He makes $100,000 a case, that is not bad for 2014 standards, but great 19-28 years ago. Matlock (1986–1995) My house only cost $105,000 20 years ago
If a person with multiple personalities threatens to commit suicide, is that a hostage situation
I actually started a thread on this very subject a few years ago on here.
I think the writers thought that made him quirky or charming, and maybe to some it did. However, I thought it made him ultra annoying.
You mentioned his house. Remember that one ep where he actually tried to wallpaper his house by himself just to save $$$, and in the end did more damage and cost himself more money than he would have if he just hired a pro in the first place???
And this is supposed to be some genius legal mind?? Lol.
If his lath & plaster walls had been in good condition, removing the wallpaper by most any means wouldn't have caused them to crumble. Until he and Leann got into it, Ben had no way of knowing.
Anyway, it's been explained that Ben was poor early on in his career, and ate lots of hot dogs as inexpensive fare -- which explains his continuing affinity for them. Remember, once someone has been poor, they oftentimes continue to be quite thrify or "cheap" -- even WELL after they've become rich. Example: Fred MacMurray was brown-bagging hard boiled eggs to the set of My Three Sons, though wealthy by that time.
"No cheesecake [photos]." -- Hazel (Shirley Booth)
If that was ever "explained" on this show, I don't remember it.
shareYou must have grown up in a house that always had plenty of money, or liked to charge things. 40 years ago, most people had grown up learning how to fix things around their own house. And we also learned, that as time went on, quality work was increasingly rare. I can't even find a contractor that anyone would recommend. NONE! Everyone I talk to curses at the poor work that is done. So I do it myself. Could I afford to hire someone? Sure. But the last time I hired someone (to build my deck) it was falling apart five years later because not only did he use untreated lumber, but he laid half the boards upside down so the water would collect and seep into the wood; a common mistake by beginners; yet he was at least 40 and his workers were not kids either. If you want it done right, do it yourself. Because YOU are the only one who cares how well it's done.
shareOr I'm someone that's not handy, and is wise enough to know my limitations.
Are there some things I can and will do on my own without having to call someone? Yes. But on big projects where I don't know what I'm doing and will just cost me more money to redo it again, and/or call someone, that is what I will do in the first place; Call someone who knows what they're doing.
I'm sorry you had bad experiences with pros/contractors in the past, but not everyone does. And even if I did, aside from using the same one's, that wouldn't stop me from doing so in the future. That's simply living in your fears, which I don't subscribe to.
I remember one show where a TV newsman asked him to defend him. Like all his clients the man was innocent. He told Matlock that the fee upfront would bankrupt him, That he would have to cash in his retirement. Matlock snarled at him saying, "you won't need that money if you go to the chair will you?" Mr. Hearts and Flowers.
I remember they had him have a romance with a prosecutor young enough to be his daughter. He asked her to dinner and she got dressed up. Dinner was a cheap hotdog in the courthouse. He was always eating cheap courthouse hot dogs because they were cheap like him.
I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else
Also, remember that in the middle of the series they had him move his law offices into his own home to "cut down on overhead."
Actually, I'm surprised they didn't have him do that in the first place. However, he seemed to get cheaper as he got older. Lol.
It was explained in Diagnosis Murder. Sloan ledvBen to invest in 8 tracks, which cost him his life savings. He then had to be thrifty and continued long after he needed to.
Oh yeah, they can and would kill anyone and themselves.
shareHe was a self made man that lived through the great depression. It makes sense that he'd be frugal.
Keep in mind that when Ben was growing up, the country at large would have been in the throws of the Great Depression. That affected an entire generation's view on money matters that persists to this day.
shareMy Grandparents were thrifty and I'd considered my grandfather cheap but this guy takes the cake. Considering my Grandparents life savings is what he made in 5 cases. They were born in 1929-30.
shareMatlock's cheap? I actually came to these board curious as to whether he glorifies the rich who buy expensive lawyers to make their crimes disappear.
I...drink...your...MILKSHAKE!
I DRINK IT UP!!!
Except he more than several times in the series took on cases pro bono because the accused couldn't afford his $100,000 fee.
share