Benson



Benson was a half-hour Sitcom that aired on ABC from 1979-1986. A Spin-Off of Soap, it starred Robert Guillaume as Benson DuBois, who took over as head of household affairs at the Govenor's Mansion under Gov. Eugene Gatling (James Noble) - cousin to Jessica and Mary of Soap. This put him in immediate conflict with Kraus (Inga Swenson), the head cook who coveted the position for herself. Other characters included Katie (Missy Gold), Gene's daughter; Clayton Endicott III (Rene Auberjonois), Gene's Chief of Staff; Pete Downey (Ethan Phillips), the Governor's official photographer; and Denise Stevens Downey (Didi Cohn), the Governor's ditzy personal secretary.

As the show went on, Benson climbed up the political ladder, thanks to Gov. Gatling's trust him him, going from working in the mansion staff to state Budget Director, and then to Lt. Governor, before finally running for Governor himself in the final season.

Benson contains examples of following tropes:
"Gov. Gatling:How did Taylor do? Marcie:He lost. He came in sixth. Benson:How did he come in sixth? There were only five candidates. Marcie:There was a very large write-in for "none of the above"."
 * An Astral Projection Not a Ghost: Soap ends with Jessica about to be shot by a firing squad in Central America. In the next season, she shows up on Benson as a ghost which only Benson can see. But then she finds out she's not really dead, she's just in a coma in a Central American hospital.
 * Breakout Character / Ensemble Darkhorse: A rare case of said character getting spun off into his own show as opposed to the original show restructured completely around them.
 * The Cast Showoff: At least one episode a season gave Robert Guillaume a chance to show his singing chops.
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: John Taylor, Gene's Season 1 Chief of Staff.
 * Commuting on a Bus: Katie, in later seasons
 * Deadpan Snarker: Benson, Clayton (and Kraus on occasion)
 * Epic Fail: In season one, Taylor's attempt at a political seat.


 * Expy: Gene Gatling is clearly based partly on Jimmy Carter.
 * Fake Nationality: Kraus is German. Inga Swenson, the actress who plays her, is not.
 * Genius Ditz: Denise, who could do complex math entirely in her head. Gov. Gatling, to a slightly lesser extent.
 * Halloween Episode: "The Stranger"
 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Clayton is Odo, while Pete is Neelix.
 * A couple of season 2 episodes featured a wisecracking mail courier named Frankie, played by a young Jerry Seinfeld.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: Only season 1 has been released on DVD, 4 years ago, and the show isn't playing in reruns anywhere despite every season of its parent program Soap being readily available on DVD and on Netflix.
 * Left Hanging: The show was cancelled at the end of its 7th season. The series finale ended on a freeze frame of Benson awaiting the election results. Conflicting accounts exist for this - one is that the staff shot three different endings to cover three scenarios, but wasn't satisfied with any of them and used the freeze frame instead. The other, from a staff member of the show, suggests the network insisted on the cliffhanger and planned to cancel the series due to dissatisfaction with the storyline of a potential 8th season.
 * Loophole Abuse: Gene uses a loophole in the state constitution to run for a third term, despite the fact that he'd already endorsed Benson in the race.
 * Missing Mom: Gatling is a widower.
 * No Party Given: It was never disclosed which party Gene was a part of - though it was "None of the above" by the final season.
 * Our Governors Are Different Gene Gatling, Gov. Genius Ditz.
 * Put on a Bus:
 * Marcy Hill, Gov. Gatling's first secretary. Got married and moved because of her husband's job. She got a farewell party at the end of Season Two.
 * Pete and Denise in the final season. Denise took a job with NASA and Pete went with her.
 * Required Spinoff Crossover: Jessica Tate showed up in a couple of episodes.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Clayton and Denise to Taylor and Marcy.
 * Vitriolic Best Buds: Benson and Kraus evolve into this by the end of the series.
 * What Might Have Been: A show runner revealed that if the show hadn't been cancelled, the eighth season would've featured Gene winning re-election and Benson becoming a Senator.
 * Where the Hell Is Springfield?: The state Benson was set in was never revealed, nor was the name of the city the mansion was located in.
 * The capital city is always referred to as...Capital City. That might be its proper name.
 * Which would theoretically put it in the same state as the Trope Namer?
 * They do mention a "Springfield" in one season 3 episode, which is good enough for this troper to make it an official WMG.
 * You Look Familiar: Both from the parent show, Soap. Inga Swenson (Kraus) played Corrine's birth mother Ingrid Svenson. Caroline McWilliams (Marcy) played Burt's secretary, who claimed to have had an affair with him at the behest of Svenson. It was never mentioned on Benson.