Benson Serves Up Laughs on TV Land Beginning Saturday, June 3

NEW YORK, May 30 -- Robert Guillaume's signature series, Benson, joins the TV Land line-up this June, beginning with a 48-hour marathon on Saturday, June 3 at 6 a.m. ET/PT. The comedy -- a spin-off from Soap -- aired on ABC for seven years and garnered Emmy recognition for Guillaume as the wise-cracking butler. The series will air in its regularly scheduled timeslot of 11 p.m. from Monday to Friday beginning June 5.

"Benson is a timeless show which is consistently requested by our viewers," states Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick at Nite. "It is such a timeless comedy with great characters and funny storylines. We are thrilled to be able to introduce it to a whole new audience who missed it the first time around."

Benson revolves around Benson Dubois (Guillaume), who is sent by his boss Jessica Tate to assist her widowed cousin, Governor James Gatling (James Noble). The governor, although kind-hearted, was quite naive, so Benson proved to be a guide to him on both his personal and political decisions. Throughout his time with the governor, Benson tended to clash with many of those on the staff, particularly Gretchen (Inga Swenson), the stern housekeeper and aides Clayton (Rene Auberjonois) and Taylor (Lewis J. Stadlen). However, Benson's wit eventually allowed him to form a strong bond with the governor's daughter Katie (Missy Gold), who looked to Benson as a second father. His intelligence and flourishing relationship with the governor and his adversaries resulted in several promotions, from budgetary director to lieutenant governor, and eventually as an opponent for Gatling as Governor. Also featured in the series are Pete (Ethan Phillips), the Governor's press assistant, Denise (Didi Cohn), who became Benson's secretary when he was appointed state budget director, and his fiancee Diane (Donna La Brie).

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TV Land Productions was created in 2003 to develop original programming that complements the network's successful acquired programming slate. TV Land Productions has also produced The TV Land Awards Show: A Celebration of Classic TV (March 2003, 2004 and 2005), the Emmy-nominated The Dick Van Dyke Show, Revisited, the network's first original special for broadcast, which premiered on CBS in May 2004, the Emmy-nominated Still Brady ... After All These Years reunion special in September 2004 and Chasing Farrah (Spring 2005), the original reality series that followed iconic Hollywood actress and sex symbol Farrah Fawcett. Over the last year, the network premiered a variety of original series and specials in 2005 including: TV Guide and TV Land Present: The 100 Most Unexpected TV Moments, Living in TV Land, TV Land Confidential and Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg. For more information about TV Land's original Wednesday night line-ups, visit http://www.tvland.com.

Now seen in over 85 million U.S. homes, TV Land's program mix features popular dramas, sitcoms, westerns, Retromercials and a TV-referential interstitial environment, all programmed with a specific audience in mind - the first generation of Americans to grow up watching television and features all-time Classic hits like All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza.

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