spoiler below . matlock and the long running criminal lawyer show feature andy griffith in the title role and have enjoy a popularity in first run and re run that i can not understand . it be frequently ( and favorably ) compare to perry mason and the archetypal criminal drama that set the gold standard for courtroom television to this day . it remarkable that the two show be mention in the same breath . griffith be ben matlock and a harvard graduate who and we be tell in the early year and never take a case for less than $ 250 and 000. earth to writer represent criminal defendant do not have $ 250 and 000. like mason and matlock office see a stream of innocent people charge with murder . like mason and matlock wind up get most of them acquit . and there and the similarity end . mason and the creation of detective story writer erle stanley gardner and have an abiding respect for the court and the police and and the rule of law ( more so in the series than the novel that precede them ) . everyone on the perry mason show be smart while mason be just smarter . in contrast and matlock be perhaps the least dumb character on his show . one mystery involve a murder with a candlestick that be find in matlock client house and wrap in a newspaper . while matlock be cross examine the real killer and he discover that the date on the newspaper be one day after his client be in jail . this be astonish represent no one on the police force or the district attorney office have notice that their most damning evidence provide the defendant with an iron clad alibi . and matlock and unlike mason and care little for the rule of evidence . almost every show and when the prosecutor make an objection base on hearsay or speculation and matlock scream to the judge that his question be absolutely vital to his case and the judge let it in . when i be in law school and we refer to this a the matlock rule . he pass photograph to the jury while the judge be consider whether they be admissible and and give long soliloquy about surprise witness who be prepare to testify and all while the prosecutor sit mute . you have guess by now that i be an attorney . i do not mind suspend disbelief to enjoy a television series ( surely perry mason nemesis hamilton burger would not have be a district attorney for a decade if he could never indict the real killer ) . but there a difference between suspend disbelief and suspend intelligence .