TRIVIA NOTE: Matlock's white, 100-year old stone and clapboard home with green trim is actually a private residence located at 106 Lord Street [off Moore Street] in Southport, North Carolina. The series was filmed in and around the towns of Southport, and Wilmington, NC.

ANDY GRIFFITH: Born June 1, 1926 in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the 6 foot tall Andrew Samuel Griffith grew up in Mount Airy, North Carolina. He earned a degree in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and later pursued a career in acting. He took a stab at comedy and created a successful 1953 live recording "What it was, was football" about a country boy at his first football game. His early acting roles included the films A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958 - which he first performed on Broadway in 1954); and Onionhead (1958). Andy's fame as an actor came his role as folksy Sheriff Andy Taylor on the rural sitcom THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW set in the town of Mayberry, North Carolina. Andy later starred in the TV series THE HEADMASTER (1970); THE NEW ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (1971); THE ADAMS OF EAGLE LAKE (1975 - as a rural sheriff Sam Adams); SALVAGE 1 (1979); THE YEAGERS (1981) and MATLOCK (1986 - which Andy claims is his favorite character). Andy also appeared in the TV Movie reunion Return to Mayberry (1986); Andy Griffith Show Reunion (1993); The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Return to Mayberry (2003); and the mini-series Roots the Next Generation (1979); From Here to Eternity (1979); Centennial (1978); Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977). TV Guide magazine [June 20, 2004 issue] ranked Griffith's Andy Taylor character on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW/CBS/1960-68 as their No. 8 pick as the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time." Perhaps, Andy's most disturbing portrayal was his acclaimed role as a homicidal villain in the TV film Murder In Coweta County (1983).

THE SIMPSONS: On the FOX animated sitcom THE SIMPSONS, Grampa Abe Simpson (a retired cranberry silo night watchman), loves Matlock Why? because "He puts young people behind bars (where they belong)" Grampa once said "I'm an old man. I hate everything but 'Matlock'. Oooh! It's on now."  The Mayor of Springfield even named a new roadway system the Matlock Expressway in honor of the residents of the local Springfield Retirement Castle where Grampa Simpson lives.

Here are some Grampa Simpson quotes on Matlock.