Matlock season 6

Matlock
Season 6
No. of episodes	22
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	October 18, 1991 (1991-10-18) – May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 5 Next → Season 7
List of episodes

The sixth season of Matlock originally aired in the United States on NBC with a two-hour season premiere from October 18, 1991 and a two-hour season finale on May 8, 1992.

Cast

Main

• Andy Griffith as Ben Matlock
• Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas
• Julie Sommars as ADA Julie March
• Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Conrad McMasters

Recurring

• Brynn Thayer as Leanne McIntyre

Cast notes

• Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars departed at the end of the season
• Julie Sommars was absent for thirteen episodes
• Nancy Stafford was absent for eleven episodes
• Clarence Gilyard Jr. was absent for four episodes

Episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Viewers (millions)
114 115	1 2	"The Witness Killings"	Christopher Hibler	Story by : Gerald Sanoff Teleplay by : Anne Collins	October 18, 1991 (1991-10-18)	21.2 [1]
Matlock, accompanied by Julie, heads to his hometown for a family reunion, but things get pretty chaotic when the best friend of his cousin's son is killed, and his rival, Russ Gifford (Cyril O'Reilly), is charged with the murder. Also, the entire town happens to be against Matlock, as many of them believe that Matlock thinks that he is better than they are, he being a big city lawyer. When a second young man dies under apparently normal circumstances, Matlock continues to represent Gifford. In Atlanta, Conrad investigates the tattoo that connects the case together. Other guest stars: Kay E. Kuter as Uncle Roy, Jerry Potter as Bernie, Zack Graham as Young Max, J. Hunter as Young Noel, and Collin Nelson as Young Gary. Note: This is the first episode to have an uptempo theme, which will be later used in the next season. This was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Nancy Stafford and Clarence Gillyard Jr. do not appear in this episode.
116	3	"The Strangler"	Leo Penn	Lincoln Kilbee	October 25, 1991 (1991-10-25)	14.9 [2]
A serial killer, Jeffrey Speidel (Richard Gilliland) strangles his victims, including Patricia Downey (Katherine Cannon), and frames Ben's accountant, Leo Kasabian (Steven Gilborn). Matlock takes the case as Speidel makes a point of targeting Matlock; his next attempt is to ruin Matlock in public, before killing him. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode.
117	4	"The Nightmare"	Robert Scheerer	Anne Collins	November 1, 1991 (1991-11-01)	14.0 [3]
At a forced halt in a Wild West town while on a bus trip to a dude ranch with Julie, Conrad, Michelle, and Lt. Brooks, Matlock is hit on the head by a falling sign and wakes up in the era of the Old West, where he meets Wild West equivalents of his friends and acquaintances. He has to save Conrad from an angry lynch mob after Conrad is accused of murdering the town sheriff (played by the bus driver), but is being frequently disturbed by Michelle, a lovely saloon girl, and Julie, the vengeance-seeking sister of the deceased. Eventually, Matlock awakens just as he exposes Michelle as the killer and she is about to kill him, and continues on his way after a shocking encounter with the bus mechanic (who was the judge in his dream).
118	5	"The Marriage Counselor"	Christopher Hibler	Phil Mishkin	November 8, 1991 (1991-11-08)	19.1 [4]
Marriage counselor Dr. Harding Fletcher (Bryan Cranston) has been murdered, and Ben defends an annoying insurance agent, Alan Corning (Ron Fassler), who is accused of the crime. Ben soon discovers that Alan's wife, Laura (Kim Johnston Ulrich), was among the many married women sleeping with Fletcher, and that all of his suspects not only include Fletcher's co-workers, but also the couples he helped out; apparently part of Fletcher's treatment was seducing the female half of the couples. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode.
119	6	"The Dame"	Leo Penn	David Hoffman	November 15, 1991 (1991-11-15)	17.7 [5]
While eating out with Julie, Matlock has a chance meeting with a random woman (Julianna McCarthy). Matlock realizes she is Claire Mayfield, whom he and his father helped convict as an accessory to the murder of her rich husband, Henry (Daniel Benzali), and has recently been released from prison. The story of the case is then presented in flashback, with Andy Griffith playing Ben's father Charlie, and Steve Witting portraying a younger Ben. Note: Nancy Stafford and Clarence Gilyard Jr. do not appear in this episode. (However, Gilyard's future Walker, Texas Ranger co-star, Sheree J. Wilson guest stars.)
120	7	"The Suspect: Part 1"	Harvey S. Laidman	Story by : Gerald Sanoff & Joel Stieger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	November 29, 1991 (1991-11-29)	19.4 [6]
Matlock represents a rich widow, Roxanne Windemere (Brynn Thayer), who is charged with the murder of her husband, while Michelle takes a pro bono case defending a father (Pepe Serna) accused of killing the drug dealer who got his child hooked. Note: Brynn Thayer guest-stars as Roxanne Windemere in this episode. She will play Leanne McIntyre at the end of this season. Julie Sommars does not appear in this episode.
121	8	"The Suspect: Part 2"	Harvey S. Laidman	Story by : Gerald Sanoff & Joel Stieger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	November 29, 1991 (1991-11-29)	19.4 [6]
Matlock discovers that, while the rich widow was innocent of killing her husband, she has several dirty secrets up her sleeve connected to the drug-dealer case Michelle is working on. Roxanne duped Matlock into unwittingly covering for her, while her real alibi was that she was murdering the dealer. He seeks revenge, but finds that convicting her of her other crimes will be nearly impossible thanks to attorney-client privilege issues, and that he must find a legal loophole. Note: Brynn Thayer guest-stars as Roxanne Windemere in this episode. She will play Leanne McIntyre at the end of this season. Julie Sommars does not appear in this episode.
122	9	"The Defense"	Peter Ellis II	Gerald Sanoff	December 6, 1991 (1991-12-06)	16.2 [7]
Teenager Danny Hayes (David Kaufman) is on trial for the murder of his father, Frank, though Matlock claims it was justifiable homicide. Danny honestly believed that his father was about to kill his mother, Christine, but the untrue testimony of his father's best friend threatens Danny's chances at freedom; on Matlock's advice, Danny takes the stand and tells his side of the story. This episode heavily focuses on the long-term effects of unreported domestic abuse. This is also the only episode where Matlock knows from the start that his client actually committed the crime, and his goal in the episode is proving Danny's actions were to defend his mother. Note: Julie Sommars and Clarence Gilyard Jr. do not appear in this episode.
123	10	"The Game Show"	Robert Scheerer	Max Eisenberg & Lonon F. Smith	December 13, 1991 (1991-12-13)	16.5 [8]
Larry Fisher, the producer of the popular game show "It's About Time", is murdered during a blackout that occurs during a taping, the murder weapon being an apple peeler belonging to the aging host Dennis Blake (Peter Haskell). Matlock defends Blake at a request of a friend of Conrad's, while Michelle goes undercover as a contestant to expose a cheating scandal. Guest stars: David Froman as Lt. Bob Brooks, Chuck Sloan as A.D.A. McGarth, Bruce Fairbarin as Walter Beldon, Kathleen Garrett as Marjorie Wood, Peter Haskell as Emcee Dennis Blake, Juanita Jennings as an Assistant, Arthur Rosenberg as Larry Fisher, Dana Sparks as Kari Summers, Mark L. Taylor as Norm Fisher, Steven Hack as Sheldon, Roger Keller as Game Show Contestant, Nancy Linari as Doreen, David Nelson as Kari Summers's body Guard, Caroline Schlitt as Rita, Alexander Zale as Judge Michael Alden Note: Julie Sommars does not appear in this episode.
124	11	"The Foursome"	Harvey S. Laidman	Diana Kopald Marcus	December 20, 1991 (1991-12-20)	18.0 [9]
Matlock reluctantly represents Ellis Blake (Mitchell Ryan), a disagreeable millionaire who's accused of murdering his daughter's gold digger fiance, Jeffrey Holden (Russ Anderson). In taking this case, he must deal with a young, new assistant district attorney, Lauren Richmond (Amy Stock-Poynton), who, on the surface, seems to idolize Matlock, but turns out to be very unethical and sneaky; despite Ben's best attempts, Lauren, having deluded herself into being sure Ellis is guilty, plants evidence to ensure his conviction. However, ADA March and Matlock manage to catch a fluke, and working together, they expose both Lauren's duplicity and Holden's real killer, saving Matlock's client. Note: Nancy Stafford does not appear in this episode. Mitchell Ryan and Andy Griffith had previously worked together on the 1984 miniseries Fatal Vision which led to Griffith being cast as Matlock. The two would later work together on the 1995 TV movie Gramps, Griffith's first post-Matlock project.
125	12	"The Picture: Part 1"	Leo Penn	Story by : Gerald Sanoff & Joel Stieger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	January 17, 1992 (1992-01-17)	20.6 [10]
Ben's disagreeable and abusive cousin, Diana Huntington (Christina Pickles) comes to Matlock's house and tells him her husband, Jack (Reiner Schone) has left her for a young painter due to being fed up with Diana frequently abusing him. She guilts him into locating Jack, only to follow and assault Jack once Ben finds him. Later, someone driving Diana's car strikes down and kills Jack while he is jogging; as a result, Diana is charged with his murder. Matlock reluctantly represents her. Meanwhile, Les plans to marry a nurse he met while shopping at the supermarket. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode. Don Knotts appears as Les Calhoun.
126	13	"The Picture: Part 2"	Leo Penn	Story by : Gerald Sanoff & Joel Stieger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	January 24, 1992 (1992-01-24)	18.4 [11]
Matlock defends his cousin Diana Huntington on charges of murdering her husband and uncovers a massive counterfeiting ring in the process. He, Michelle and Conrad manage to lay separate traps (although Diana, out on bail, frustrates Conrad's attempt), and the police arrest everyone involved, three of whom had motive to kill Jack. Ben exposes the guilty party and saves Diana; however, he makes her promise to get therapy and warns her he'll never do her another favor again. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode. Don Knotts appears as Les Calhoun.
127	14	"The Outcast: Part 1"	Frank Thackery	Robert Schlitt	February 7, 1992 (1992-02-07)	22.1 [12]
After a long, stressful series of assignments, being unable to remember a client's name, and being fired from a high-stakes case, Matlock has decided to retire from the law business. A young boy from El Salvador asks him for a lift into Oak Creek. Matlock does so, but the boy dies within an hour of arriving in a farm equipment accident. Matlock suspects something is badly off about the town of Oak Creek when four different people try to get him to leave and not discuss the death, and when he discovers someone snooping in his hotel room, he decides to stick around and investigate.
128	15	"The Outcast: Part 2"	Frank Thackery	Robert Schlitt	February 7, 1992 (1992-02-07)	22.1 [12]
The prominent members of Oak Creek township decide something must be done about Matlock, who is getting close to unraveling their scheme. After a little snooping at the undertaker's office uncovers a suspicious fact, Matlock drives off to inform the local sheriff about it, only to have a man try to run him off the road with a pickup truck. Matlock begins to suspect the sheriff is in on it too. He brings Conrad in to help, but Conrad is shot and Matlock must ask the owner of the hotel, Alice (Sylvia Short), to put her own life at risk to help him save Conrad and unravel the dirty secrets of Oak Creek once and for all. He then decides to return to Atlanta and come out of retirement, realizing he loves helping people too much to quit.
129	16	"The Big Payoff"	Leo Penn	Story by : Joel Stieger Teleplay by : Gerry Conway	February 28, 1992 (1992-02-28)	18.7 [13]
Matlock, having returned to law practice, hires Billy Wheeler (Randy Travis) to paint his house. Meanwhile, Michelle works with an insurance investigator (Max Alexander) to prove that TV chef Richard Maitlin killed his rich wife Grace (Lynne Cormack) and framed one of her colleagues, in order to collect on the insurance money. Note: Julie Sommars does not appear in this episode. Randy Travis makes his first of two appearances as Billy Wheeler. Towards the end of the episode, Griffith and Travis perform a duet of "Nobody's Darling But Mine", the second time the song was featured on the show (the first being in Season 2's The Country Boy, as a duet with Griffith and David Carradine)
130	17	"The Abduction"	Robert Scheerer	Lincoln Kibbee	March 6, 1992 (1992-03-06)	19.2 [14]
While at a lawyer's convention, Ben runs into an old friend who has since become legal counsel to mobster Jay Cutler. When his friend is murdered, Matlock plans to make a statement to the police. His plans change when Michelle is kidnapped by thugs working for Cutler, who force information from the attorney. Matlock and Conrad soon have to weigh their professional ethics against her life. Note: Julie Sommars does not appear in this episode.
131	18	"Mr. Awesome"	Harvey S. Laidman	William T. Conway	April 17, 1992 (1992-04-17)	14.2 [15]
When one of Conrad's friends, waitress and single mother Anne Johnson (Marilyn Jones), is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend, Dwayne Meeks (John D'Aquino), Conrad begs Matlock to defend her. It is discovered that Dwayne was a womanizer and not a very nice guy. Matlock soon notices that Anne's son, Jimmy (Jordan Christopher Michael) who has a talent for drawing and enjoys making comics (his best featuring Anne's coworker Walt Thomas (Michael McGrady) as the hero and Dwayne as the villain), has the key to the entire case. He uses Jimmy's drawings to expose Dwayne's killer, and Jimmy makes Ben the hero's sidekick in his comic. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode.
132	19	"The Evening News: Part 1"	Harvey S. Laidman	Story by : Gerald Sanoff Teleplay by : Anne Collins	April 24, 1992 (1992-04-24)	13.6 [16]
Billy Finley (Bill Winkler) is constantly the butt of his co-worker's jokes, and is fired after he makes a fool out of himself on two different stories — one with Matlock, the other with politician Joe Bivins (Jim Jansen). Shortly after, the body of another fired co-worker, Doug Levitt (Leon Russom), is found, and Billy is the first suspect. Matlock agrees to defend Billy, who then makes another scene as he confronts Diane Becker (Mary Gordon Murray) at the office, accusing her of being behind the second prank, which ended up getting him fired. What Matlock doesn't realize is that Levitt faked his own death, and he and Becker were involved in a scheme to make a lot of money by airing incorrect news regarding a report by the zoning commission. While Conrad keeps an eye on their third partner, Nelson Adelson (Stuart Margolin), Matlock also tries to get out of a ticket for failure to stop at a stop sign. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode.
133	20	"The Evening News: Part 2"	Harvey S. Laidman	Story by : Gerald Sanoff Teleplay by : Anne Collins	May 1, 1992 (1992-05-01)	13.4 [17]
The real murderer winds up being killed, which does not help Matlock's client (Bill Winkler) much. Not only that, but there's a real estate scam looming in the wings that also affects the case. Note: Nancy Stafford and Julie Sommars do not appear in this episode.
134	21	"The Assassination: Part 1"	Christopher Hibler	Story by : Gerald Sanoff and Joel Steiger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08)	24.7 [18]
While the local mayor is assassinated, Matlock's daughter Leanne McIntyre comes to town to prove the case. The case takes a different turn when Judge Arthur Eller is accused of murdering a local man's wife, and Matlock and Leanne have to work out their relationship together to clear Eller of murder. Guest Stars: Eddie Jones as Chief Colin Young and Daniel Roebuck as Prosecutor Mr. Sodowsky Note: This is the first appearance of Brynn Thayer as Leanne MacIntyre.
135	22	"The Assassination: Part 2"	Christopher Hibler	Story by : Gerald Sanoff and Joel Steiger Teleplay by : Anne Collins	May 8, 1992 (1992-05-08)	24.7 [18]
Matlock and Leanne continue to defend judge Eller of murder of his lover. Guest Stars: Eddie Jones as Chief Colin Young and Daniel Roebuck as Prosecutor Mr. Sodowsky Note: This is the final appearance of Michelle Thomas and final regular appearance of Julie March. This was also the final episode to air on NBC.

References

1. Donlon, Brian (October 23, 1991). "CBS bats one out of the park". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
2. Donlon, Brian (October 30, 1991). "Close Series wins big for CBS". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
3. Donlon, Brian (November 6, 1991). "Ratings contest narrows". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
4. Donlon, Brian (November 13, 1991). "NBC's hurricane windfall". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
5. Donlon, Brian (November 20, 1991). "'60 Minutes' clocks a 3rd win". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
6. Donlon, Brian (December 4, 1991). "The nut at the door on 'Seinfeld'". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
7. Donlon, Brian (December 11, 1991). "Football a winner for NBC". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
8. Donlon, Brian (December 18, 1991). "St. Nick arrives early for CBS". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
9. Donlon, Brian (December 26, 1991). "Ratings for CBS to celebrate". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
10. Gable, Donna (January 22, 1992). "Brooks ropes ratings for NBC". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
11. Donlon, Brian (January 29, 1992). "NBC's horror tale surprise". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
12. Donlon, Brian (February 12, 1992). "CBS mines Olympic gold". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
13. Donlon, Brian (March 4, 1992). "Last-place Fox is rising fast". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
14. Donlon, Brian (March 11, 1992). "'Indy' boosts ABC". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
15. Gable, Donna (April 22, 1992). "'Roseanne' leads ABC's way". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
16. Gable, Donna (April 29, 1992). "ABC wins with news, goodbyes". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
17. Gable, Donna (May 6, 1992). "'Cosby' goes out on top". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.
18. Donlon, Brian (May 13, 1992). "Finales put NBC in first". Life. USA Today . p. 3D.

External links

• Matlock at IMDb