In january 1975 Raymond Burr decided to end the Ironside series, perhaps because the Nielsen ratings had become really worse. Three further episodes had already been made, and were aired later. A Matter Of Life And Death is among them, and is actually quite good. The Ironside script writers have always been fascinated by morals. Here they focus on a lawyer, Sam North, who is very talented but also unscrupulous. At night a man called Gaynor, an acquaintance of Ironside, is killed in the park in an accident with his mistress. North advises the mistress not to contact the police, and to remain silent. Then a tramp is arrested, and accused of mugging Gaynor. In a remarkable turn of events, North decides to defend the tramp. Of course Ironside eventually discovers the truth, and the lawyer will probably be excluded from the bar. Some details deserve mentioning. The Chief has always had a vivid love life, and Gaynor's wife is yet another old flame of his. Furthermore, the Ironside Facebook group generally likes the final scene of the episode, where the complete Ironside team is present, and the Chief talks of them as "my family". This is indeed an appropriate conclusion of the series.
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