After several bungled attempts, she succeeds in a way that also alleviates Benson’s problems. Jessica tells Benson that she needs to find a way to do a good deed that will help get her into heaven. Moments later, his old friend appears to him in a spirit form that only he can see. It doesn’t help when he finds out that the Tates are trying to have still-missing Jessica declared legally dead. In “God, I Need This Job,” Benson is very stressed about his job as budget director. In September 1983, over two years after the end of Soap, an episode of spin-off Benson gave viewers one last glimpse of Jessica Tate.
The series ends with several unresolved cliffhangers. She’s placed in front of a firing squad and we hear the guns fire. Jessica tries to cajole and convince her captors not to execute her but is unsuccessful. Feeling humiliated, he decides to shoot the pair first. Danny and Annie’s affair is discovered by a despondent Chester who’ll likely soon die in a duel with El. Before he can decide, Burt is lured into an ambush by thugs who’ve been told to kill him. The Governor of Connecticut wants Burt to run as his Lieutenant Governor but insists that Burt distance himself from his crazy family. After being hypnotized and regressed to a past life, Jodie still believes that he’s an old Jewish man named Julius. Mary is upset that her baby is likely half alien. If El doesn’t return to the island, she’ll be killed. Jessica has been kidnapped by El Puerco’s enemy and brought back to Malaguay. Ronald Mallu (Eugene Roche), and urbane butler Saunders (Roscoe Lee Browne). Later characters include convict Dutch Leitner (Donnelly Rhodes), Detective Donahue (John Byner), lawyer E. Chuck is a ventriloquist who believes that his nasty and constant companion puppet Bob is a live person. One of Burt’s sons, Chuck (Jay Johnson), also lives in the Campbell house. Mary lives a middle-class life with her second husband Burt (Richard Mulligan) and two sons from her first marriage gay Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal) and Mafia tough guy Danny Dallas (Ted Wass). Jessica’s senile father, the Major (Arthur Peterson), and sarcastic butler Benson DuBois (Robert Guillaume) serve as consistent sources of humor and commentary on the crazy Tate household. Naive Jessica is part of a rich family which includes her philandering husband Chester (Robert Mandan) and three children man-crazy Corrine (Diana Conva), snotty Eunice (Jennifer Salt), and often-ignored Billy (Jimmy Baio).
This groundbreaking serial sitcom, created by Susan Harris, tells the story of two sisters - Jessica Tate (Katherine Helmond) and Mary Campbell (Cathryn Damon). Katherine Helmond, Robert Mandan, Cathryn Damon, Richard Mulligan, Ted Wass, Billy Crystal, Jennifer Salt, Jimmy Baio, Diana Canova, Arthur Peterson, Jay Johnson, Robert Guillaume, Donnelly Rhodes, Sal Viscuso, Rebecca Balding, Marla Pennington, John Byner, Dinah Manoff, Eugene Roche, Roscoe Lee Browne, Gordon Jump, Gregory Sierra, Nancy, Barbara Rhoades, Bob Seagren, Randee Heller, Caroline McWilliams, Inga Swenson, Jesse Welles, Allan Miller, Robert Urich, Howard Hesseman, Charles Lane, Lynne Moody, Joe Mantegna, and Rod Roddy. Episodes: 85 (77 half-hours, eight hours), four seasons