Hey Father, thanks fo4r the welcome.
I know this about Johnny Appleseed ;
John Chapman (September 26, 1774 March 18, 1845), often called Johnny Appleseed, was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ontario, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, as well as the northern counties of present-day West Virginia. He became an American legend while still alive.
So, I guess that my guess iof Nebraska might be a bit off.
Meaning the state may actually just be fictional.
Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13
arf,man!

They were on their way to Albuquerque, New Mexico in that episode and ended up in Las Vegas. Which means they were coming from the east and not from the west.

First off, welcome to the Benson board, Happi.
I just recently saw an episode where Pete (I think) was talking about about Johnny Appleseed planting trees in that state. So the state could possibly be Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio or Pennsylvania. I think I read where he planted in Michigan as well.

Hi all, first time posting for BENSON.
I think the writers have, even to this day, everyone bamboozled.
A far as the Chopper Crash ep. ("Flight of Teh Do Do Pt. 1 & 2 (Dec. 1985). i recall the episode very well and where they land , there is nothing but desert all around & some minor vegetation.
Texas - Idaho - Wyoming - Utah - Oregon - Nevada -
New Mexico - Arizona and California are the states with the most desert terrain.

If the guys were going to Illinois to play golf, then Gatling would have to be the governor of one of these. Except that logic doesn't exactly workas he says they'll fly across ONE state.
Looking at this map of the states, it's impossible
for him to be Gov. of any of those or back east, and fly across ONE to get to Illinois.
http://www.conceptdraw.com/How-To-Guide/geo-map-america-united-states

However, the most most reasonable state I could
find with any desert (and close to Illinois) was Nebraska.
That's in the more North part of the state. As we know though, they got totally off course. I'd guess, Gatling is the Governor of Nebraska and to fly 'across a state' to Illinois would mean Iowa.
Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13
arf,man!

Based on the pilot episode we can rule out Oregon and Idaho. Oregon can be ruled out because Katie was upset about the beavers being moved to that state and Governor Gatling was wishing he was the governor of Idaho because no one would care if a couple of potatoes were killed.
I'm thinking Pennsylvania because it seems like Krause is a fan of one of the sports teams there and during the re-election episodes some cities that I think are in Pennsylvania were mentioned.

It has to be a western state. In High Places (season 2) the Governor flys a plane to Las Vegas. Probably from a western state given the time elapsed.
It should be Colorado. But it isn't.

As per "Old Man Gatling" (season 1) he says his father "lives in Colorado now" and his father later says "Makes me glad I moved out of the state".
This is cool. At least we are narrowing things down.

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Another piece of evidence is that in one episode, Benson mentions that the state capitol is on one end of the state and 300 miles from the other end. Given the distance from Washington, the fact that the state has no desert and that information, we can conclude that Gene Gatling is the governor ofColorado.

LOLyep, I just mentioned that in my last post.

I just saw the episode where Benson and the Governor visit the White House and Benson mentions that they came 1800 miles for nothing. Among the state capitals 1800 miles from DC are Santa Fe, New Mexico; Helena, Montana; Austin, Texas; Pierre, South Dakota; and Bismark, South Dakota. So it must be somewhere in the Rocky Mountains or the Southwest.

And I could swear that they've mentioned that Benson takes place in Capitol City, which is of course a city close to the Simpsons' Springfield.

I think they purposely set it up so pretty much every state was ruled out. Does anyone remember the episode "Oval Office" when Benson and the Governor are summoned to DC to see the President? Benson says to the Governor that they flew "1900 miles for two plastic pens and some stale pastry." If you went by that statement alone, you'd have to cancel out everything but the west coast.

Springfield? EUREKA!!!
It's the same state as "The Simpsons"

I watched an episode of Benson this weekend where Benson and DiDi Conns character were analyzing census counts to determine how the state could have lost a significant number of residents. Didi came running into Benson's office screaming she "found the people" and explained that the census bureau inadvertantly gave counts meant for their state to Springfield, IL. So that cancels out the Illinois theory.

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I Believe show takes place in Virgina. The governors mansion is in Richmond. they make frequent reference to it on the show.

My Uncle owns a sawmill in a Southern state. So much for that theory, lol. I always thought Benson took place on the East Coast, but wasn't sure which state.

New York also makes sense. Having the governor's family not far away allows them to be in Connecticut.
In the episode "Kraus's Deadly Mistake" Kraus thinks she is dying and begins to live it up. She shows up at Benson's apartment drunk in the early morning hours. Benson grabs the phone to call a cab and he specifically says he is calling the Sunshine Cab Company. This episode aired in 1982 on ABC. That is the same year that Taxi last aired on ABC. Taxi centered in NYC on The Sunshine Cab Company. Its not hard to imagine Reverend Jim (Iggy) driving up to Albany for any reason he thinks of.

I suspect the reason why the state's name is never metioned is to avoid offending the citizens of one particular state, but since Soap takes place Conneticut I assumed this show takes place there too.

. . . at a press conference that the Governor's father interupts, there was a microphone with the call letters W - - - (dont remember the other three letters) which means that its East of the Mississippi, and since its certainly not the South because of the accents (particularly Taylor's New York accent).
Another interesting tidbit is that in the episode when Benson and Krauss go out at 2:30 in the morning to a convenience store to buy sandwiches, Pete's wife calls from Tahiti, and says that it is 6:30 (p.m. the day earlier presumably) there. I looked up on the Internet the time difference between the East Coast and Tahiti, and its six hours earlier, only five hours earlier than the midwest, etc. In other words, it can't be 2:30 a.m. anywhere in the USA and 6:30 in Tahiti.
Like a couple people have said, Connecticut is a good guess because of the map on the wall and the governor's family from "Soap" live in Connecticut.
I know Benson takes place in a FICTIONAL TVLAND STATE, but I enjoy looking for clues.

isn't there a map of long island/connecticut behind bensons desk when he's budget director? i always pictured the state somewhere around the northeast.

And since the Governor owns a sawmill in the state, I doubt it's a Southern state. I'm thinking Northwest-maybe Oregon or Washington.

One thing, based on the weather (snow), it wasn't Florida!