Small Wonder (TV series)

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For other uses, see Small Wonder.

Small Wonder
The cast of Small Wonder
Genre	SciFi Sitcom
Creator(s)	Howard Leeds
Starring	Tiffany Brissette, Emily Schulman, Paul C. Scott, Jerry Supiran, Marla Pennington, Alice Ghostley, Dick Christie, William Bogert
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	96
Production
Running time	approx. 0:23 (per episode)
Broadcast
Original channel	Syndication
Original run	September 7, 1985 – February 9, 1989
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Small Wonder (1985–1989) was a low-budget half-hour American sitcom, created by Howard Leeds.

1 Premise
2 Production history
3 Characters
4 Criticism
5 International airings
6 Trivia
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Premise

The storylines revolved around V.I.C.I. (pronounced Vicky), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl, built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. The robot is taken home by Lawson so that it can mature within a family environment. V.I.C.I.'s features include superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a parallel port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family tries to pass the robot off as their adopted daughter.

The Lawson family tries to keep the robot's existence a secret, but their disagreeable neighbours, the Brindles, keep on popping up at the most unexpected moments — especially nosey red-headed girl next door Harriet and her parents, Bonnie and Brandon; the latter just happens to be Ted Lawson's boss. The show's humor frequently derived from V.I.C.I.'s attempts to learn human behaviour, V.I.C.I's literal interpretation of speech and the family's efforts to disguise the robot's true nature.

[edit] Production history

The show was produced for first-run syndication by Metromedia Producers (taken over by 20th Century Fox Television in 1986) and the joint-venture consortium New Program Group (NPG). The show ran from September 7, 1985, to February 9, 1989. While the show initially got high ratings, they sagged over time, and the show was canceled after its fourth season.

[edit] Characters

Victoria "Vicki" Ann-Smith Lawson (played by Tiffany Brissette) - A robot modeled after a real human girl. She has real hair and realistic skin. She possess super human strength and speed and runs on atomic power. Vicki has an access panel in her back, an electric socket 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 in to the real world to a point, she attends school, and no one but her family members know her secret. Vicki becomes more human over the course of the show.

Ted Lawson (played by Dick Christie) - Vicki's creator. A robotics engineer. He originally created Vicki as merely a domestic servant. Her girl-child appearance was only meant to be a selling point.

Joan Lawson (played by Marla Pennington) - Ted's wife. Joan regards Vicki as a real person more than anyone else on the show does.

Jamie Lawson (played by Jerry Supiran) - The 12 year old son of Ted and Joan. Vicki lives in a large cabinet in Jamie's bedroom.

Harriet Brindle (played by Emily Schulman) - The young and nosy little neighbors' daughter who has a crush on Jamie.

Brandon Brindle (played by William Bogert) - Harriet's father. Becomes Ted Lawson's boss after stealing Ted's ideas.

Bonnie Brindle (played by Edie McClurg) - Harriet's mother.

[edit] Criticism

In 2002, Robert Blanco, TV critic for USA Today, listed it as a contender for one of the worst TV shows of all time.^[1]

[edit] International airings

In the United Kingdom, the show was screened regionally on the ITV Network. A typical timeslot, as followed by Yorkshire Television, was a weekly Monday screening at 6.30 p.m.

In India, China, Pakistan and other Asian countries, Small Wonder was syndicated on the STAR TV Network in the mid-1990s, where the series was an instant hit. The show was also a big hit in Brazil, where it aired on TV Globo. In Peru, the show was aired on Frecuencia Latina (1987) and was a big hit too.

[edit] Trivia

V.I.C.I. stood for "Voice Input Child Identicant"
The writers needed to explain child actress Tiffany Brissette's aging during the show. In Season 3, Ted gave V.I.C.I. an upgrade. 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.
A spin-off called Too Good to Be True was planned, but scrapped when the series was not renewed for a fifth season. It would have revolved around Vanessa, a second V.I.C.I. with a mean personality that appeared in two episodes.