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Product Description ------------------- There are TV lawyers and then there's Matlock. Folksy yet aggressive, Harvard educated but still down to earth-Andy Griffith's portrayal of the clever Southern attorney is one of the all-time classic icons of television legal dramas. Fans who have followed the show for all of it's nine seasons will be thrilled to revisit how the program began. They'll also be surprised at how much the show changed over the years, while some things remained the same throughout it's storied run. From his simple gray Ford to his predilection for hot dogs, Matlock came across as both a personable and humorous character whose $100,000 fee was always worth the dough. Along with Tyler Hudson (Kene Holliday) and Matlock's daughter Charlene (Lori Lethan), the first season established the format that the show would follow throughout it's time on the air. The cases no one could solve, the clients no one could help, and the scandals no one could uncover are all deftly handled by Matlock and his team. For those who have never seen the show, this collection will clarify the program's immense popularity, while longtime fans will get to take a trip back in time and be reminded of why the fell in love in the first place. Includes 24 episodes plus the original pilot. Star Andy Griffith, Michael Durrell, Kene Holliday, Linda Purl, Lori Lethan Special Features: Region 1 7-Disc Set Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround English Runtime: 1140 minutes. .com ---- 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 Matlocks inaugural season, it's no wonder that viewers "of a certain age" 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 Matlocks 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 Matlocks assistant, Michelle Thomas. Matlock even inspired a spinoff; the episode "The Don" pits Matlock against his "bitter enemy," William Conrads James McShane, a cop-turned-district attorney who would later be transformed into Jason McCabe, aka "man" in Jake and the man (his future costar, Joe Penny, costars in the episode as one of the Dons highly suspect sons). In a prime time loaded with grisly procedurals, the old school Matlock is a not-at-all-guilty pleasure. --Donald Liebenson