Search - Matlock - The First Season on DVD
Matlock - The First Season
Actor: Andy Griffith
Genres: Drama, Television, Mystery & Suspense
NR 2008 19hr 0min
A running joke on The Simpsons is the idolization of Andy Griffith's Ben Matlock by the aged residents of the Springfield Retirement Home. Watching Matlock's inaugural season, it's no wonder that viewers "of a certain age"... more » would take comfort in watching Atlanta defense attorney Matlock defend the falsely accused and, to quote The Simpsons, "put young people behind bars where they belong." Matlock was something of a departure for TV icon Griffith. While he's got his southern drawl goin' on, he left Andy Taylor back in Mayberry. Folksiness only goes so far in the big city. Matlock's fee is $100,000. And even if Opie or Aunt Bea were menaced, one can't imagine sheriff Andy threatening to feed the perpetrator to the D.A. "piece by piece." Matlock hews closely to the Perry Mason playbook. Most episodes incriminate a suspect, only to have the tenacious Matlock ("Next to injustice, I hate losing," he states) exonerate him or her with some flashy, last-minute courtroom theatrics that threaten to turn the courtroom into a "sideshow." One notable exception is the episode, "The Judge," featuring guest star Dick Van Dyke as a judge and old friend of Matlock who murders his mistress, and then presides over the trial of the man arrested for the crime. Other notable guest stars are Jose Ferrer as a terminally ill crime kingpin arrested for murder in the two-parter, "The Don," and Pat Hingle as a surly and disliked man likewise accused of murder in "Santa Claus." Season One is an auspicious beginning for the series that would run for six years on NBC and then three more on ABC. Casting tweaks and the addition of new characters would improve the proceedings. Bland Lori Lethin, who appears in the pilot episode as Matlock's daughter, a neophyte lawyer, was replaced in the series by the more experienced Linda Purl. The episode, "The People vs. Matlock" introduces Julie Sommars as feisty assistant district attorney Julie March, a foil and friend to Matlock. Nancy Stafford, who appears "The Seduction," would join the cast next season as Matlock's assistant, Michelle Thomas. Matlock even inspired a spinoff; the episode "The Don" pits Matlock against his "bitter enemy," William Conrad's James McShane, a cop-turned-district attorney who would later be transformed into Jason McCabe, aka "Fatman" in Jake and the Fatman (his future costar, Joe Penny, costars in the episode as one of the Don's highly suspect sons). In a prime time loaded with grisly police procedurals, the old school Matlock is a not-at-all-guilty pleasure. --Donald Liebenson « less
Sub-Genres: Drama, Drama, Classic TV, Mystery & Suspense
Format: DVD - Full Screen - Subtitled
Run Time: 19hr 0min
Screens: Full Screen
Edition: Box set
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Jean W. from JORDANVILLE, NY
we liked it well enough to order season 2
The packaging sucks
D. Nicholson | Minneapolis, MN | 10/30/2009
"I don't know where they get these packaging designers from but the designers of this package didn't know what they were doing. I've had two sets delivered and both times the package arrived with the hinge assembly that is inside broken. The discs are damaged. There are better ways to package multiple DVDs."
Judy K. Polhemus | Louisiana | 10/24/2009
"Today would be my father's 91st birthday if he were still alive. I've been thinking about him lately and wanted to honor him today. I'm doing that through Andy Griffith and "Matlock--the First Season." You see, Matlock was my father's absolutely favorite television show. I cannot say I ever watched it. I was long gone from home when he was a faithful viewer. My brother used to tell me not to go see Dad if Matlock was on.
My mother is one to say how annoyed she is if she is disturbed. Not my father. He was a quiet, unassuming man, an alcoholic, but a working alcoholic, who never missed a day of work, not even when he was sick. That still astonishes me. If one did interrupt his show, he would never let on for a minute that you had (I didn't--I followed my brother's advice. We all have our favorite things.)
I adored Andy Griffith and "The Andy Griffith Show," but never saw "Matlock." Maybe I need to, just to understand my father a little more. In his own way, he was a good man. Like Andy Griffith, like Matlock, but in a different way. Happy birthday, Daddy!"