This Matlock trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers the original 1986 to 1995 series and the 2024 CBS reboot. On the Andy Griffith side: Ben's grey suits and grey Crown Victorias, the hot dogs and the $100,000 retainer, daughter Charlene, partners Michelle Thomas and Cliff Lewis, investigators Tyler Hudson and Conrad McMasters, DA Julie March, Don Knotts next door, the move from NBC to ABC and from California to Wilmington, and the Jake and the Fatman spin-off. There is a round on Griffith himself, from Mount Airy to Broadway to A Face in the Crowd, and a round on Kathy Bates's Madeline "Matty" Matlock and the firm of Jacobson Moore. Questions start easy (what does Ben eat?) and climb to the details for people who watched every rerun. Difficulty is marked on every question. Every answer has been checked against the Wikipedia articles on both series and on Andy Griffith, and each question shows its citation.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Ben Matlock's profession?
Defense attorney
Most episodes end with him cross-examining a witness on the stand until the real culprit cracks.
Q 02In which city does Ben Matlock practise law?
Atlanta
He lives in a modest farmhouse in the suburbs and likes to visit crime scenes himself.
Q 03Matlock debuted on which network in March 1986?
NBC
It moved to ABC in November 1992 and ran there until the finale in May 1995.
Q 04Who created Matlock?
Dean Hargrove
Hargrove also created the 1980s Perry Mason TV films, which explains the family resemblance.
Q 05What colour suit does Ben Matlock almost always wear?
Light grey
His cars are grey too: three successive Ford Crown Victorias, a nod to Griffith's long association with Ford.
Q 06What is Ben Matlock's favourite food?
Hot dogs
The season eight episode "The Diner" plays the obsession for laughs.
Q 07What retainer does the famously frugal Matlock usually charge his clients?
$100,000
He waives it often enough when he believes a client is innocent or broke.
Q 08Which car does Ben Matlock drive throughout the series?
A grey Ford Crown Victoria
He goes through three generations of the model over nine seasons.
Q 09From which law school did Ben Matlock graduate?
Harvard
He worked as a public defender before going into private practice.
Q 10In season one, Matlock's law partner is his daughter. What is her name?
Charlene
Lori Lethin played her in the pilot film and Linda Purl in the series; the character moved to Philadelphia after season one.
Q 11Matlock's first private investigator, Tyler Hudson, had what other talent?
He was a stock market whiz
Kene Holliday played him and often went undercover in disguise; he was let go after season three.
Q 12Matlock's most frequent courtroom opponent, district attorney Julie March, comes from which state?
Nebraska
Julie Sommars played her; the two become good friends despite facing off in court.
Q 13Where does Matlock meet his second law partner, Michelle Thomas, at the start of season two?
London
Nancy Stafford's character, an American lawyer working abroad, follows him back to Atlanta.
Q 21Where was Matlock filmed for its NBC seasons?
California
Griffith commuted from his home in North Carolina; when ABC took over, production moved to Wilmington to spare him the trip.
Q 22When Matlock moved to ABC, production shifted to studios in which North Carolina city?
Wilmington
The format also changed from a whodunit to an inverted detective story, where viewers see the crime first.
Q 23Which CBS series was spun off from a two-part season-one Matlock episode called "The Don"?
Jake and the Fatman
William Conrad's prosecutor J. L. McShane debuted there; Diagnosis: Murder was in turn spun off from Jake and the Fatman.
Q 14Investigator Conrad McMasters, played by Clarence Gilyard Jr., had which two former careers?
Deputy sheriff and rodeo rider
Gilyard left after season seven for a starring role on another CBS drama.
Q 15Which series did Clarence Gilyard leave Matlock to join in 1993?
Walker, Texas Ranger
He came back once, in the season eight episode "The View".
Q 16Which Andy Griffith Show co-star turned up on Matlock as neighbour Les "Ace" Calhoun?
Don Knotts
Knotts and Griffith had first worked together in the 1958 film No Time for Sergeants.
Q 17Brynn Thayer joined the regular cast in season seven as Leanne MacIntyre, who is what to Ben?
His older daughter
She had first appeared as a murder suspect Ben fell for, then as the previously unmentioned daughter who took on a murdered mayor's case.
Q 18Ben's last law partner, Cliff, is the son of which figure from Matlock's past?
His childhood friend Billy Lewis
Ben had once abandoned a romance with Billy's sister to pursue his law career, so Billy is as much nemesis as friend.
Q 19The season nine investigator Jerri Stone shared which hobby with Ben?
Singing
Carol Huston's character was noted for her lullabies; Conrad had also sung with Ben.
Q 20How many episodes of Matlock aired in total?
193
That is fewer than the 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, but Griffith logged more screen time as Matlock because the episodes were an hour.
Q 24In a Diagnosis: Murder crossover, Matlock blames Dr. Mark Sloan for a 1969 investment that cost him $5,000. In what?
8-track tapes
That, the story goes, is why he lives on hot dogs.
Q 25Which production outfit, named for a former network president, produced Matlock with Viacom?
The Fred Silverman Company
Silverman and Hargrove also ran Perry Mason, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis: Murder.
Q 26Matlock's format is closest to which earlier legal series, whose 1980s TV films came from the same creator?
Perry Mason
One difference: Mason usually cleared his client at a pretrial hearing, while Matlock won acquittals from juries.
Q 27By its final season, Matlock had largely become what?
A series of movies-of-the-week
Griffith was 66 and wanted more time with his family.
Q 28Nancy Stafford first appeared on Matlock in season one playing what kind of character?
A prostitute paid to commit perjury
Several future regulars, including Kari Lizer and Daniel Roebuck, first showed up as one-off characters.
Q 29Kari Lizer's Cassie Phillips held what job in Matlock's office?
File clerk
She wanted to become his partner after his previous associate left, then vanished from the show without explanation.
Q 30Ben's police contact for the first six seasons was Lieutenant Bob Brooks. Who played him?
David Froman
James McEachin's Lieutenant Frank Daniels had filled the role in season one.