Where To Watch
Andy Griffith originally had plans to leave Matlock after the fifth season
"You know, I don’t ever want to quit working," said the actor. "But I’d like to try a different part."
In addition to its powerful premise, Matlock had the added benefit of having television veteran Andy Griffith at the helm of the ship. The legal drama ran for nine seasons on two networks, NBC and ABC.
According to an interview with Griffith for Knight-Ridder, the star originally had plans to leave after the fifth season.
“After the fifth season, I said this is it, this is absolutely it, because that was what we were all striving for, to let it last five years. And it lasted five years. And I had no idea that anybody was interested. And I wasn’t interested. But Brandon Tartikoff (then president of NBC Entertainment) wanted me to do it, and so we agreed to do it for six years. And then I thought it was over.”
Of course, circumstances changed severely at NBC, and the hit show was later picked up by NBC, where it finished its run on television.
“Anyhow, we wound up doing this seventh year (on ABC, which picked up the show). And I really think that we’ve done all that we can do.”
Despite Griffith’s knockout history on the medium, after Matlock had wrapped filming, he was looking for a change of pace in his career.
“You know, I don’t ever want to quit working,” said the actor. “But I’d like to try a different part. An hour television show…People may not understand what kind of effort goes into an hour television show, but I work seven days a week.”
Related
