"This is some place you got here. I came here as a favor to Mrs. Tate, and the dogs tried to kill me, the gardener tried to drown me, the security searched me, and now I've got a storm trooper after my shoes." - Robert Guillaume as Benson on his first day at the governor's mansion
Benson: The Complete First Season DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Soap became a controversial hit for ABC in 1977. Its plotlines were so hot-button-homosexuality, infidelity, and a less-than-reverent look at the clergy among them-that the show drew protests before it actually hit the airwaves. Some viewers stayed away, but many more watched. In 1979, the network decided to spin-off one of the series' popular characters, caustic butler Benson DuBois (Robert Guillaume, Sports Night), into a series of his own.
Benson joined the network's Thursday night lineup on September 13, 1979. Benson's addled boss, Jessica Tate, loans Benson to her widowed cousin James Gatling (James Noble) for a week to help him organize his house. It's not just any house, though-it's the governor's mansion. Gatling- who is just as dim-witted as his cousin-has just been elected governor, and he finds it a struggle organizing the state, running his household, and caring for his cutie-pie daughter, Katie (Missy Gold). Gatling's wife, unfortunately, was eaten by horses. Attending a costume party dressed as a Sugar Plum Fairy and covered in real sugar, they nibbled her to death.
The Governor's regular staff tries to be helpful, but they aren't always competent. Secretary Marcy Hill (Caroline McWilliams, Beverly Hills 90210) is caring and kind, but she's also a tad lovelorn and sometimes lacks confidence. Political aide John Taylor (Lewis J. Stadlen, The Sopranos) is snotty and snide...and with political aspirations of his own. Gretchen Kraus (Inga Swenson, Doctor, Doctor) runs the kitchen with a Germanic iron fist, intimidating anyone who gets in her way.
Scheduled to stay only a week, Benson can't help but continue on staff to help out this motley crew. After all, who else is going to point out that there are two third floor maids...and no third floor?
Benson does not break any new ground. It isn't edgy, topical, or even remotely controversial. Some of the plotlines are downright mundane. Against her father's wishes, Katie sneaks out to attend a KISS concert ("Trust Me"). A meeting with the President conflicts with a long-planned event Gatling promised to attend at Katie's school ("Conflict of Interest"). The entire gang gets snowed-in at the Governor's remote cabin ("Snowbound"). The staff believes that the mansion is haunted ("Ghost Story"). Bitter enemies Benson and Kraus get locked in the mansion's basement ("Cold Storage").
None of these are quite original, but thanks to the characters created by Susan Harris (Soap, The Golden Girls), the series is usually amusing. Guillaume's character is not quite as abrasive as he is on Soap. Swenson delivers all of her lines with bitter vim and makes a perfect foil for Guillaume. Gold is as cute as can be, and Noble takes doltishness to new levels. Stadlen and McWilliams are less successful, but their tenures with the show were short-lived-Stadlen leaves at the end of the first season and McWilliams doesn't make it past the second.
Familiar faces popping up at the mansion in season one include Rene Enriquez (Hill Street Blues), Katherine Helmond (Soap), Mark Goddard (Lost in Space), Roscoe Lee Brown, David Ruprecht (Supermarket Sweep), Richard Stahl (It's a Living), Joel Brooks (My Sister Sam), David Huddleston (Petrocelli), G.W. Bailey (The Closer), and Jack Dodson (The Andy Griffith Show).
The twenty-four episodes that make up the first season of Benson are divided onto three discs. The discs are housed in two slim, clear plastic keepcases, one of which holds two discs. The fronts of the cases feature montages of the series' cast in front of the governor's mansion. The backs of the cases include titles and brief synopses for each episode. More pictures can be found on the case interiors. The keepcases slide into a cardboard outer sleeve.
The DVD menus are simple and easy to navigate. Viewers can play all of the disc's episodes or choose them individually. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
