This was Andy Griffith's first appearance as defense attorney, Ben Matlock. He has to defend a television reporter, who was approached by his ex-wife about an important story. After she is murdered, Ben is hired to defend him. Aiding Ben is his daughter, Charlene, another lawyer, and his legman, Tyler Hudson. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

A woman who after going through a messy divorce from her husband finds herself having to work as an exotic dancer. Her ex goes to see her and tells her he wants their son but she won't let him have their son. Later the man is killed and it appears that he was killed by a woman, so the ex-wife is arrested. Ben who represented her husband during the divorce and who regretted it, offers to defend her. He tries to find out who could have wanted to kill the man and frame his ex-wife. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

The mother of Charlene's former boyfriend hires Ben to defend the woman who's accused of killing of her husband. Ben wonders why. She says that her husband was a philanderer and the woman was another one of his dalliances and she wants it known. Ben wonders who could have killed him and he naturally focuses on the family which includes the woman who hired him and the man's son. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Football star Brad Bingham is accused of fatally bludgeoning the team's owner Cynthia Hyland.

Ben and Charlene take the case of Mafia don Nicholas Baron accused of murdering business rival Don Kovacs; Charlene is attracted to Baron's son Paul.

Ben defends a organized-crime boss.

Sisters Julia and Emily execute a clever and cold-hearted plan to murder their wealthy aunt and frame her husband Harold Scully. Ben reluctantly agrees to defend the annoying Scully and is faced with the challenge of breaking the seemingly airtight alibi of the sisters, and the strong bond between them. Written by Anonymous

After tough detective Joe Peters finds a fortune in his bank account, the mob frames him for Harry Landers' gunshot murder.

Spoiled rock star and party girl Angel goes to her manager Lou Pearson's house to patch up a drunken fight and passes out. When she comes to, he's been fatally stabbed in the chest with scissors. Ben reluctantly defends her.

Ben's law professor is arrested on charges of committing vehicular homicide. The man claims to have no recollection of what happened. Ben defends him. Ben suspects the man's assistant and two of his students of being behind the whole thing. He has to figure out why. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

At Christmas time, a heartless businessman wants to evict the residents of an apartment building he owns, he tangles with a resident who just happens to be working as a street Santa. Later a man wearing a Santa suit enters the businessman's office building and kills him. Later someone enters the Santa's apartment and tangles with him. Later three of the businessman's people find him dead. Ben offers to defend the Santa. He suspects that one of the associates is the killer cause a piece of evidence against the Santa was found near the body and he believes who ever broke into the Santa's apartment took it and planted it. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Ben defends the host of a cooking show when her ex-husband appears on her show and he dies after tasting what she was preparing and it's no big secret that she hates him. Because he wrote a cookbook using her recipes. Later the police find what was used to kill him in her house, when they get an anonymous tip. Ben operates under the assumption that she's the intended target, because other than her, no one has reason to kill her ex-husband,,and normally she tastes what she cooks. And she narrows it down to three men who just happen to be at the taping. So Ben asks the arresting officer to accompany him and record the three men and see if he can identify the anonymous caller. And when he thinks who it might be, Ben goes to see him but finds the man dead. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

When a woman in a small town writes a book whose characters are actual people in the town and it becomes a best seller, the press converge on the town to interview them. And some of them threaten the woman. When the local reverend goes to visit her, someone takes a shot at her killing the reverend. The police investigate and it leads them to one of the town's doctors who was depicted in the book as being a druggie who denies it and threatened the woman. Ben comes to defend him and he starts by checking some of the other people depicted in the book but learns none of them have reason to kill her. Later Ben discovers a different motive and suspect for the killing. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

In Los Angeles, a woman is murdered and the police suspect her boyfriend. The accused goes to see Matlock, and asks for his advice. While his current lawyers want to plead him out, Ben tells him to fight. He agrees, and puts Ben in charge of the case. Matlock is suspicious of three friends who were with the victim and the accused the night of the murder. But which one is the real killer? Along with Tyler, Ben tries to figure it out, but he has a hard time navigating L.A. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com, benmatlocktv@gmail.com

Kathy Dawson is a private nurse working for the St. John's. One night while she was out, the man she was taking care of, Peter St. John, has what appears to be a heart attack - and dies. When it's determined to be murder, Kathy is the prime suspect. Ben and an attractive redhead get into the Courthouse elevator, it malfunctions and they spend a few minutes alone together, to Ben's obvious delight. Ben arrives at Nurse Dawson's arraignment after taking her case with quite a retainer, the $250,000 engagement ring the deceased, Mr St. John, had given to her. As the Hearing gets under way, in rushes the new A.D.A. - it's the attractive redhead from the elevator, Julie March. The deceased's sister (Lacey St. John) tells A.D.A. March that the ring was actually stolen out of the safe, so the police seize it as evidence. Ben goes to the St. John residence and speaks with the sister, and Mrs Warren (the longtime housekeeper), he realizes that something just isn't adding up, and he's being lied... Written by canadazbest

A jury found a man, Les, guilty of murdering a friend, who had been also one of his business partners and one of his best buddies from Vietnam. Ben defended Les but lost. Seven years later Les receives a parole, but, before he leaves the prison, a fellow inmate attacks him with a knife; during the ensuing scuffle Les fatally stabs the assailant in self-defense. Ben then not only represents Les against the charge of the second death but also figures out what happened in the previous case. Written by DocRushing

A sadistic Army lieutenant pushes his men too hard. After a late-night poker game inside a back room of the officers' club, someone stabs him in the back with a bayonet, and he dies. The Army charges one of the soldiers in his company. The father of the accused is an old friend of Ben, so he hires Ben to defend his son. Ben investigates at the post, Tyler goes undercover, and Charlene lends a hand at a nearby night spot. Curious circumstances come to light. Before a preliminary hearing reconvenes, the defendant disappears. Written by DocRushing

Ben finds the defendant and returns him to the stockade, but a crucial witness (the only witness) disappears. Tyler discovers a drug-trafficking scheme in which the victim has taken part, Charlene finds out about the background, and Ben figures out the poker games, a cigar, the black book, the abuse, the divorce, the affair, and, of course, the murder. Ben even learns about military protocol and Army judicial procedure. Written by DocRushing

A famous movie star, staying incognito at a special clinic, becomes outraged when his presence there is leaked to the media. When the doctor is found murdered he is arrested for it.

Matlock is accused of bribing a witness.

A crooked photographer is murdered.

When a house blows up and a body is found which appears to be that of the owner. The police investigate and think that the man's wife is a suspect. When she is arrested, a reporter tells Ben about her and when he offers to defend her, the reporter hopes to get a story. When they look into the man's background, they discover a lot of irregularities. And even the neighbor saw some peculiar things on the night of the explosion. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Habitually angry Dr Dave Westlake supervises a team of doctors and threatens them with bad performance reviews before being killed. Team member Bruce Jacobs finds the body and they all become suspects.

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