The Real Reason the Original ‘Matlock’ Was Canceled After Nine Seasons
Andy Griffith is best known for his charming run as Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show, but in the ’80s, he found a second wave of fame starring on NBC’s Matlock, as defense attorney Ben Matlock. The series drew a loyal fan base, but NBC still shocked Griffith and audiences when it canceled the show after six seasons. It turns out the network strategy was to blame — but Matlock got a second life for a few seasons when ABC decided to pick up the show.
By the early ’90s, Matlock had already run for six successful seasons on NBC and was still performing well, ranking 40th out of 123 network shows. Yet when Warren Littlefield took over as NBC’s new entertainment president, his focus was clear: younger viewers. Series like In the Heat of the Night and Matlock were labeled as “too old-skewing,” and both got the axe. Griffith later admitted in an interview with the Chillicothe Gazette that Littlefield “didn’t even like the show” and wanted to reduce it to just a handful of TV movies over several years. Griffith wasn’t having it. “I had to take it because I frankly am too old to be canceled,” he said, according to MeTV.
Viacom Productions Inc./Everett Collection
Determined to keep the series alive, Griffith and his producers approached ABC with an offer to move production to North Carolina, cutting costs while continuing to deliver weekly episodes. The pitch worked, and Matlock enjoyed three more seasons on ABC before ending its run in 1995. Executive producer Fred Silverman even tried jazzing up the final NBC season to win back support, but the network wouldn’t budge.
Even after its cancellation, Matlock proved hard to keep down. In 2013, a Cleveland NBC affiliate resurrected the show in protest after Griffith was left out of the Oscars “In Memoriam” segment. The station aired a two-hour Matlock in place of NBC’s Thursday night lineup, which also included The Office, 1600 Penn and Law & Order: SVU. To the surprise of many, Griffith’s courtroom drama held its own against the sitcoms in ratings, a reminder that you could never underestimate Matlock‘s staying power. Of course, the show remained so beloved that it sparked a recent reboot starring Kathy Bates.
Where to Watch the Original Matlock
You can watch it on MeTV, Hallmark Mystery, or stream it on Paramount+, Pluto TV and YouTube TV.
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