Matlock backdrop
Drama•Crime

The Best Episodes of Matlock

Every episode of Matlock ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Matlock!

Binge this in 2d 18h•Peaking at 10.0/10

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 Fred Silverman Company, Dean Hargrove Productions, Viacom Productions and Paramount

Airs on
NBCABC
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons9

All123456789

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Matlock Season 2 Episode 2 - The Billionaire (2)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - The Billionaire (2)

    S2:E2

    Matlock flies all the way the England to represent Eric Gordon, a man accused of murdering his wealthy businessman father. His sister Laura is convinced of his innocence, but brother Mitch isn't so sure.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Matlock Season 7 Episode 7 - The Singer
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - The Singer

    S7:E7

    Matlock defends a producer accused of killing a singer, and treis to prove that one of the other men at the recording studio was guilty.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Matlock Season 8 Episode 7 - The Capital Offense
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - The Capital Offense

    S8:E7

    Matlock continues his five-year struggle to save a con artist from the electric chair.

    Director:Robert Scheerer
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Matlock Season 9 Episode 2 - The Accused (2)
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - The Accused (2)

    S9:E2

    Part two of the episode The Scandal.

    Director:Frank Thackery
    Writer:Brian Alan Lane

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Matlock Season 9 Episode 3 - The Scandal
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - The Scandal

    S9:E3

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Matlock Season 6 Episode 1 - The Witness Killings (1)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - The Witness Killings (1)

    S6:E1

    Matlock goes back to his hometown for a family reunion, but things turn sticky when a good friend of his nephew's son dies, and his rival is charged with murder. Not only that, but the whole town seems to hate Matlock, as many of them believe he thinks he's better than them because he's a big city lawyer.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Matlock

    READ
  7. Matlock Season 6 Episode 12 - The Picture (1)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - The Picture (1)

    S6:E12

    After much persuasion, Matlock agrees to help his disagreeable cousin locate her erstwhile husband, using a doctored photograph to help find him.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Matlock Season 8 Episode 1 - The Play
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - The Play

    S8:E1

    After an actress in The Last Cry of the Hounds is murdered, Matlock agrees to represent the director of a local community play...on the condition that the director not cut him from the play.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Matlock Season 8 Episode 2 - The Fatal Seduction (1)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - The Fatal Seduction (1)

    S8:E2

    Matlock, Leanne and Cliff go to North Carolina to attend Billy's sister's funeral. While there, they end up getting involved in a pair of murders connected to two young women. As a way to catch them, Leanne sets up a trap using Cliff as bait.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Matlock Season 8 Episode 3 - The Fatal Seduction (2)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - The Fatal Seduction (2)

    S8:E3

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Matlock Season 8 Episode 4 - The Diner
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - The Diner

    S8:E4

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Matlock Season 8 Episode 5 - The View
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - The View

    S8:E5

    Matlock realizes he has become a witness in a murder case involving two theater actors and an unhappy husband.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Matlock Season 8 Episode 6 - The Last Laugh
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - The Last Laugh

    S8:E6

    A comedian becomes accused of murdering another comic who had insulted him on stage.

    Director:Russ Mayberry
    Writer:Stephen Lord

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Matlock Season 8 Episode 8 - The Haunted (1)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - The Haunted (1)

    S8:E8

    While Cliff investigates a suit of medical malpractice and ends up getting more involved than he should with his client, Matlock investigates the case of the mysterious Rod Greenwood, who happens to bear an eerie resemblance to a dead businessman. Soon Cliff and Matlock realise that their cases are tied together.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Matlock Season 8 Episode 9 - The Haunted (2)
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - The Haunted (2)

    S8:E9

    No description available

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Matlock Season 1 Episode 2 - The Judge
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    #16 - The Judge

    S1:E2

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Matlock Season 2 Episode 6 - The Power Brokers (1)
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - The Power Brokers (1)

    S2:E6

    Matlock reluctantly takes the case when Melinda Stuart's source is murdered. The biggest problem is that she's more interested in listening to what FBI Agent Paul Davies has to say than she is in listening to him.

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Matlock Season 3 Episode 14 - The Thief (1)
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - The Thief (1)

    S3:E14

    When a rare coin dealer is charged with murdering a thieving employee, he hires Matlock to defend him. Tyler is less than thrilled when Matlock temporarily hires a female investigator, and has his own suspicions of her motives.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Matlock Season 3 Episode 5 - The D.J.
    2.0/10(2 votes)

    #19 - The D.J.

    S3:E5

    When radio disk jockey Arthur Saxon is accused of murdering rival D.J. Robby Moore, Michelle asks Ben to defend him. Ben agrees because Michelle swears he's the kindest, most gentlest man she's ever known, but Ben soon realises that Michelle's new boyfriend is anything but.

    Director:Tony Mordente
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Matlock Season 1 Episode 3 - The Stripper
    1.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - The Stripper

    S1:E3

    Years ago, Ben represented Jason Hardiman in his divorce proceedings, and upon his instructions, offered Carla a small fortune to relinquish custody of their son. She refused, and eventually won. Now Carla can only find work as a stripper. Jason goes to her work and again threatens to take their son Jimmy from her. When he is found at the edge of death, Carla is the immediate suspect. He is murdered while in the hospital, and Carla is the prime suspect. Ben's suspicions soon turn to a woman named Helen Shelly, but unfortunately, it's hard to find her. Doug Templitt seems to be the only one who knows where she is.

    Director:Daniel Haller
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Matlock Season 1 Episode 12 - Santa Claus
    1.0/10(1 votes)

    #21 - Santa Claus

    S1:E12

    When a down-on-his luck Santa Claus (Tom McCabe) is accused of killing the landlord who was about to evict not only him but everyone else in the apartment complex, the people in his building take up a collection and come to Matlock to ask him to defend him. They may not like Tom, but none of them believe him guilty of murder. Matlock ignores his own misgivings about a man he can't help but dislike and agrees to defend Tom.

    Director:Daniel Haller
    Writer:Robert Schlitt

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Matlock Season 4 Episode 4 - The Best Seller
    1.0/10(2 votes)

    #22 - The Best Seller

    S4:E4

    When Elizabeth, a friend of famous novelist Cynthia Slayton, is found dead after taking Cynthia's prescribed allergy medication, suspicion falls on Cynthia's long-suffering husband Philip, a friend of Julie's. While trying to clear his name, Julie realises that not everything is as it seems in the Slayton house.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Robert Schlitt

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Matlock Season 1 Episode 1 - Diary of a Perfect Murder
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #23 - Diary of a Perfect Murder

    S1:E1

    Atlanta lawyer Ben Matlock takes on the high profile case of a television reporter accused of murdering his former wife. The case is complicated when his daughter Charlene develops feelings for the accused killer.

    Director:Robert Day
    Writer:Dean Hargrove

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Matlock Season 1 Episode 4 - The Affair
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #24 - The Affair

    S1:E4

    Matlock represents the a maid accused of killing her employer, at the request of the man's widow. The request is a little odd, but it seems Christina Ward wants people to know exactly what kind of man her husband was. Matlock is more than a little uncomfortable when it seems Charlene is developing a tendre for the woman's son Clark, an old college chum of Charlene's.

    Director:John Llewellyn Moxey
    Writer:Paul Savage

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Matlock Season 1 Episode 5 - The Seduction
    0.0/10(0 votes)

    #25 - The Seduction

    S1:E5

    Matlock is hired to defend Brad Bingham, an aging football star with a reputation as a womanizer who was about to be cut from the team. Charlene is resistant to Ben's choice, as she believes everything the tabloids have to say about Brad...not only that, but years earlier, he'd had a brief relationship with her friend Ellen Hawley, who had tried to kill herself after they broke up. As the case continues, Charlene realises that not everything that's printed in the papers is true and that maybe Ellen wasn't quite honest with her, even though a call girl (Caryn Nelson) hired to make Brad look guilty almost convinces her that he is.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"The Billionaire (2)" is the best rated episode of "Matlock". It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Christopher Hibler and written by Unknown, it aired on 9/22/1987. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Singer".