Bender has served as executive producer for TV series including Lost, Lost: Missing Pieces, Alcatraz, Under the Dome, The Last Ship, and Mr. Mercedes. He won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2005 for Outstanding Drama Series for Lost. As an actor he appeared in episodes of the TV series All in the Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Bob Newhart Show and also starred in the movies The Million Dollar Duck and Savage.