MovieChat Forums > Benson (1979) Discussion > When Did It Jump the Shark For You?

When Did It Jump the Shark For You?

posted 18 years ago by richard.fuller1
16 replies | jump to latest

I remember when the ladies (Caroline McWilliams, Inga Swenson) started cutting off their hair was a bit too much for me.

But I have not a clue who or what Billie Bird did here. I never watched her episodes and if I even heard that Ethan Phillips and Didi Conn left, I never watched those episodes.

Billie Bird I can never forget was to portray Delta Burke's mother on her own bombing show after she, Burke, left "Designing Women" and went blonde.

Bird's 'addition' to the show would consist of telling people about something Delta did as a little girl everytime we saw her in her first episode.

That's real depth of conflicting characters there.

[–] fishinbuddy2 18 years ago

I think it jumped the shark for me when they started changing the personalities of the characters.

Krause and Benson were becoming friends and not the wise cracking enemies we had grown to know.

It also seemed the Governor was getting smarter and more confident than the bumbling long story telling, character we were first introduced to in season one thru 5.

Also some of the story lines were pretty lame. For instance Benson helps this guy get a pardon from the governor and once he gets out, he comes to stay at the governors mansion where he tries to get Benson to help him get put back in prison.

One such odd episode is where I believe they were trying to push the race issue and they had the governor dating Jane Kennedy ( a black lady) not only was she half his age, but he was going to a nightclub with her and no one was noticing that the governor was in there dancing and at one point dressed like Don Johnson with a sport jacket and rolled up sleeves.

Also the believability of the security at the governors mansion was laughable. People off the street could just walk in thru the kitchen and start talking to the governor. Yes I know this was waaaay pre-9/11 but still governors had more security than this show portrayed. It was laughable that the governor could go to a nightclub and no one noticed him.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] richard.fuller1 18 years ago

fishinbuddy2: "It also seemed the Governor was getting smarter and more confident than the bumbling long story telling, character we were first introduced to in season one thru 5.

Also some of the story lines were pretty lame. For instance Benson helps this guy get a pardon from the governor and once he gets out, he comes to stay at the governors mansion where he tries to get Benson to help him get put back in prison.

One such odd episode is where I believe they were trying to push the race issue and they had the governor dating Jane Kennedy ( a black lady) not only was she half his age, but he was going to a nightclub with her and no one was noticing that the governor was in there dancing and at one point dressed like Don Johnson with a sport jacket and rolled up sleeves."
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I saw the ex-con wanting Benson to get him back in jail episode this past weekend.

I also saw the Jayne Kennedy episode, it was the last episode they showed, and I get up early for work.

That episode reminded me of the strange behavior of the governer, he was getting overly serious, like he wasn't such a boob, but he still spoke the same. I'm not sure what they were wanting to do with the character.

It reminded me of the episode when the staff (basically, the cast) had to be locked in a bomb shelter in case of nuclear war and Krause would read off the simulation from the computer, and she was so serious about it all.

They put little mushroom stand up clouds on the city map for where the computer said bombs were dropped and, . . . . uh oh. One was dropped on the their city!

Each person was assigned numbers and Clayton's number came up that he was dead.

Clayton tried to protest and the governer turned and shook his head. Dude, it's only a computer simulation.

Then the next number came up with radiation poisoning. It was . . . . Katie!

Katie! Katie! Are you allright? Do you feel okay!

Governer! It's only a simulation, Benson says.

Now would anyone want a man who can't tell the difference between a computer simulation and the real thing as their governer?

I think I can guess the outcome in the final episode. Gatling LOST!

Benson then steps up to the computer as they all leave the shelter, and he declares the war . . . . . has been cancelled.

Like that is all it would take.

[–] marktayloruk (2375) a month ago

Why did Gatling remind me of Jimmy Carter?

[–] perwilvil 18 years ago

Its been a LONG time since I've seen Benson until I watched few episodes on TVLand this past weekend. I agree with the Billie Bird assessment. I switched off the later episodes.

But the show really jumped for me the first time when Caroline McWilliams left and was replaced by Didi Cohn. Caroline McWilliams was so sexy, and Didi Cohn so annoying. I'm so glad that she and Pete left because I never liked either one of them.

[–] MercurialAquarian 11 years ago

It wasn't Robert Guillaume's singing (though he did a decent job of it) but rather the episode where Benson and several others were involved in a helicopter crash in the middle of some isolated terrain. If I remember correctly, someone uses a golf club shaft as a support of the helicopter blades and Krause uses her mental telepathy as connection to Benson for some lifesaving decision and action. I bought it up until the mental telepathy scene.

[–] jamesboland 9 years ago

She had cut her hair, too.

Mental telepathy between them two? It's not like they were twins. She was German and he was... well, not.

Good for them. At least there wasn't a Wicca-Judaism-Catholicism-Muslim complication.

I'll quote Ziggy Marley so I can "fit in" with you people.Her sister watches over the Fairy Princess of Hollywood from the Netherworld.

[–] happipuppi13 8 years ago

The ladies cut and/or changed their hair because it was no longer 1979/1980.

Anyhow, I don't think it Jumped The Shark at all.

Although that nuclear disaster episode (where we see the disturbing sight of Mrs. Cassidy (Billie Bird) as a melted own blob in front of the stove, was highly out there in left field (or is that farthest left in the Universe?)

Benson & Krause as the last man & woman on the planet and talking of
making kids? If I recall right, that was a dream/ nightmare Beson had.

Other than this, I have no problem with the characters changing near the end if the series. How long could Krause & Clyton be at odds with Benson? They;d worked all those things out.

I was glad the Gov. got smarter.

In a way, at the start, his short-comings as a Governor (i think) were some kind of commentary on Govt. in the 1970s. In the Reagan era though, it was no longer 'cool' to make fun of Government and those who worked in it.

I'm not saying people shouldn;t make jokes but it does get a bit tiresome later to see a man trying his best at a job and not being able to use 1005 of his mind, because a Hollywood writer thinks its funnier to make him 'one card short of a deck'.

Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13 🐕 *arf,man!*

[–] marktayloruk (2375) 2 years ago

What's wrong with making fun of government?

[–] stevenackerman69 8 years ago

I think when Benson became Lt. Governor and Pete and Denise left. It wasn't the same anymore.

[–] WaitingFor22 8 years ago

I enjoyed the show from Season 1 to Season 7 but if made to choose, I would also agree with the departure of Pete and Denise. I could take or leave Denise but I thought Pete was hilarious.

[–] CastlePI 8 years ago

I haven't watched it since the 80's or 90's but do remember it dropped off when Pete and Denise left and as someone mentioned Benson and Kraus were more friendly. Add some more serious episodes and the show had lost its edge.

Season 2 was the peak.

[–] FatherMulcahyFan 8 years ago

Season 2 was the best season of the series and contained many of my favorite episodes. As for jumping the shark, I can't really say it did but I agree that the Governor did change. I can see him not being as much of dingbat, but my concern is he didn't seem and friendly with Benson in the later episodes and he once was. He used to sing his praises and back him, but in later seasons/episodes he was more at odds with him. If that makes sense.

[–] WaitingFor22 8 years ago

Well here's something that I was thinking about as I was watching some of those later episodes: As Benson and the Governor moved along in their political careers, they were finding that they had differing viewpoints on issues. For example, in one later episode ("Portrait of a Politician") they fought over a bill Benson vetoed when the governor was out of town that he would have passed and weren't speaking to each other for a while. The Governor says to Benson at one point, "Let's face it, Benson, you played party politics. Your party opposed that bill so you vetoed it". Let's think about that. The governor said, "your party", so apparently they were no longer on the same side of issues. I remember in the very first episode of the series when Benson asks Katie, "Are you a Republican?" This led me to believe that Governor Gatling was a Democrat. Could it be that Benson's views were more aligned to Republican values? It's an interesting thing to ponder. Also, I looked it up and found that the governor and lieutenant governor are not required to be affiliated with the same political party. I believe that was the situation in this case.

[–] d_henderson1810 8 years ago

If you remember, Gov Gatling lost his party endorsement, so he ran as an independent and won.

When he says "Your party", he probably means that Benson is still part of the party that dis-endorsed the Governor, since, in later seasons, Benson was to run as Governor himself, I assume, with the endorsement of the party which dumped Gatling.

[–] Mustang (5196) 9 months ago

Yep Benson was a character that is better when he is second or supporting someone rather than in charge.