Benson (TV series)

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Television series
German title Benson
Original title Benson
Benson.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1979-1986
length 25 minutes
Episodes 158 in 7 seasons
genre Sitcom
idea Susan Harris
music Kevin Guillaume
First broadcast September 13, 1979 (USA) on ABC
German-language
first broadcast
April 19, 1993 on RTL II
occupation

Benson is an American sitcom directed by the series creator Susan Harris . It is a spin-off of the series Soap - Trautes Heim and was broadcast on ABC television from 1979 to 1986 . In Germany it ran for the first time on April 19, 1993 on RTL II .

action

In the series, Benson was hired as the butler of the absent- minded and widowed Governor Eugene Gatling and his daughter Katie. Governor Gatling was the cousin of Jessica Tate on the Soap series . The state of which Gatling was governor was never named in the series. However, soap was set in Connecticut .

Daily household problems, Benson's arguments with German cook Gretchen Kraus, and his interplay with the governor's chief of staff - first John Tayler and later Clayton Endicott, the third - made up the bulk of the plot of each episode. Despite their initially hostile relationship, Benson and Gretchen later developed a friendship. Benson also became friends with the governor's secretary Marcy Hill and her successor Denise. Marcy left the series after the second season because she got married.

Benson worked his way up as the series progressed. Initially the head of the budget, he later became the administrator of the state finances and finally the lieutenant governor . During the last season, Benson stood against Gatling for the election of governor. Gretchen, who had first become head of the budget and later the administrator of state finances, was one of Benson's strongest supporters and therefore became his campaign manager.

The last episode ended with Gatling and Benson - after they fell out during the election campaign and later made up again - together saw the first predictions on television. However, who won the election was not told and the episode ended with a cliffhanger .

background

According to the show runner of the series Bob Fraser, the series ended with a cliffhanger on the instructions of the broadcaster. The decision to cancel the series was only made after the last episode was broadcast. Had the series continued, Gatling would have won the election and Benson would have become Senator . According to the Internet Movie Database , three different outcomes of the episode were filmed. Gatling won one, Benson won one and the third candidate, who was also still in the running, won a third.

The series was the first on US television to make reference to the Internet. In the episode broadcast on February 22, 1985, the protagonists of the series took access to the Arpanet , the forerunner of the Internet.

Well-known actors like Art Metrano , GW Bailey , Ted Danson and Katherine Helmond have guest appearances on the series.

Awards

Emmys

In total, the series was nominated 36 times for this award. It was won in 1985 by Robert Guillaume for best leading actor in a comedy series and in the same year by Herm Falk, Randy Baer, ​​Stephen A. Jones, Bill McCloud, Donna Quante and Victor Bagdadi for best technical director and camera.

Golden Globe Awards

Robert Guillaume was nominated three times for the category of Best Actor in a Series - Comedy or Musical between 1983 and 1985 . In 1986 Inga Swenson was nominated for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Mini-Series or TV Movie .

Missy Gold was nominated for the Young Artist Award from 1981 to 1985 and won it in 1984.

DVD

At the moment (as of March 2014) only the first two seasons have been released in the original language on DVD.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Product (engl.) About the series on tvseriesfinale.com  ( page no longer available , searching web archivesInfo: The link is automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed December 28, 2008@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / tvseriesfinale.com