Info:
DVD Release Date: July 24, 2007 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Color/1979-80
MSRP: $29.95
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 24
Running Time: 597 minutes
Running Time of Special Features: approx. 38 minutes
Languages, Subtitles, Closed Captioning: English;
Closed Captioned
Special Features: “Video Introduction by Robert
Guillaume,” “Inside the Governor’s Mansion:
Remembering the First Season of Benson,” “Favorites
from the First Season,” “Photo Gallery”
Introduction:
The popular spin-off from the classic series Soap is
now on DVD! That is of course Benson, who was the
insolent butler to the Tates on Soap, has now moved on
to the governor’s mansion. The governor is of course
Jessica Tate’s cousin. Benson: The Complete First
Season makes its DVD debut with all 24 first season
episodes plus brand new special features all on a
great 3-disc set from Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment! Over the course of its seven season
run on ABC, Benson was nominated for 17 Emmy Awards,
winning three of them and nominated for four Golden
Globes.
The series stars 5-time Emmy nominee Robert Guillaume
as Benson and James Noble as Governor Eugene Gatling.
Also starring in the first season are the governor’s
little daughter Katie played by Missy Gold, the stern
German housekeeper Gretchen Kraus played by Inga
Swenson, the governor’s secretary Marcy Hill played by
Caroline McWilliams, and John Taylor the governor’s
political aide played by Lewis J. Stalden.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The first season had 24 memorable episodes. The best
of the bunch are, “Change” (Pilot), is where it all
happens and we see Benson move into his new job
running the Governor’s mansion. “The President’s
Double,” is where Benson impersonates an African
president to avoid an assassination attempt. “Benson
in Love,” is where he meets the attractive Francine
Wade in the waiting room of the mansion, he asks her
out, not knowing she is a State Senator. “Jessica,” is
where Jessica Tate (special guest star Katherine
Helmond) visits and falls in love with the French
Baron d'Arvenaux. “Cold Storage” is a classic episode
where Benson and Kraus get locked in the basement.
“Takin' It to the Streets” is where Governor Gatling
and Benson visit a mangy bar to talk to the
constituents but land in trouble when a man picks a
fight with Gatling at the bar, not knowing who he is.
In addition to special guest star Katherine Helmond,
other guest stars this season include Denise Nicholas
and Roscoe Lee Browne in the episode “Just Friends.”
Roscoe Lee Browne did not play his Soap character
Saunders, he of course was the butler that replaced
Benson when Benson moved to the governor mansion. Did
you also know that Caroline McWilliams and Inga
Swenson were also on Soap, and obviously played
different characters on Benson? Anyway, back to the
guest stars. David Ruprecht guest stars in “Chain of
Command,” Richard Stahl & Joel Brooks guest star in
“Bugging the Governor,” Michael Bell guest stars in
“Checkmate,” and G.W. Bailey guest stars in some
episodes as a bartender.
Packaging:
The packaging is a typical Sony design--an outer box
with slim cases inside. The artwork is much better
than the usual Sony stuff, though. The color scheme is
blue. The outer box has headshots of all the main
characters from season one on the top, with the
complete first season wording below that and the title
shot of Robert Guillaume in Benson with a nice photo
of Benson inside the O in Benson. The tagline, “He’s
running the house...and state,” is below that. The
back of the box has a nice photo of Benson, a photo of
the mansion, and four different screen shots. That is
not all though, it has a nice synopsis of the first
season and the set and a box for special features.
Inside the box, we have two slim cases and the generic
Sony booklet. The booklet is up to date, and is the
same one used on Bewitched Season 5, which we also
reviewed. Anyway, we have slim cases, first case holds
the first two discs and the last slim case holds disc
three. The front of both slim cases has a nice
colorcast photo, different one for each. The back of
each slim case has episode info (episode number,
title, synopsis, and cast). Inside the first slim
case, we have discs on both sides. When we take the
discs out, you will see various photos on the case.
In between the discs, there is a nice photo of the
governor’s chair I believe. The second slim case has
nice photos on the left side with disc three on the
right side and when we remove the third disc, the nice
photos from the left side continue. The disc art is
similar to everything else on this set…they are blue.
The Benson logo appears on each disc, with a photo of
a star inside the O in Benson. Disc one has a photo of
Benson and holds episodes 1-8 & some extras, disc two
has a photo of Marcy & the Governor and holds episodes
9-16, and finally disc three has a photo of Kraus &
Katie and holds episodes 17-24 & more extras.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu screens match the style of the cover art.
There is no theme playing the background, like most
Sony sets. Options are Play All Episodes, Episode
Selection, Special Features (disc one and three only),
Previews (Disc three only). Previews option has God
Grew Tired of Us, Stomp the Yard, Norman Lear and
Great TV Families. When we select Episode Selection,
we get the typical Sony episode menu--a square
screenshot from the episode with the title (though on
this set the screenshot is inside an O from the word
Benson). Each episode has five chapter stops (opening
credits, Act 1, Act 2, Tag Scene and closing credits).
Video and Audio Quality:
The back of the box says the show is mastered in high
definition! It certainly looks good and it is the best
the series has ever looked, I’m sure. The audio is
fine, a nice Dolby digital sound. The episodes for the
most part are around 24-25 minutes, so it is unedited,
unless there is something very minor cut. It is
certainly not the syndicated prints. Some notable
notes include the original opening credits for the
pilot episode is intact (you know where Benson is
shown moving into the mansion, it is comical...TV Land
never showed it, but SGN did) and all the episodes
have the full one-minute opening credits but two
episodes (“The Layoff” and “War Stories”). The two
episodes that do not have the full theme probably did
not have them originally, but don’t worry nothing is
edited out in the actual episode. There are three
others or so that has a similar run-time, but has the
full theme. The new Sony Pictures Television logo is
at the end of each episode.
The runtimes are as follows:
Disc 1:
1. Change (Pilot) (25:08)
2. Trust Me (24:37)
3. The President’s Double (24:50)
4. Benson in Love (24:48)
5. Conflict of Interest (25:08)
6. The Layoff (24:07)
7. Snowbound (24:58)
8. Jessica (24:50)
Disc 2:
9. Don’t Quote Me (25:09)
10. War Stories (24:06)
11. Ghost Story (25:08)
12. Taylor’s Bid (25:07)
13. One Strike, You’re Out (24:09)
14. Just Friends (24:08)
15. Chain of Command (25:07)
16. Bugging the Governor (25:08)
Disc 3:
17. Kraus Affair (25:08)
18. Checkmate (25:07)
19. Cold Storage (25:08)
20. Old Man Gatling (25:08)
21. Power Play (25:10)
22. Takin’ It to the Streets (24:08)
23. The Army Wants You (25:04)
24. Marcy’s Vacation (25:08)
Special Features:
Usually, Sony’s classic TV sets are bare with just
Sony previews. This set is not like that and is GREAT!
Disc 1 has the bulk of the extras. We get a nice
“Video Introduction by Robert Guillaume” that runs
1:04. He is thanking the fans in buying the first
season and introduces the show to them. He mentions
season two at the end, so let’s hope we get that on
DVD very soon. Then we have the best feature on the
set, “Inside the Governor’s Mansion: Remembering the
First Season of Benson.” This runs 29:26 and is a
fan’s dream come true. It is filled with great inside
info and facts. I won’t give it away! Interviewed for
this featurette are Robert Guillaume, James Noble and
producer Tony Thomas. They talk about each actor from
this season (Robert Guillaume, James Noble, Inga
Swenson, Missy Gold, Caroline McWilliams, and Lewis J.
Stalden). After that, they discuss the studio
audience, acting style, working together and creating
a lasting impression. My only gripe is I wish more
had participated. However, the three that did were
fantastic.
The remaining extras are on the last disc. Another
featurette is given, titled “Favorite Episodes from
the First Season.” It runs 6 minutes and Guillaume,
Thomas and Noble discuss their favorite first season
episodes. Among the favorite episodes they discuss
are “The President’s Double” and “Jessica.” Then we
have a Photo Gallery. It is a nice video montage of
still photos running for 1:34. There is nice music
playing in the background as well. Gross Myth Company
produced all of these special features. Maybe Sony
should go to them more often, because they did a
wonderful job. Let’s hope Sony continues to deliver
like this on all of their classic TV sets! Finally,
as I mentioned in the Menu section, Sony Previews are
also available on disc three.
Final Comments:
Sony should be proud! They did a wonderful job
actually on this set. All the episodes are unedited,
the video quality is superb and there are actually
some worthy special features! I wish more of the
actors had participated, but still good. I would have
liked audio commentaries and bloopers as well. Let’s
hope we get those for season two. This series is
certainly a very smart sitcom and is underrated. It
is different from Soap’s style, but it is just as good
maybe as Soap. Robert Guillaume is wonderful in this
role and James Noble and Inga Swenson are great
throughout as well.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 5/5
Audio Quality: 4.5/5
Special Features: 4/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 4/5
Overall: 4.5/5
-- Reviewed by pavanbadal on 07/04/07
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