MATLOCK: THE SCROOGE (TV)

Summary

One in this legal drama about Ben Matlock, an expert yet unconventional lawyer and his experiences both in and out of the courtroom. Christmas is approaching, and toy store owner Carl Lister gets into a row with his business partner, the miserly Steve Abbot. Steve berates Carl for taking on additional staff for the holiday season and for planning to fix broken toys and donate them to an orphanage, citing both as costing the store profits. That night, Carl stays in the store late to fix up the Christmas decorations. An assailant sneaks up behind him and plants a letter opener in Carl's back, killing him instantly. Steve enters from the back and discovers Carl's dead body. A little boy looking through the window of the store witnesses Steve standing over Carl's corpse and alerts everyone around him, believing Steve is the murderer. Matlock is called in to represent Steve in the upcoming murder trial. Les, busy singing Christmas songs at a bar, is convinced that Steve is responsible for Carl's death. There is a great deal of circumstantial and physical evidence against Steve: Donna, his cashier, describes the fight he had with Carl prior to his death, and Matthew, the child who saw Steve standing over Carl's body, gives his story to the police and identifies Steve as the killer. The murder weapon belonged to Steve, but Steve points out to Matlock that it was unguarded and anyone could have taken it. He tries to shift the blame to Carl's family: specifically Eldon Williams, Carl's brother-in-law, often sought him out for loans and owed Carl money. Steve also claims that Carl had recently discovered that his wife Sherry was carrying on an extramarital affair, and also that his brother Stewart had been pestering him about getting him a job at the toy store, and was en route to the store at the time of the murder. Matlock personally detests Steve for his unpleasant demeanor, but nevertheless agrees to defend him in court. Conrad visits Steve's toy store, and asks Steve questions about why he returned to the store on the night of the murder. Steve explains that he was trying to get a hold of the broken toys before Carl could send them to the orphanage. The store was locked that night, although Carl's family could likely have had duplicate keys. Steve fires Donna for the remarks she made to the police. Stewart enters and asks that he be given a temporary job at the store. Steve reluctantly agrees to take him on until the end of the year. Conrad asks Stewart some questions; Stewart claims that he never made it to the toy store on the night of the murder since he decided he didn't want to bother Carl. Carl willed his half of the store's ownership to Stewart and to his sister Cathy; Conrad believes this implicates Stewart as a suspect in Carl's murder. Matlock questions a group of street kids who often hang out around the entrance to the toy store begging for spare change. They claim not to have seen anything suspicious, but Matlock instructs them to contact him if they do. Later, Matlock goes to a bar to see Eldon, immediately after a negotiation over money with a shady-looking character. Eldon is deeply in debt, and Matlock points out that part of the toy store's ownership was bequeathed to Cathy, his wife and Carl's sister. Eldon denies any wrongdoing, claiming that he was watching a boxing match on television at the time of the murder. That night, the street kids prepare to leave the storefront and use their daily take to buy dinner. However, they spot a mysterious individual attempting to break into the store's back entrance and give chase. They do not learn the identity of the would-be burglar, nor are they able to catch him. Michelle questions Sherry in the middle of a hairdressing appointment. Her line of questioning soon turns to her affair, and points out that Carl was killed less than eight hours after he discovered Sherry's activities. She also notes that Carl had denied Sherry any part of the store in his will, and that she might have had a motive to kill him in order to save herself from being left out of his will altogether. Sherry is enraged by these accusations, and Michelle gets her to reveal the name of her lover in order to investigate further, as she claims she was with him at the time of Carl's murder. The street kids report on the incident with the burglar to Matlock. Inside the store, Matlock finds Eldon attempting to sell his wife's portion of the store ownership back to Steve. Steve refuses his offer. Matlock reveals that he discovered that the boxing match Eldon was watching lasted only two rounds, thus leaving him unoccupied at the time of the murder. Eldon leaves and Steve laments that his business this Christmas is turning out to be terrible. Matlock asks that he at least pretend to enjoy the spirit of giving and sharing which comes with Christmas, if for no other reason than to help sway the jury to his side. In court, Matthew gives his testimony that he saw Steve murder Carl. Michelle cross-examines Matthew and asks questions about the comparative physical characteristics of the two men he saw which reveal that Matthew only saw Steve standing over Carl's body, and did not actually witness the murder itself. The next night, the burglar once again attempts to break into the toy store, but the street kids have prepared an ambush and tackle the man, revealing him to be Stewart. They alert Steve and Matlock, who confront him over his breaking and entering. Stewart soon admits that he was trying to rob the cash register and make it look like a robbery. He also reveals that he was actually in jail on the night of the murder, as he was pulled over for speeding and was imprisoned based on this incident combined with a number of earlier criminal charges. Steve takes his duplicate key and fires him. Matlock determines that Stewart's story checks out, and also comes across a crucial piece of evidence. In court, Matlock tells Steve that he believes he can successfully defend him, but introduces a clause in their contract, which Steve reluctantly signs. Matlock examines Eldon on the stand, getting him to admit that he is $30,000 in debt to a loan shark. Matlock presents Eldon as a compulsive gambler who took out a loan from Carl to help pay off his bookie. Eldon's wife recently filed for divorce, and Matlock points out that Eldon was attempting to sell her portion of the toy store's ownership to Steve, which is technically illegal. Furthermore, Matlock accuses Eldon of murdering Carl after he found out about the divorce in order to further his plans. To prove this, Matlock introduces a new piece of evidence: a photograph of the store's Santa taken several hours before Carl's murder. The background of the photograph clearly shows a pocket calculator/day planner on a display shelf, and Matlock reveals that this calculator was missing and unaccounted for when the store was inspected by the police. He gets Eldon to empty his pockets, revealing the calculator in question therein, with a matching serial number as the one in the photograph. This proves Eldon guilty of the murder. The episode ends with Matlock exercising the clause in his contract by forcing Steve to appear as Santa for a Christmas party, handing out toys to kids from the local orphanage. Commercials deleted.

Details

• NETWORK: NBC
• DATE: December 19, 1989 8:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:22583
• GENRE: Drama, legal
• SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, legal
• SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1986-1992; ABC, 1992-1995
• COMMERCIALS: N/A

CREDITS

• Dean Hargrove … Executive Producer, Created by
• Fred Silverman … Executive Producer
• Joel Steiger … Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• Jeff Peters … Supervising Producer
• Joyce Burditt … Producer
• Richard Collins … Producer
• William S. Kerr … Co-Producer
• John M. McLean … Associate Producer
• Harvey Laidman … Director
• Anne Collins … Writer
• Bruce Babcock … Music by
• Dick de Benedictis … Theme Music by
• Andy Griffith … Cast, Ben Matlock
• Nancy Stafford … Cast, Michelle Thomas
• Julie Sommars … Cast, A.D.A. Julie March
• Clarence Gilyard Jr. … Cast, Conrad McMasters
• Peter Michael Goetz … Cast, Steven Abbot
• Brooke Bundy … Cast, Sherry Lister
• Mary Cadorette … Cast, Donna
• Michael Durrell … Cast, D.A. Lloyd Burgess
• David Froman … Cast, Lt. Bob Brooks
• Ron Hale … Cast, Eldon Williams
• Bill Kalmenson … Cast, Stewart Lister
• Thomas Ryan … Cast, Carl Lister
• Jason Wingreen … Cast, Judge Arthur Beaumont
• Don Knotts … Cast, Les Calhoun
• Sean Baca … Cast, Street Kid #2
• T. J. Evans … Cast, Matthew
• Tim Eyster … Cast, Street Kid #1
• Larenz Tate … Cast, Street Kid #3
• Mark Chaet … Cast, Forensics Person
• Danny Goldring … Cast, Mo
• Deedee Michaels … Cast, Sister Marie
• Ray Templin … Cast, Piano Player