 votesLoading...
#18 - The Verdict
Season 9 Episode 11 - Aired 1/12/1995
Katie Clark is a hot new prosecutor in town, fresh from St. Louis, but originally from Atlanta. Her first case involves prosecuting a building contractor who has been accused of murdering one of his employees, who just happens to be Clark's former lover. Despite his reservations about Clark prosecuting a former lover, Matlock agrees to let her continue on the case, impressed by her desire to not allow her personal past with Gibson to affect her judgment.
Director: Leo Penn
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10133 votesLoading...
#19 - The Buddies
Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 12/12/1989
After an old friend from college dies, Matlock has to investigate three college chums on the charge of murdering a hitchhiker thirty years earlier.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10112 votesLoading...
#20 - The Trial (1)
Season 5 Episode 19 - Aired 2/19/1991
When assistant D.A. Howard Wright is murdered in his workshop, the attorney general approaches Matlock and asks him to take on the assignment of special prosecutor. With Michelle and Conrad's help, Matlock begins to investigate Wright's past, and realises the man was spending money that he could not have earned legitimately. In investigating names that Wright had left behind, Matlock finds himself embroiled in a lawsuit involving Maxwell Toys.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10117 votesLoading...
#21 - The Dame
Season 6 Episode 6 - Aired 11/15/1991
While dining with Julie, a chance meeting with a woman causes Ben to relate the story of his investigation, many years earlier, of a widow that Ben's father (played by Andy Griffith) believes may have been involved with the death of his friend - her husband.
Director: Leo Penn
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10110 votesLoading...
#22 - The Game Show
Season 6 Episode 10 - Aired 12/13/1991
When the producer of the popular It's About Time gameshow is murdered, Matlock defends the aging host at the request of a friend of Conrad's, while Michelle goes undercover as a contestant.
Director: Robert Scheerer
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10146 votesLoading...
#23 - The Outcast (1)
Season 6 Episode 14 - Aired 2/7/1992
Matlock retires from law after bungling up a case and forgetting his client's name. He heads out of town to do some fishing, but after a hitchhiker he gave a lift to dies mysteriously, he sticks around to investigate the case.
Director: N/A
Writer: Robert Schlitt
- 7.8/1093 votesLoading...
#24 - The Evening News (1)
Season 6 Episode 19 - Aired 4/24/1992
A TV anchorwoman plans to frame a TV reporter for murder. When the intended victim fakes their own death, the reporter is arrested for a crime that was never committed and Matlock has to work to get them off the hook.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/10192 votesLoading...
#25 - The Vacation
Season 7 Episode 1 - Aired 11/5/1992
Matlock and Leanne head to the beach where Leanne reunites with three good friends from college, and Matlock reunites with someone from his past who just happens to be the brother of the woman whose heart Matlock 'broke' years earlier.
Director: Christopher Hibler
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of Matlock
Every episode of Matlock ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Matlock!
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock. The show, produced by The...
Genres:CrimeDrama
Top Episode Ratings Summary
"The Scandal" is the best rated episode of "Matlock". It scored 8.3/10 based on 160 votes. Directed by Frank Thackery and written by Brian Alan Lane, it aired on 10/20/1994. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Target".