Matlock: The Fourth Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews



Supporting actors must follow three simple rules while on a hit TV series. Never upstage the star. Keep your vices private. Always arrive before your call time. Producers will have you written out without a care. They can cast the new you or hire Ted McGinley. Your antics is their money. During the third season of Matlock, Kene Holliday broke two of those rules when his substance abuse issues caused him to mess up the shooting schedule. Thus his character Tyler Hudson was replaced as Ben Matlock’s private investigator during the hiatus. Clarence Gilyard Jr. arrived as Conrad McMasters to be the new Tyler. Matlock: The Fourth Season sort of gives us a changing of the guard at the law office.

“The Hunting Party” is a movie length season opener that takes Matlock to what is supposed to be unfamiliar territory. At this time, the series was shot in Los Angeles as a fake Atlanta. For the movie, two homicides are committed in Manteo, North Carolina. Matlock is flown into the small island that’s nestled behind the Outer Banks. He must defend the man busted for killing the suspect in his brother’s murder. During the investigation, the out of state lawyer takes a shine to a local policeman, Conrad McMasters (Clarence Gilyard Jr). After Matlock finishes the case, McMasters takes a vacation in Atlanta to see if he can handle working in the big city. Amazingly enough, there’s a job opening. Having vacationed around Manteo, I can confirm that they really shot around town and not a backlot. Andy Griffith still lives there.

“The Best Seller” is the last time Tyler Hudson contributes to a case. This is a strange episode since Matlock takes off at the start of the episode to be honored at a law school. Julie March (Julie Sommars) holds down the fort when she investigates the death of a female novelist’s friend. The woman bites it after ingesting the novelist’s medication. The prime suspect is the novelist’s husband (Ironside‘s Don Galloway). But can it be that simple? Don Knotts pops up as Matlock’s neighbor. Tyler helps Julie for his final gig. There’s no fond farewell or a parting story about him heading to Raleigh to share a room with Barney Fife at the YMCA. He vanishes and McMasters assumes his postion.

“The Ex” has Julie once more taking the lead. She heads up to Baltimore to defend, but needs Matlock’s help since the prosecutor is her ex-husband. “The Clown” brings a smiling face to homicide. It’s a clown on clown killing. “The Star” shines Anita Morris (The Rolling Stone’s “She Was Hot” video) as a celebrity corpse. “The Prisoner” is a two-parter that is Matlock’s riskiest case yet. He has to go into a prison to prove a guard wasn’t a killer. He might get his client off, but will the escape freely from the prison? “The Fugitive” is funny since the murder suspect’s name is Drew Carey. “The Pro” gives no love on the tennis court when Vincent Van Patten gets busted for killing his rival. Vincent was beloved as the Bionic Boy on The Six Million Dollar Man. “The Informer” allows Andy Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro a chance to act with Andy Griffith. “The Cookie Monster” does not allow Matlock to practice law on Sesame Street. A cookie company executive dies from an allergic reaction. But it’s really murder. Elmo isn’t a suspect.

The transition from Hudson to McMasters is relatively smooth. The new guy handles the gig without any major bumps. It just shows that supporting actors can’t get messed up. Sure a hit series will bend over backwards to rehab a star, but a supporting character can always be replaced without explanation. He should have known better since the series had already dumped Matlock’s daughter and file clerk without the chemistry suffering. The good news is Kene Holliday did clean himself up and recently starred in Great World of Sound. Matlock: The Fourth Season doesn’t suffer from losing him. This is still an entertaining bucket of 23 deep fried legal thrillers.

The Episodes
“The Hunting Party,” “The Good Boy,” “The Best Seller,” “The Ex,” “The Clown,” “The Star,” “The Con Man,” “The Prisoner” (Two-parter), “The Fugitive,” “The Buddies,” “The Scrooge,” “The Witness,” “The Student,” “The Talk Show,” “The Victim,” “The Kidnapper,” “The Pro,” “The Informer” (Two-parter),” “The D.A,” “The Blackmailer” and “The Cookie Monster”

The video is 1.33:1 full frame. While the series was shot on 35mm, the post-production was completed on video. The beauty of Manteo isn’t completely brought out because of this resolution downgrade. The audio is Dolby Digital Surround Sound. The levels are good enough for Abe Simpson to follow the action. The episodes are Closed Captioned.

None.

Matlock: The Fourth Season says goodbye to Tyler Hudson without much fanfare. Instead we’re given the plucky Conrad McMasters willing to go deep for the sake of making Matlock look like a genius. The cases aren’t the most intense homicides on TV, but they reflect the relaxed Southern philosophy that Matlock brings to the courtroom.


CBS DVD presents Matlock: The Fourth Season. Starring: Andy Griffith, Julie Sommars, Clarence Gilyward Jr and Don Knotts. Boxset Contents: 23 episodes on 6 DVDs. Released on DVD: March 2, 2010. Available at Amazon.com.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.