While I'm At It

Might as well squeeze another thought in as long as I'm here.

I was reading another bad Page 2 article, this time about the Kris Benson deal, and the writer asked if perhaps the Twins were dealing for the wrong Benson. The link went to his wife's site, a la T.J., but of course I was thinking it'd be Benson. You know, Benson DuBois, from Benson the TV show! No such luck, though Anna is nicer to look at.

What was it about Benson, a show that was on for seven seasons, that killed off any future careers for its participants? Oh, sure, Clayton got a gig as a Star Trek weirdo, but that doesn't really count. The governor was never seen again. The little girl vanished from TV, though at least she didn't go the eating disorder route like her Growing Pains sister. The German lady disappeared, though I guess you can see why. Even the guy Pete and his wife, who played Frenchy in Grease -- gone. (Although I think her role in Grease 2 precluded her from A-list appearances ever again.) And what of Benson himself? He's had nothing roles here and there, but you'd think after being BENSON he'd roll into roles. Ah, perhaps he was typecast as the typical black butler-turned-gubernatorial-staffer-turned-Lieutenant-Governor. Same old story.

Oh, there was one guy who walked away from Benson early on and made a little name for himself some time later. That Jerry Seinfeld guy. Did all right, so I hear.

And really, other than recalling its characters and a vague memory of wasting too much time as a youth watching this show, the only thing that comes back to me when I think of Benson isn't even from the show. It's a line from that Richard Lewis / Jamie Lee Curtis show in the late 80's. Jamie Lee has just exaggerated that something was a "miracle":

Richard Lewis: "A miracle? Really? A miracle? It was a miracle when Moses parted the Red Sea. It was a miracle when Jonah survived the whale. It was a miracle that Benson was on the air for seven seasons!"

And lo, it was a mighty miracle. Here endeth the lesson.