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The Best Episodes of Matlock

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

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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

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Matlock Season 9 Episode 3 - The Scandal
    8.3/10(177 votes)

    #1 - 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

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  2. Matlock Season 9 Episode 7 - The Dating Game
    8.3/10(107 votes)

    #2 - The Dating Game

    S9:E7

    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:Unknown

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  3. Matlock Season 9 Episode 13 - The Target
    8.3/10(126 votes)

    #3 - The Target

    S9:E13

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Joel Steiger

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  4. Matlock Season 8 Episode 13 - The Kidnapping (1)
    8.2/10(110 votes)

    #4 - The Kidnapping (1)

    S8:E13

    Abductors tries to kidnap Leanne but takes Billy instead and hold him for ransom.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Matlock Season 9 Episode 14 - The Assault
    8.2/10(129 votes)

    #5 - The Assault

    S9:E14

    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:Unknown

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  6. Matlock Season 9 Episode 15 - The Heist (1)
    8.2/10(118 votes)

    #6 - The Heist (1)

    S9:E15

    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:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Matlock

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  7. Matlock Season 1 Episode 2 - The Judge
    8.1/10(349 votes)

    #7 - 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

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  8. Matlock Season 8 Episode 5 - The View
    8.1/10(117 votes)

    #8 - 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

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  9. Matlock Season 8 Episode 7 - The Capital Offense
    8.1/10(127 votes)

    #9 - 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

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  10. Matlock Season 9 Episode 9 - Dead Air
    8.1/10(119 votes)

    #10 - Dead Air

    S9:E9

    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:Unknown

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  11. Matlock Season 1 Episode 8 - The Sisters
    8.0/10(262 votes)

    #11 - The Sisters

    S1:E8

    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:Unknown

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  12. Matlock Season 6 Episode 2 - The Witness Killings (2)
    8.0/10(124 votes)

    #12 - The Witness Killings (2)

    S6:E2

    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:Unknown

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  13. Matlock Season 6 Episode 3 - The Strangler
    8.0/10(144 votes)

    #13 - The Strangler

    S6:E3

    Serial killer Jeffrey Speidel strangles his victims. When Matlock gets inovlved in the case, Speidel makes a point of turning Matlock into his next target...his goal is to ruin Matlock publicly before killing him.

    Director:Leo Penn
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Matlock Season 6 Episode 6 - The Dame
    8.0/10(134 votes)

    #14 - The Dame

    S6:E6

    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:Unknown

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  15. Matlock Season 7 Episode 1 - The Vacation
    8.0/10(212 votes)

    #15 - The Vacation

    S7:E1

    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:Unknown

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  16. Matlock Season 7 Episode 13 - The Revenge
    8.0/10(125 votes)

    #16 - The Revenge

    S7:E13

    Matlock witnesses a robbery at a convenience store, but when things start happening that make him look like he's losing it, including messing with his papers, sending him to the wrong parties, and submitting phony pictures of his hind end to the papers, Matlock begins to realise that someone is trying to set him up. He, Cliff and Conrad begin to go through some of his old cases, trying to figure out which recently released killer is out to get him, but everyone they think of seems to have an alibi.

    Director:Burt Brinckerhoff
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Matlock Season 1 Episode 23 - The Reporter
    7.9/10(170 votes)

    #17 - The Reporter

    S1:E23

    When Laurie Palmer is arrested for killing her husband, the reporter covering the case is convinced of her innocence, and goes to Ben Matlock looking for help.

    Director:Charles S. Dubin
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Matlock Season 4 Episode 12 - The Buddies
    7.9/10(151 votes)

    #18 - The Buddies

    S4:E12

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Matlock Season 5 Episode 19 - The Trial (1)
    7.9/10(125 votes)

    #19 - The Trial (1)

    S5:E19

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Matlock Season 6 Episode 8 - The Suspect (2)
    7.9/10(177 votes)

    #20 - The Suspect (2)

    S6:E8

    Matlock defends a wealthy widow charged with the murder of her husband, while Michelle helps to defend a father accused of murdering the drug dealer who got his child hooked...a dealer who just happened to be a cop.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Matlock Season 6 Episode 10 - The Game Show
    7.9/10(125 votes)

    #21 - The Game Show

    S6:E10

    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:Unknown

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  22. Matlock Season 6 Episode 11 - The Foursome
    7.9/10(127 votes)

    #22 - The Foursome

    S6:E11

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Matlock Season 6 Episode 14 - The Outcast (1)
    7.9/10(162 votes)

    #23 - The Outcast (1)

    S6:E14

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Robert Schlitt

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  24. Matlock Season 6 Episode 15 - The Outcast (2)
    7.9/10(135 votes)

    #24 - The Outcast (2)

    S6:E15

    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:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Matlock Season 7 Episode 7 - The Singer
    7.9/10(142 votes)

    #25 - 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

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Scandal" is the best rated episode of "Matlock". It scored 8.3/10 based on 177 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 Dating Game".