YMMV / Matlock

• Adorkable:
  • Cassie Phillips, whose first appearance saw her fumbling her way into Matlock's employ on a misunderstanding that he was going to offer her a job. She's very sweet and sympathetic and you just want to hug her because she's trying to do the right thing in spite of inexperience — and though she messes up, she's a very fast learner.
  • Cliff Lewis, Matlock's associate in the last three seasons. He's hired by Matlock because his father, Billy, guilts Matlock into it. Though a lawyer, he spends a lot of time as Matlock's investigator. Cliff also gets wrongfully accused of murder twice.
• Awesome Music: The theme song, which can best be described as a delightful fusion of Dixieland jazz with a hip-hop groove. Genuinely catchy on its own merits and a perfect musical metaphor for Matlock's character.
• Damsel Scrappy: Charlene. She's a constant victim of capture. Averted, however, when Michelle joins the series, as she's tougher and feistier when it comes to kidnappers and is more able to get out of such problems far more easily.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Popular in Finland up to the mid-2000s, when reruns were still being aired almost every day. Also managed to gain a younger Periphery Demographic.
• Growing the Beard: Arguably, Season 7, when the show made a Channel Hop to ABC. The supporting cast was reset (Julie Sommars and Nancy Stafford wanted to spend more time with their families and Clarence Gilyard Jr was now heavily involved with Walker, Texas Ranger.) and the series started to detach itself from formulaic stories. It also stopped being hammy for the most part and started to add some real depth to the cast. The addition of Billy Lewis also helped to liven things up by featuring a lot of amusing friction between him and Ben. There was also the character arc Cliff went through as Ben's understudy.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Ben's client in "The Secret" is a blues singer with a Big Fun physique who cooks a few hearty meals with Matlock, jokes, "You don’t think I got this way eating salads, do you?" and sings songs throughout the episode where half of them seem to be warnings or cautionary tales. Ron Taylor died of a heart attack at 49.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: The tragic twist of "The Priest" is that the titular victim actually commited suicide, which, by Catholic teaching, is the one unforgivable sin, due to suffering from a tumor that was altering his personality and decision making for the worse. His fellow priest who tried to cover it up lamented how this normally saintly priest lost his seat in Heaven over his mental illness. Less than a decade later, Pope John Paul II would promulgate the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which notably made it so suicide due to mental illness is not a mortal sin, meaning the priest would have made it to Heaven after all.
• Narm Charm: If Andy Griffith doesn't reel you in, the Ham and Cheese acting and 1980's fashion will.
  • There's also this early 90s promo for syndicated reruns of the show in Philadelphia, thanks to Philly 57's Large-Ham Announcer Kim Martin. "When your back is against the wall, make the call..."
• Nightmare Fuel: "The Dare"'s ending, specifically the final line: "What are you gonna do, Ben? Get me the death sentence? I've already got it". Yikes.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Bryan Cranston, who appeared in two different episodes as two different characters (a client and a victim).
  • Clarence Gilyard Jr (Conrad McMasters) would later go on to greater fame as James Trivette on Walker, Texas Ranger.
  • Kari Lizer (Cassie Phillips) would also go on to greater fame as creator and executive producer of The New Adventures of Old Christine.
  • In addition to his work on Matlock, Dean Hargrove is also best known as co-developer and executive producer of Father Dowling Mysteries, and is largely responsible for the series of Perry Mason Made For TV Movies throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
  • Tony Mordente directed ten episodes. Mordente is known for playing A-rab and Action in West Side Story.
  • Joel Steiger wrote 55 episodes, and also served as producer, supervising producer, co-executive producer, and executive producer. Steiger is also best known for co-developing Father Dowling Mysteries.
  • Joyce Burditt wrote three episodes. Burditt is best known as creator and producer, consulting producer, and supervising producer of Diagnosis: Murder.
  • Sam Rolfe wrote two episodes. Rolfe is best known as co-creator, associate producer, and producer of Have Gun – Will Travel, as developer and producer of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and for developing The Girl from U.N.C.L.E..
  • Scott Bakula appeared in "The Power Brokers", notably still brown-headed and with his natural American accent. He later took on the role of a Starfleet captain, followed by gaining silvery hair with age and a Creole accent for NCIS: New Orleans. And of course Scott's also known for striving to put right what once went wrong.
  • Kevin Conroy appears in a 1986 episode.
  • Charles Martinet (credited as "Charles Martinez") appears in a 1989 episode, several years prior to what would become prior to his most famous role.
  • Michael Sinterniklaas appears near the end of the 9th season's two-part premiere as a pizza delivery guy, which is funny in hindsight considering what one of his breakout voiceover roles was.
• So Bad, It's Good: The show is full of over-the-top pastiche characters and a lot of outrageous courtroom antics, but who doesn't love a good murder mystery? It's a surprisingly enjoyable romp, one of the few shows with Fred Silverman's name attached to it which isn't considered a spectacular dud.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Confederate flags are seen prominently displayed in a lot of the courtroom scenes, owing to the 1956-2001 State Flag of Georgia design.
• Values Dissonance: The pre-2001 Georgia flag featured in the show includes a design of the Confederate flag. There's no way that would ever fly today, seeing how the Confederate flag is now recognized as a symbol of racism and white supremacy.