American television sitcom (1985?1989)
Small Wonder
is an American children's
comedy science fiction
sitcom
that aired in
first-run syndication
from September 7, 1985, to May 20, 1989. The show chronicles the family of a robotics engineer who secretly creates a robot modeled after a human girl, then tries to pass it off as their adopted daughter, Vicki. The series turned out to be a surprise hit, specifically with children, as many channels belonging to different nations witnessed while re-running the show. Owing to its popularity in some countries, the show had to be dubbed for different languages.
Premise
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The story lines revolve around V.I.C.I. (an acronym for Voice Input Child Identicant, pronounced "Vicki"), an
android
in the form of a 10-year-old girl. Vicki was built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. Lawson takes the robot home so that it can mature within a family environment. Vicki's features include superhuman strength and speed, an
AC
outlet under her right arm, a data port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family initially tries to pass Vicki off as an orphaned family member whom they legally adopt as their daughter.
The Lawson family tries to keep the robot's existence a secret, but their disagreeable neighbors, the Brindles, keep on popping up at the most unexpected moments ? especially nosy next-door neighbor Harriet, whose father happens to be Ted Lawson's co-worker. The show's humor frequently derived from Vicki's attempts to learn human behavior, her unprecedented
echolalia
, the robot's literal interpretation of speech and the family's efforts to disguise the robot's true nature.
To explain child actress Tiffany Brissette's aging during the show, the series' producers had Ted give Vicki an upgrade in the series' third season. He aged her face, dressed her in modern clothes, and allowed her to eat and drink. The food passed through her naturally and the drink cooled her internal system.
Cast and characters
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- Dick Christie
as Ted Lawson - Jamie's father, Joan's husband and Vicki's creator. A robotics engineer who originally created the Vicki robot as a domestic servant with a female child's appearance.
- Marla Pennington
as Joan Anderson
[3]
Lawson - Ted's wife and Jamie's mother. Joan, more than anyone else on the show, regards Vicki as a real person.
- Jerry Supiran
as Jamie Lawson - The 10-year-old son of Ted and Joan.
- Emily Schulman
as Harriet Brindle - The nosy neighbors' daughter who has a crush on Jamie.
- Tiffany Brissette
as Victoria "Vicki" Ann Smith-Lawson - A robot modeled after a real human girl. The robot was a Voice Input Child Identicant (V.I.C.I.), but was nicknamed Vicki. She has realistic hair and skin. She possesses superhuman strength and speed and runs on atomic power. Vicki has an access panel in her back, an electrical outlet in her right armpit, and an
RS-232
serial port
under her left armpit. Vicki's artificial intelligence is not perfect; she is incapable of
emotion
, speaks in a monotone voice and interprets most commands literally. She does manage to blend into the real world to a point. Vicki attends school, and no one but her family members and a few trusted friends know her secret. Occasionally, Vicki had rare abilities that seemed to only appear in one or two episodes, such as elongating her neck to reach a door's peephole, shrinking her size to become as small as a doll or making herself ten feet tall to get noticed by everyone. Somehow, she could also channel enough electricity through her hands to jump-start a car (or with more control, serve as a
defibrillator
to save the life of a person suffering a
heart attack
). One recurring theme was that Vicki had a super-powered learning system which enabled her to improve something such as a new detergent or to greatly increase the gas mileage of cars, which Jamie often saw as a chance to get rich quick, only to find her improvements were not perfect. Vicki lives in a cabinet in Jamie's bedroom, and becomes more human-like over the course of the show.
Recurring
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- William Bogert
as Brandon Brindle - Harriet's father. Becomes Ted Lawson's boss after stealing Ted's ideas. Also a neighbor to the Lawsons.
- Edie McClurg
as Bonnie Brindle - Harriet's mother and Brandon's wife. Written out after the second season after McClurg joined the cast of
The Hogan Family
, though Bonnie appears one more time in a third-season episode.
- Alice Ghostley
as Ida Mae Brindle -Brandon's outspoken, know-it-all sister who is nearly identical to his wife Bonnie.
- Paul C. Scott as Reggie Williams - Jamie's best friend and sometimes rival.
- Lihann Jones as Jessica - Jamie's sometime girlfriend.
- Daryl Bartley as Warren Enright - Jamie's sometime school friend.
- Tiffany Brissette
as Vanessa - Evil robot who looks identical to Vicki, but does not speak in a monotone (seasons 3?4).
Reruns and international airings
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After the series ended, the show entered weekday rerun syndication on many stations across the United States and continued until 1996. After that, the show had not aired anywhere in the country until January 10, 2015, when
Antenna TV
began airing the series on weekends, which continued until May 27, 2017. The network resumed airing the show on September 9, 2017. It was dropped again after March 31, 2019.
In Europe, the show was screened regionally in the United Kingdom on
ITV
from October 1985 until late 1988. Only the first two series were shown.
Sky One
also broadcast the series in full from 1988 to the early 1990s. In Italy, the show appeared in the mid-1980s on
Italia 1
network and was titled
Super Vicky
. In France, the series was shown as
La Petite merveille
(
The Little Wonder
) on
Canal+
, starting in November 1985. In Spain, the show was broadcast on
Antena 3 Television
as
Un robot en casa
(
A Robot at Home
) in December 1995. In Germany the show was broadcast on
ProSieben
in 1990 (with several reruns in the early 1990s) and was titled
Vicki
.
It was aired on many TV stations in Middle East as well, such as Saudi TV Channel 2 and Iraq TV Channel 1, with Arabic subtitles and called ???????? ???????. In Saudi Arabia, it was aired during the '80s as a daily family show during the month of
Ramadan
on Saudi TV (Channel 2).
In India, Pakistan, China, and other Asian countries,
Small Wonder
was syndicated on local TV stations and the
Star TV Network
in the mid-1990s. In 1994, it was aired in India on
Star Plus
first in English then in Hindi the same year most of the time, until 1998 and in Tamil in Star Vijay in the beginning of the 2000s. It aired in Pakistan on
Network Television Marketing
. In 1986, it aired in Thailand on
Channel 9
at 9:00 p.m. after the evening news.
[4]
In the Philippines, it aired on
GMA Network
in the mid-1980s, and on
ABC
in 1992. In Indonesia, it was aired on
TVRI
.
TVNZ
screened the show in New Zealand in a weekday afternoon slot the mid-1980s.
In Latin America, the show appeared on
Rede Globo
and, later,
TV Record
in Brazil and was called
Super Vicky
. It also aired on VTV (Venezolana de Television) in Venezuela between 1987 and 1990,
Canal 13
in Argentina, Bogota local network Canal Capital in Colombia,
Teleantillas
in the Dominican Republic and
Frecuencia Latina
in Peru, where it was called
La pequena maravilla
(
Small Wonder
).
Reception
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Despite proving popular among viewers, it has been regarded by some critics as
one of the worst sitcoms of all time
, such as Robert Bianco, TV critic for
USA Today
, who listed it as a contender for one of the worst TV shows of all time in 2002.
[5]
According to the
BBC
, it "is widely considered one of the worst low-budget sitcoms of all time."
[6]
Awards
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Year
|
Award
|
Category
|
Recipient
|
1986
|
Young Artist Award
|
Best Young Supporting Actress in a New Television Series
|
Emily Schulman
|
1987
|
Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress in a Long-Running Series, Comedy or Drama
|
Episodes
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Home media
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Shout! Factory
has released the first two seasons of
Small Wonder
on DVD in Region 1.
[7]
[8]
DVD Name
|
Ep#
|
Region 1
|
The Complete First Season
|
24
|
February 16, 2010
|
The Complete Second Season
|
24
|
June 22, 2010
|
See also
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- My Living Doll
. Howard Leeds, producer of
Small Wonder
, also produced this 1964?1965 sitcom starring
Bob Cummings
and
Julie Newmar
with the same premise as
Small Wonder
(except the
gynoid
is an adult female and the lead male character takes custody of the robot as opposed to building her).
- Not Quite Human
, a series of novels in which a scientist creates an
android
, passing him off as his son, telling only his daughter the truth. The series was made into several TV movies for the
Disney Channel
.
- Karishma Kaa Karishma
, the Indian television sitcom remake.
[9]
The series aired on STAR Plus.
- Dr. Slump
, where a crazy Japanese inventor makes an android daughter so he can become closer to a local teacher he is in love with.
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
? also known as A.I., is a 2001 American science fiction film written, directed, and produced by
Steven Spielberg
, and based on
Brian Aldiss
's short story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long". The film stars
Haley Joel Osment
,
Jude Law
,
Sam Robards
,
Frances O'Connor
,
Brendan Gleeson
, and
William Hurt
. Set sometime in the future,
A.I.
tells the story of David, a childlike android uniquely programmed with the ability to love.
- Bahu Hamari Rajni Kant
? The Indian television series in which a scientist named Shaan Kant creates an android for his boss and names it RAJNI (Randomly Accessible Job Networking Interface), who becomes his wife Rajni-Kant and makes a good impression on his family. The truth about her is known only to Shaan and his friend Dev.
- Yo Soy Franky
and
I Am Frankie
- The Colombian children's telenovela and American re-make has a teenage android named Frankie Gaines created by a robot scientist who wants to see how she does in high school, and has to keep it a secret from the general student body. Other androids are developed by rivals who also appear at the school.
- D.A.R.Y.L.
- 1985 American science fiction film about a government-created "Data-Analyzing Robot Youth Lifeform".
- Astro Boy
- a manga, TV series and animated film about a scientist who replaces his dead son with a life-like android.
References
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External links
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