This episode marks the reunion of Don Knotts and Andy Griffith. Don Knotts plays the next door neighbor to Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith). He is a little obnoxious and pushy, but other than that he is a good man. The plot revolves around the purchase of a used DeLorean by Knotts. Turns out the car is a lemon and Les (Knotts) decides to go back to the dealer and demand his money back. Of course when he arrives at the lot he finds the salesman dead under his own automobile. Les is charges with the crime and Matlock agrees to defend him. What follows is typical of the other Matlock episodes. All in all a pretty good show. Don Knotts would appear in several more shows as Les, and always gave a good performance. It was no accident that Don Knotts won 5 consecutive Emmys, the man was a very good actor. If this episode comes on, give it a watch.
3 Reviews
Great Mystery and Fun Episode
general-240-32531415 November 2023
This was a great episode for many reasons. First, Don Knotts is brought on as Matlock's new neighbor, Les Calhoun. His character is similar to his role of Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show." He becomes overly excited when certain events take place. I'm glad they did have him do too much of the fumbling and bumbling he did on TAGS.
The mystery is a good one. It's not clear who did it, so the viewer is brought into the story with the characters. I prefer this type of mystery where we do not know who committed the crime.
The weakest part of this episode was the courtroom. It seemed to be mostly a formality. However, that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the story.
The mystery is a good one. It's not clear who did it, so the viewer is brought into the story with the characters. I prefer this type of mystery where we do not know who committed the crime.
The weakest part of this episode was the courtroom. It seemed to be mostly a formality. However, that didn't detract from the enjoyment of the story.
Over -acting
LukeCoolHand19 July 2022
Never watched an episode of Matlock until today when I stumbled upon this one which featured the 1st of 17 appearances by Don Knotts and decided to try it. Don Knotts made a second career after The Andy Griffith Show of over-acting. It started with Three's Company and wound up on Matlock. Maybe he toned it down some in later episodes of Matlock but I'll never know because this episode sealed the deal in ever watching another episode of Matlock. Knotts even carries over his habit when he called Andy "ANGE and calling Ben BENJE Even Andy Griffith stated acting silly when he had scenes with Knotts. Even without Knotts, Griffith did his own over acting at times. Which he did at times on the Andy Griffith Show after Knotts left the show after 5 seasons. . I gave this a 2 instead of a one because of my respect for Don Knotts when he played Barney Fife on TAGS.
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