Benson is a spin-off of the soap opera parody Soap, where the character Benson DuBois first appeared as the wise-cracking butler for the dysfunctional Tate family. Unlike its parent series, Benson dropped the soap opera format in favor of a conventional sitcom structure.
Casting
Jerry Seinfeld played a small recurring role as Frankie, a delivery boy and unsuccessful comedian, for three episodes early in season 2 in 1980. He was asked to leave the show due to creative differences.
Reception
Robert Guillaume won the 1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Benson DuBois.
Trivia
The series finale ended on an unresolved cliffhanger showing a freeze frame of Benson and Gatling awaiting election results. Coincidentally, Guillaume's previous series Soap had also been cancelled on an unresolved cliffhanger.
Filming
Executive producer Bob Fraser revealed in 2007 that the network requested the cliffhanger ending, and the show was cancelled after it had already aired. Had it been renewed, Gatling would have won the election and Benson would have become a United States senator.
Filming
According to director Gary Brown, who directed the finale and 20 other episodes, three different endings were filmed for the finale—one with Benson winning, one with Gatling winning, and one resulting in a tie—with the plan to choose the outcome over the summer break.
Filming
The exterior shots of the governor's mansion were actually filmed at a private home located at 1365 South Oakland Avenue in Pasadena, California.
