Episode
Matlock: The Professor
Overview
Professor Erskine Tate wakes from a drunken stupor behind the wheel of his car. He doesn't know how he got there or what happened. When he's accused of having hit a mailman during his drunken joyride, he goes to a former student, Ben Matlock, for help, and Ben investigates two students and a teaching assistant.
Details
- Series
- Matlock
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 11
- Air date
- 1986-12-02
- Runtime
- 60 min
Episode context
The Professor is Episode 11 in Season 1 of Matlock. It aired on 1986-12-02. The runtime is 60 min.
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Episode 10: The Angel
Matlock reluctantly agrees to hire free-spirited rock star Angel after Charlene reveals she's already taken the job for them. Angel has been accused of killing her manager, and due to an alcohol induced black-out, can't even offer herself an alibi for the night. Matlock gets more and more angry when Angel continues to ignore his suggestions at toning down her life-style, but luckily he's able to get through to her before her attitude gets her convicted of murder.
Episode 12: Santa Claus
When a down-on-his luck Santa Claus (Tom McCabe) is accused of killing the landlord who was about to evict not only him but everyone else in the apartment complex, the people in his building take up a collection and come to Matlock to ask him to defend him. They may not like Tom, but none of them believe him guilty of murder. Matlock ignores his own misgivings about a man he can't help but dislike and agrees to defend Tom.
More episodes from this season
Episode 9: The Cop
Detective Joe Peters has been accused of taking bribes and murdering a fence, and also suspected in the death of a fellow cop. When it comes right down to it, one of the other cops on the force was more involved than they should have been.
Episode 13: The Chef
Michael and Victoria Edwards may be divorced, but unfortunately, she couldn't keep him from being a guest on her show. When Michael dies after testing out the dish they were cooking, Victoria is immediately charged with his murder. Matlock agrees to defend her, and gets some good home cooking in the bargain.
Episode 8: The Sisters
Harold Scully is a boring man. But at least he knows that. When he begs old acquaintance Ben Matlock to defend him on charges of murdering his wealthy wife Esther, Matlock reluctantly agrees. The more investigating he does, the more he realises that there is something seriously wrong with Harold's two nieces, sisters Julia and Emily.
Episode 14: The Author
Mary Ann Newton has written a book (Secret Confessions) that purports to be fiction, but upon a deeper look, it seems to be an expose on the citizens of a small town. When an attempt made on her life gets a local reverend instead, Matlock is called in to defend the suspected killer. As the case goes on, Matlock realises that Ms. Newton may not be the right target for the would-be killer.
Episode 7: The Don (2)
Even though they've lost a key witness, Matlock keeps defending Nicholas Baron. Daniel tries to convince Matlock that his father just can't handle any stress due to his heart condition, but Nicholas continues to beg Matlock to clear his name. While Matlock investigates a suspect closer to home than Baron would want, Charlene blows her chance at a relationship with Paul when she can't separate the man from the legend.
Episode 15: The Rat Pack
When Beverly Hills cookie entrepreneur Adam Gardner's girlfriend is found dead in his hot tub, the case against him looks bleak, especially when an eye witness points the finger at him. After his corporate lawyers advise him to plead guilty, Gardner hires Ben Matlock to defend him. While Matlock believes in his client's innocence, the more he learns about the victim, the greater the motive his client has, especially once love letters turn up that were exchanged between the victim and Josh Sinclair, Adam's supposed best friend.
Episode 6: The Don (1)
When Nicholas Baron, a well known mobster, is accused of murdering one of his rivals, he asks Ben Matlock to represent him. Ben initially refuses, but agrees to represent Baron despite threats on his own life. He soon meets the entire family, and realises that despite what Baron has always done for a living, at heart he's a worried father who wants to clear his name.
Episode 16: The Nurse
Kathy Warren was a private nurse working for the St. Johns. One night while she was out, Peter St. John died, and when it was determined to be murder, she was the prime suspect. She hired Matlock to defend her, offering her engagement ring as a fee. After Lacey St. John told A.D.A. Julie March that the ring had been stolen from their home, Matlock realised that something wasn't right in the St. John house, and that someone was lying to him.
Episode 5: The Seduction
Matlock is hired to defend Brad Bingham, an aging football star with a reputation as a womanizer who was about to be cut from the team. Charlene is resistant to Ben's choice, as she believes everything the tabloids have to say about Brad...not only that, but years earlier, he'd had a brief relationship with her friend Ellen Hawley, who had tried to kill herself after they broke up. As the case continues, Charlene realises that not everything that's printed in the papers is true and that maybe Ellen wasn't quite honest with her, even though a call girl (Caryn Nelson) hired to make Brad look guilty almost convinces her that he is.
Episode 17: The Convict
Seven years ago Ben defended Les Matthews, who was accused of killing his friend and business partner and Ben lost. Today Matthews has been granted parole. While working in the library, Wayne Lashley enters with his two goons, Lipton and Foley. While Lipton and Foley keep watch, Lashley tries to kill Les, but in the struggle, it's Lashley who ends up dead, and Les who ends up looking guilty.
Matthews is charged with Lashley's murder and Ben wants to defend him. He sends Tyler undercover in the prison and places him with the cellmate of the man who was killed. He gives Ben evidence that not only proves Matthews is telling the truth but also who was responsible for the murder that Matthews was convicted of seven years ago.