Benson Season 5

Season 5 (1983-1984)

Produced by Bob Colleary, Tom Whedon
Produced by Rob Dames & Bob Fraser
Co-produced by Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman

Guide to episodes, including episode number and title, production staff, guest cast, original air date, original episode descriptions, and additional commentary.

91. Band of Gold
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Bill Boulware & Winifred Harvey
Guest star: Noble Willigham as Judge Slocum
16 September 1983
On the way to his wedding ceremony, Pete remembers he forgot to put fuel to the car. That is bad enough, but he and Denise decided to travel into the woods to make their marriage vows a memorable experience. Benson and Kraus ride along to serve as best man and maid of honor. When the car won’t start, a tent becomes the honeymoon suite with Benson and Kraus left out in the cold woods with only a cramped uncomfortable car to shelter them. Eventually, the priest finds them and he becomes their way out of the wilderness. They steal some of his gas and flee the romantic forest.

92. Human Element
Directed by Gary Brown
Written by Barry Fanaro, Mort Nathan
Guest star: Greg Berger as Jimmy’s voice
23 September 1983
Benson and the staff think it’s a lark when a robot arrives at the governor’s mansion for participation in a science exposition. The staff’s fun at having an amazing robot roaming the mansion turns to disgust when the robot decides to take over. They soon begin plotting its demise when the electronic-brained whiz becomes the governor’s advisor–and recommends firing Benson and the staff.

93. God, I Need This Job
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Bob Fraser and Rob Dames
Guest star: Katherine Helmond as Jessica
30 September 1983
For this episode you need to know about the history of Benson before he arrived at the Governor’s Mansion to manage the cleaning staff. He used to be a butler for the Governor’s cousin, Jessica. She asks that he help out her cousin for a short time. While in her employ she and Benson became extremely close friends. After he left as she asked, she was killed in a bizarre incident involving South American revolutionaries. Now, Benson is seeing Jessica’s ghost. He seems to have gone off the deep end when Jessica Tate visits from the great beyond. The staff thinks he’s gone completely bonkers because he seems to be talking to himself whenever he is talking to her because they can’t see her. She has come to get her wings and become an angel. Her task is to do good for others, but every time she tries to help she ends up causing harm. Eventually, she succeeds and her wish comes true. This is a hilarious, sweet, and charming episode.

94. Who’s Arnold?
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Winifred Hervey
7 October 1983
Benson is shocked to find himself in the role of Kraus’ husband when she can’t bear to tell her mother, visiting from the old country, that her wedding never came off. Yep, once again Kraus has trouble telling the truth. As always, her friends come to her aid.

95. Full Court Press
Directed by Katherine Helmond
Written by Bill Boulware
21 October 1983
Katie is assigned to write a report about what goes on in the mansion behind the scenes for her school. When she sees Clayton quarreling with Benson she sees a story she can’t resist. Clayton’s travel expenses spark insults from Benson. Clayton feels that Benson has insulted him for the last time and the case goes to court. The lawsuit against Benson explodes across the pages of Katie’s school newspaper.

96. Down the Drain
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan
28 October 1983
Plumbing problems at Benson’s flat lead to him calling in the irascible workman used by Kraus at the Governor’s mansion. While the crotchety old workman attempts to fix Benson’s sink, something unexpected happens. Let’s just say, it doesn’t look good for the plumber.

97. It Ain’t Sheik
Directed by Bill Foster
Story by Ralph Phillips
Teleplay by Bob Fraser & Rob Dames
4 November 1983
Benson gets the unwelcome task of convincing a sheik to alter his personal blueprints for a multimillion-dollar headquarters complex. At the same time Benson tries to dissuade him from his passionate advances toward Kraus.

98. You Can’t Give it Away
Directed by Rob Dames
Written by Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman
11 November 1983
Benson wins the $50,000 state lottery, then blows it–in a most surprising way–because he had promised on a television show to give it all to charity.

99. Katie’s Cookies
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Barry Fanaro
18 November 1983
Benson is involved in Katie’s cookie business at the same time he’s to testify against the mob.

100. Labor Pains
Directed by Gary Brown
Written by Bill Boulware
25 November 1983
Benson gets along with his neighbor’s baby. One night the neighbor asks Benson to take care of his child when he is forced to work during a strike. Benson learns that the child’s father is trapped in a snowstorm. The baby becomes ill while in Benson’s care. His effort to save the infant helps to thaw icy negotiations in the highway workers strike. The snow-covered roads are opened to get the baby an emergency doctor.

101. Unlisted Love
Directed by Gary Brown
Written by Winifred Hervey
2 December 1983
Benson inadvertently plays Cupid when the governor meets a woman he had a crush on in high school.

102. The Governor’s Brain is Missing
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Katy Speer and Terry Grossman
Guest stars: Earl Boen as Admiral Kocholnik,
Phillip R. Allen as Collins
16 December 1983
An intelligence agent look-a-like secretly takes over for Governor Gatling to intercept a defecting naval officer, and orders Benson to fire Kraus when she become suspicious.

103. A Real Gone Daddy
Directed by Ellen Craset Falcon
Written by Daryl G Nickens
23 December 1983
Benson receives an honorary degree at Pete’s alma mater, but the festivities take a strange turn when nostalgia transforms Pete into the coffeehouse poet he used to be. The governor and Benson are surprised to discover that Pete has reverted to his youth. It’s up to Benson and the Governor to bring Pete to his senses.

104. Too Pooped to Pip
Directed by Gary Brown and Mark Warren
Written by Winifred Hervey
6 January 1984
Benson is in charge of lining up talent for the annual charity telethon, and dazzles everyone when he books and performs with famed Gladys Knight and the Pips.

105. In All the Wrong Places
Directed by Gary Brown
Written by Bill Boulware
13 January 1984
Benson becomes the target of Katie’s school chum, Winston, to become his next father when the youth starts a campaign to get his widowed mother and Benson to the altar.

106. Embarrassing Moments
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Debra Frank & Scott Rubinstein
Guest stars: Tracy Reed, Joyce Little
20 January 1984
Benson is named Citywide Magazine’s “Bachelor of the Month” by the racy magazine. He is deluged with sacks of mail and romantic offers. The female response threatens his romance with the photographer he is already involved with.

107. Take My Life, Please
Directed by Gary Brown
Written by Barry Fanaro & Mort Nathan
27 January 1984
When the president demands a security check of all the Governor’s employees, Benson is labeled a spy.

108. Beauty and the Beef
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Winfred Harvey
Guest star: John Gallstone
3 February 1984
Benson finds that being a beauty pageant judge gets him close to some very attractive young ladies, but he also finds schemers who attempt to sway his vote, including Clayton and the governor.

109. We Deliver
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Bill Boulware
Guest stars: Anne Hanoi, Courtney Burr
24 February 1984
Benson, Gatling, and Denise get stuck in an elevator just when she is about to give birth. Benson and the governor are forced to give the stork a helping hand when Denise’s baby decides to arrive while the expectant mother is in an elevator stuck between floors at the hospital.

110. The Endicott Dynasty
Directed by Bill Foster
Written by Kathy Speer & Terry Grossman
Guest stars: Stephen Elliot, Billie Bird
2 March 1984
Clayton believes he will be appointed CEO of his father’s company. Benson is shocked and Clayton is reduced to tears when Clayton’s industrialist father shuns him to offer Benson the job of running his vast international empire.

111. The Little Hotel That Could
Directed by Katherine Helmond
Written by Robin Pennington
Guest stars: William Bogert, Robert Symmonds, Ken Foree
9 March 1984
Kraus persuades Benson to attempt to save a historical hotel from demolition. Benson’s agreement to help Kraus keep a landmark hotel from being demolished results in Benson being handcuffed to a lobby railing just a bulldozer crashes through the wall.

112. Let’s Play Doctor
Directed by Gary Brown
Guest star: Danny Thomas
4 May 1984
Benson nominates a crusty old medic for the governor’s Humanitarian of the Year Award for helping the underprivileged, but then it is discovered that he has been practicing with no medical license, which could land both the medic and Benson in jail.