Private Benjamin

Private Bejamin was a Syndication network sitcom based on the 1980 movie of the same name, starring Lorna Patterson in the lead role.

The show first premiered on April 6, 1981. While the series was initially shot on film and featured many outdoor scenes, the later episodes were more like a standard sitcom, shot on video on soundstages and complete with a laugh track.

On January 10, 1983, the show was cancelled after 3 seasons and 39 episodes.

Plot
Like the movie, the series is about Judy Benjamin, a spoiled young socialite adjusting to life in the army. She's popular among her fellow enlisted personnel, but not with her superiors. Most of the humor in the series is derived from Benjamin and her friends' attempts to evade the watchful eye of their sergeant.

Although some of the actors from the film play the same characters on the TV show, (notably Eileen Brennan and Hal Williams, in their roles of Captain Doreen Lewis and Sgt. L.C. Ross respectively) the title role is acted by Lorna Patterson instead of Goldie Hawn.

In the fall of 1982, Robert Mandan joined the cast as Colonel Lawrence Fielding, the pompous, well-meaning, but ineffectual, head of the camp.

In late 1982, Eileen Brennan was struck by a car and Polly Holliday was brought in as Captain Amanda Allen, intended as a temporary replacement for Brennan's Captain Lewis character, but the show was cancelled shortly thereafter.

Cast

 * Lorna Patterson as Private Judy Benjamin
 * Eileen Brennan as Captain Doreen Lewis
 * Joyce Little as Private Rayleen White
 * Robert Mandan as Colonel Lawrence Fielding
 * Ann Ryerson as Private Carol Winter
 * Wendie Jo Sperber as Private Stacy Kouchalakas
 * Lucy Webb as Private Luanne Hubble
 * Hal Williams as Sergeant Ted Ross
 * Lisa Raggio as Private Gianelli
 * Damita Jo Freeman as Private Jackie Sims

Accolades
Eileen Brennan won an Emmy and Golden Globe Award for her work on the series.