210: Benson Literally Plays a Game With Death

“The Stranger” (October 25, 1985)

Benson may have been a more conventional sitcom than Soap, the show it spun off, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t have its exceedingly weird moments — including this final season Halloween special in which Benson must play a trivia game with death personified in order to save the lives of 41 hapless schoolchildren. It’s basically the last moment in time an otherwise grounded sitcom could get away with this, and we’re lucky to have James Eldred on hand to discuss it. Also he suggested it!

Please don’t spoil Poker Face for him.

Also give a listen to his Cinema Oblivia podcast — and check out the episodes Drew guested on, about Switchblade Sisters and Troll.

The supercut of Kraus yelling “I can hear you” (or some variation thereof) was excerpted from this video on YouTube, posted by Undercover Budget Director. The full version is much longer.

Watch Glen's episode of Ninjago: Dragons Rising, now streaming on Netflix! And if you're not sure what a Ninjago is, watch Ninjago Decoded, Glen's video series that explains the history of the Ninjago TV show.

Episode artwork by Ian O’Phelan.