CBS‘ new Matlock reboot boasts big-name stars like Jason Ritter, Beau Bridges, and, of course, Kathy Bates. But the original series, which aired on NBC and ABC between 1986 and 1995, was certainly packed full of talented actors, too — some of whom were already famous, others of whom were on their way! And with MeTV running special Matlock episodes at 9am EST every weekday as part of their “Month of Mayberry” tribute to Andy Griffith, there’s never been a better time to brush up on the show’s best guest stars.
In the original show, Griffith played Ben Matlock, a country lawyer with a knack for exonerating his clients at trial. The show gave Griffith another claim to fame (in addition to his time as a certain TV sheriff) and introducing himself to a new generation of TV viewers.
“Some people come up and say, ‘I really like the Matlock show,’” he said on TODAY in 1987, per MeTV. “The thing that I’m pleased about our show, is that — I live here in a little community called Toluca Lake, and I was going to a few stores a few Saturdays ago, and quite a number of couples, people who are in their 30s, in their 40s, in their 20s — intelligent looking people — said, ‘Gee, we really like that show!’ And so I’m pleased and proud that we are doing, as far as we can, an intelligent show on television, and adding as much humor as we can to it.”
With Matlock off the air for 30 years this May, you may have forgotten some of the famous folks who hired or faced off against Ben — a list that includes some of Griffith’s old friends. Refresh your memory with the lineup below.
Don Knotts
Griffith’s old Andy Griffith Show costar appeared in 17 episodes of the show, playing Les Calhoun, Matlock’s neighbor and onetime client.
Aneta Corsaut
This Andy Griffith Show alum, meanwhile, guest-starred as different characters in Seasons 2 and 5 before recurring as Judge Cynthia Justin in Season 6. Matlock was Corsaut’s final onscreen role before her 1995 death.
Dick Van Dyke
Two stars of self-named 1960s television shows united when Van Dyke joined Griffith in Season 1’s “The Judge.” He played a judge who murders his mistress and frames her new lover.
Marg Helgenberger
Before her time on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Helgenberger portrayed Victoria Rawlings, a murder victim with a double life, in the Season 2 installment “The Gambler.”
Billy Bob Thornton
This star of Sling Blade and Landman had a small part as a pawnshop clerk in the Season 1 episode “The Photographer.”
Bryan Cranston
Long before his Oscar nomination for Trumbo or his many Emmys for Breaking Bad, Cranston had two guest-starring roles on Matlock: He played murder suspected Brian Emerson in Season 2’s “The Gift” and the title character of Season 6’s “The Marriage Counselor.”
Jeri Ryan
This future Star Trek franchise star appeared in the Season 8 two-parter “The Final Seduction,” playing Carrie Locke, one of two women Matlock believes to be guilty of extortion and murder.
Titus Welliver
Now known for starring in Bosch, Welliver played Johnny Bauer, the cop accused of killing one of his colleagues, in Season 5’s “The Narc.”
Milton Berle
“Mr. Television” himself turned up on Matlock as this radio and TV entertainer guest-starred in Season 8’s “The Last Laugh” — an episode he co-wrote — as Harvey Chase, a comedian accused of murdering a rival.
Christina Pickles
In the Season 6 two-parter “The Picture,” this St. Elsewhere and Friends actor played Diana Huntington, a cousin of Matlock’s whom he can’t stand but still defends against murder charges.
Randy Travis
The singer’s two appearances — in Season 6’s “The Big Payoff” and Season 7’s “The Mark” — represented his first real acting credits; prior to that, he had only appeared as himself on an episode of Sesame Street. Travis credited his experiences on Matlock with inspiring him to continue acting.
Tony Goldwyn
Talk about a Scandal! Goldwyn played Dr. Mark Campion in the first-season installment “The Doctors,” an episode about docs suspected of murdering their supervisor.
David Carradine
After wrapping Kung Fu in 1975, Carradine embarked on a leg of his career that saw him frequently guest-starring on network dramas, with the actor popping up on three Matlock episodes in 1987 and 1989. Most memorably, Carradine played a country singer framed for the hit-and-run murder of his sister-in-law in Season 2’s “The Country Boy.”
Melissa McBride
Prior to her Walking Dead fame, McBride played both Darlene Kellogg, a cigarette-craving girlfriend of P.I. Cliff Lewis (Daniel Roebuck), and a cigarette vendor in the time-traveling Season 8 episode “Matlock’s Bad, Bad, Bad Dream.”
Joel Grey
Matlock said “willkommen” to this Cabaret actor when he appeared in Season 5’s “The Critic.” He took on the role of Tommy DeLuca, a theater director Matlock believes killed the title murder victim.
Jason Bateman, Corbin Bernsen, Rhea Perlman, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and Betty White
Matlock travels to Los Angeles to defend a TV producer in Season 2’s very meta “The Network,” and all these actors guest-starred as themselves. Bateman was starring on The Hogan Family at the time, Bernsen was on L.A. Law, Perlman was a Cheers star, Warner was starring on The Cosby Show, and White had recently started The Golden Girls.
