Matlock was a long-running American television legal drama. The show ran from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced the long-running series The A-Team to Friday nights, then on November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.

The format of the show was similar to that of Perry Mason, with Matlock identifying the murderer and then confronting him or her in a dramatic courtroom scene near the end. One difference, however, was that whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury.