In this month’s series, “Work It Out” we are looking at some of our favorite sitcoms that revolve around work and careers. This week we are checking out one of my favorite characters on television. He started as a minor role in a controversial show, and went on to make a name for himself; the show is literally named for his character, Benson.

The series was created by Susan Harris, and produced by Witt/Thomas/Harris Productions.

Benson (Robert Guillaume) worked for the Tate family on Soap and later went to help out Governor Eugene Gatling (James Noble), Jessica Tate’s cousin. Benson started in the governor’s household but was so competent that it didn’t take long to move him into the role of state budget director and then lieutenant governor.

Any time that you have a show about politics, there is room for sarcasm and humor, and this show featured both. Benson has an enjoyable, sarcastic wit. By that I mean, most characters would come off arrogantly with so much sarcasm, but Benson is so sophisticated and wise that he just gets away with it. And to be honest, he typically is only sarcastic when the character or the action calls for it.

One of the people who often gets his sarcasm is the cook Gretchen (Inga Swenson). Clayton Endicott III (Rene Auberjonois) also gets his fair share. In season three, Denise Stevens (Didi Conn) is Benson’s press secretary. Rounding out the cast is the governor’s daughter Katie (Missy Gold), who is about ten, and only gets respect from Benson.

Jerry Seinfeld had a short-lived role on Benson, and this was his first acting job. He played Frankie, a delivery boy, but apparently, he had some differences with the cast or crew and was let go.

The show was nominated for seventeen Emmy nominations. Robert Guillaume was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1980 and every year from 1982-1985, winning in 1985. He lost to Richard Mulligan for Soap in 1980, to Alan Alda for M*A*S*H in 1982, Judd Hirsch for Taxi in 1983, and John Ritter for Three’s Company in 1984. Swenson was nominated for supporting actress in 1980, 1982 and 1985. Auberjonois was also nominated for supporting actor in 1984.

Guillaume said that for him, the show was always about that fact that a black man was standing on his own two feet and after he had to deal with anyone, he was still standing. But most people put it in a box, deciding that it was about a black man who was the smartest man in the room and he was very militant. He said that Benson looked at people’s ability, not their skin color but that was not what viewers took away from the show.

Robert Guillaume would not have been thought the most likely person to star in a sitcom for most of his career. He was born in St. Louis in 1927 and raised by his grandmother. He loved music and idolized several singers including Paul Robeson. He joined the army from 1945-47. While attending St. Louis University and Washington University where he majored in music, he worked as a postal clerk and a streetcar driver.

When he was 30, he won a scholarship for a classical music three-month stint in Colorado. In 1959 he toured Europe with Quincy Jones, Clark Terry, and Harold Nicholas in “Free and Easy.” During the sixties and seventies, he worked in musical theater, in a variety of productions.

His first television appearance was on Julia in 1969. During the seventies, he only had a few television roles but they were all in very popular shows including Marcus Welby, MD; Sanford and Son; All in the Family; The Jeffersons; and Good Times. His role of Benson on Soap began in 1977.

Because Benson was thought of simply as a sitcom, Guillaume said the work he was most proud of was not Benson or Soap; his favorite role was when he was on Sports Night. This is a series that I will definitely be checking out for future blogs. Whether you get to know him on Soap or Benson, Benson is just a fun character to get to know.