Benson (TV Series) - Series Summary

Series Summary

In the show, Benson DuBois (Robert Guillaume) had been hired to be the head of household affairs for scatterbrained and widowed Governor Eugene Gatling (James Noble), and his daughter Katie (Missy Gold). Governor Gatling was cousin to Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon), the two sisters on whose families the stories centered on Soap. The state of which Gatling was governor remained unidentified throughout the series, although Soap had taken place in Connecticut.

The show revolved around Benson's housekeeping dilemmas, his fights with the German cook Gretchen Wilhemina Kraus (Inga Swenson, one of Guillaume's fellow alumni from Soap), and his interactions with John Taylor (David Hedison in the pilot episode, then Lewis J. Stadlen), who assisted Governor Gatling as chief of staff. After the first season, Taylor's job was filled by Clayton Endicott III (Rene Auberjonois), who was written out by having him run for political office and actually snub his employer's endorsement. He lost the election but returned when Benson asked him to. In spite of their adversarial relationship (during the early years, Kraus' trademark line was a loud "I hear you!" from off-stage), Benson and Kraus eventually became good friends. Benson also had very good friendships with the Governor's secretary, Marcy Hill (Caroline McWilliams), and her successor, Denise (Didi Conn). Marcy left after the second season after getting married. Denise and Pete Downey (Ethan Phillips), the Governor's Press Secretary (introduced in Season 2), met and later married while working in the governor's mansion and were expectant parents for most of the third-to-last season. Both were written out, saying they left state government service because Denise got a job working for NASA.

Benson worked his way up the ladder during the series, going from head of household affairs to state budget director (at which time his surname—DuBois—was revealed), and eventually was elevated to the position of Lieutenant Governor. During the final episodes of the 1985–1986 season, Benson ran for governor against Gatling. Kraus (who had herself moved up to head of household affairs) proved to be Benson's biggest supporter during this time as well. So much so, that he made her his personal assistant and campaign manager.

Benson has the distinction of being the first TV series to reference the Internet on an American network television. This occurred on the episode airing February 22, 1985 ("Scenario", season 6 episode 20)—in the episode, the characters were accessing the ARPANET, the progenitor of the Internet.

Benson also had the dubious distinction of firing a young, then-unknown comedian named Jerry Seinfeld, who performed as Frankie the courier for three episodes during the 1980 season. Seinfeld would later move on to NBC and star in his own 1990s sitcom, Seinfeld.

Season one's opening sequence of Benson starts with camera shots of the Governor's mansion. It then presents the major cast, including snippets of the cast in the first few episodes of the season. The sequence ends when Benson is chased up the mansion's front steps by the two Dobermans. He then peeks his head outside to mock the dogs, and then quickly shuts the front door. The opening sequences were cut and edited when the series went into syndication.