O2D It's hard to believe that they cancelled Soap with out wrapping up the story yet they let this terrible show go for 7 seasons. Benson was such an uninteresting and unneeded character on Soap that they never mention he left and you won't even notice until the new butler shows up. This show is proof that people will watch anything.

yaheekt I just saw the "Benson" show for the first time this weekend. It was during the TV Land, 48-hour, Benson Marathon! I had a ball!I NEVER knew someone could laugh so much and so hard! My favorite episode was the one in which Clayton is kidnapped. That was a good one! Trouble never fails to catch up with that guy! And what a rescue team....Uh yeah!!!....Not!My next favorite episode involved Klaus' SPOOF-OF-A-MARRIAGE! Could kind of guess what was coming but it was fun to watch anyway! I spent the whole weekend holding my sides and trying NOT to laugh continuously! Needless to say, I failed! Oh well, you can't win them all! HA HA HA!

Fables I used to watch this series as a child during the 1980's and enjoyed alongside other 80's "Family Ties", "Different Strokes" and "Facts of Life" and more. This was a spin-off to the hit comedy "Soap" which lasted longer than it's processor and went on to win Emmies for best comedy sitcom.Benson Dubois(Robert Guillaume), the Tate's wisecracking, no-nonsense butler from "Soap" is now working in the Governor's mansion as the head of the household staff but ends up becoming the right hand man for the lovable yet bumbling and scatter-brained Govenor Eugene Gatlin(James Noble) who is also Jessica Tate's cousin, by solving his and everybody's problems. The rest of the staff includes secretary Marcy Hill(Caroline McWilliam),the only normal person in household other than Benson, Gretchen Kraus(Inga Swenson), the sharp-tongue German cook, John Taylor(Lewis J. Stadlen), the Governor's pompous, stuff-shirt aid, and the Governor's nine year old daughter Katie(Missy Gold).I liked this funny show even better than "Soap" which had humor and sharp wit and unforgettable characters. I particularly enjoyed Benson's interactions with the other members in the mansion. With his sharp-tongue and acerbic wit was always squaring off his nemesis Miss Kraus or Taylor who resented Benson's constant interference. Then there was his friendship with Marcy which was very believable and with Katie he was good fatherly figure and of course there's the Governor himself there was a great buddy/employer relationship with Benson as the straight guy to the goofy politician. Taylor left after end of the first season and was replaced by the the equally pompous Clayton Endicott(Rene Auberjonois)who was funnier and I loved his rivalry with Benson more which was one of my favorite parts of the show. He was the perfect nemesis and foil with his sharp wit and arrogance and had great chemistry together. Other characters came and went over the years, Marcy left early in the third season and the ditsy Denise Stevens(Didi Conn)replaced her. Pete Downey(Ethan Phillips) also joined the staff as the idiotic PR man and Mrs. Cassidy(Billie Bird) came aboard in the later part of the series as the new housekeeper. a then unpopular Bob Fraser and Jerry Seinfold had recurring roles and Jessica(Katherine Helmond) made two guest appearances(the second time as a ghost). Over the years Benson position in staff would change as he became Budget Director then Lt. Governor. Pete and Denise would marry and have a baby, Miss Kraus would become Benson's secretary and Katie grow up into a teenager. Just like "Soap" this series ended with a cliffhanger when Benson was running against Governor Gatlin but viewers were left wondering who got elected.Anwyay, I will never forget this fabulous show and wish they would air re-runs maybe on TV Land or Nick at Night. It's shame that nowadays they don't seem to make great shows like the did in the 80s and 90s.

bcolquho That was Miss Kraus' favorite line. I swear she had the hearing of a dog. Benson could be at his table in the kitchen and saysomething under his breath. Miss Kraus would always yell from an impossibly long distance: "I HEAR YOU!" Clayton and Taylor were jackasses. They were always the foils for Benson's subtle butascerbic wit. In one episode, Katie, Governor Gatling's daughter, (that's Gatling as in Gatling gun, folks,) had to write a report on her family. So she got the bright idea to watch The Sound of Music,(1965), and do a report on the Von Trapp family. When she told her father, he told her to write it about the staff and to consider it her family. So she did and she got a "B" on it some other kid watchedThe Sound of Music and did his on the family in the movie. He got an "A." Eugene Gatling, the governor of an unnamed Southernstate, is widowed and Benson goes to work for him. He laterbecomes the budget director and lieutenant governor. In oneepisode, Kraus writes a convict in prison and unwittingly offers him a job when he shows up unannounced on the doorstep of thegovernor's mansion, he turns out to be a great cook. Unfortunately, he's used to cooking for hundreds of convicts. So Kraus gets hima job at another state agency. When Governor Gatling asks whyhe didn't go to Washington to work for Congress, Benson replies that as a condition of his parole, he can't associate with criminals. "I HEAR YOU!"