"Small Wonder" (1985) TV series 1985-1989

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

7 September 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Father Ted Lawson creates a robot, Vicki (played by Tiffany Brissette). The family--Ted, Joan and Jamie--keep Vicki's identity secret...

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Artificially Created Girl | Sitcom

Awards:

2 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

Dick Christie	...	Ted Lawson (96 episodes, 1985-1989)
Marla Pennington	...	Joan Lawson (96 episodes, 1985-1989)
Jerry Supiran	...	Jamie Lawson (96 episodes, 1985-1989)
Tiffany Brissette	...	Vicki the Robot (96 episodes, 1985-1989)
Emily Schulman	...	Harriet Brindle (96 episodes, 1985-1989)

Series Directed by
Leslie H. Martinson		(26 episodes, 1985-1989)
Bob Claver		(25 episodes, 1986-1989)
Selig Frank		(22 episodes, 1985-1989)
Peter Baldwin		(15 episodes, 1985-1987)
John Bowab		(3 episodes, 1985)
Dick Christie		(3 episodes, 1988-1989)
Linda Day		(2 episodes, 1985)

Series Writing credits
Warren S. Murray		(11 episodes, 1985-1988)
Bruce Kane		(9 episodes, 1986-1988)
Dick Christie		(5 episodes, 1986-1989)
David Ruprecht		(5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Steve Granat		(5 episodes, 1987-1988)
Mel Sherer		(5 episodes, 1987-1988)
Paul Chitlik		(5 episodes, 1988-1989)
Jeremy Bertrand Finch		(5 episodes, 1988-1989)
Howard Meyers		(4 episodes, 1985-1986)
Ed Jurist		(3 episodes, 1985-1986)
Howard Albrecht		(3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tom Amundsen		(3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Sol Weinstein		(3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Bruce A. Taylor		(3 episodes, 1986)
Bobby Herbeck		(3 episodes, 1987-1989)
John Boni		(2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Jurgen Wolff		(2 episodes, 1985-1986)
Lawrence H. Levy		(2 episodes, 1986-1988)
Garry Ferrier		(2 episodes, 1986)
Aubrey Tadman		(2 episodes, 1986)
Stan Cutler		(2 episodes, 1987-1988)
Ken Steele		(2 episodes, 1987-1988)
Matt Geller		(2 episodes, 1987)
Jerry Ross		(2 episodes, 1987)
David Silverman		(2 episodes, 1987)
Stephen Sustarsic		(2 episodes, 1987)
Gordon Mitchell		(2 episodes, 1988-1989)
George Crowder		(2 episodes, 1989)
Richard Harding Gardner		(2 episodes, 1989)

Series Produced by
Jean Hester	....	associate producer (17 episodes, 1985-1989)
Norman C. Hopps	....	coordinating producer (unknown episodes)
Howard Leeds	....	executive producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
George Greeley		(unknown episodes)
Ed Lojeskie		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
David Graham		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
John C. Mula		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Joe Champa		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Mary Ellen Jones	....	unit manager (19 episodes, 1985-1987)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Steven Castaneda	....	dimmer operator / electrician (unknown episodes)
Doug Luberts	....	electrician (unknown episodes)
Valerie Stulman	....	camera utility (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Mel Sherer	....	executive story editor (48 episodes, 1987-1989)
Janine King	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1986-1989)
Tom Brocato	....	publicist (unknown episodes)
Len Uslaner	....	technical director (unknown episodes)
Dick Woodka	....	technical director (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• 20th Century Fox Television
• Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC)
• Metromedia Video Productions

Distributors

• 20th Century Fox Television
• Antena 3 Televisión (1995) (Spain) (TV)
• Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD) (complete first season)
• Shout! Factory (2010) (USA) (DVD) (season two)

Other Companies

• Fox Television Center  1986-1989
• Metromedia Square  1985-1986

Also Known As:

Runtime:

30 min (96 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Fox Television Studios - 1999 S. Bundy Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Seth Green screen tested for the part of Jamie Lawson

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Despite being "made of plastic, microchips here and there", the robot and her costume grew from season to season to accommodative the actress. However, in the season 4 episode "School Monitor", there was an explanation given by the father, who put in a special chip that enabled her to grow to avoid suspicion from friends and neighbors why she never grew and remained the same age.

Quotes:

Reggie Williams:Hey yo Jamie. Your sister's talking to the princesses. Boy, are they foxy.
Jamie Lawson:Yeah, they're probably using her to get to me.
Reggie Williams:Yeah, right. That's like using Cher to get to Pee Wee Herman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "United States of Tara: Work (#1.3)" (2009)

A superlative artistic and philosophical achievement

What is the nature of the self? What does it truly mean to be human? Can man ever transcend the limitations of his physical being and come to understand what is meant by the words "ultimate reality"? Does God exist? Are we alone in the universe?

Throughout the course of human history, great minds have attempted to tackle such questions. Minds of men like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. Minds of men like Sartre, Nietzsche, and Freud. While few have had the courage to address the implications of these central existential dilemmas, even fewer have been able to offer any worthwhile insight on such matters, or do any more than merely scratch the surface with repetitive supposition and conjecture.

How rare it is when a work of art can at once synthesize, and then surpass the work of all that has come before it.

"Small Wonder" is just such an achievement.

If the Sistine Chapel were a sitcom, it would be "Small Wonder". If William Shakespeare had been writing sitcoms in the 1980s, he would have written "Small Wonder". If Leonardo da Vinci were alive today he would have painted the Mona Lisa with a pony tail and a red and white dress, and simply called his subject 'Vicki'.

The husband, the father, the inventor. All one man. Ted Lawson. In his workshop he creates a robot daughter who sleeps in his son's closet. Rather than cash in on his invention, which could have totally revolutionized the communications industry, the Lawsons vow to keep Vicki a secret, for some reason.

That one suburban schlub of a man can create life --does create life, in his basement, signifies, validates the presence of the divine in the banal. Man is divine, as he is created in God's image. Yet man can create man. Therefore...

Mrs. Poole, the neighbor, or was it Mrs. Brindle? I'm getting my shows confused I think. Anyway, Mrs. Brindle the neighbor who sits by idly, and had born of her womb a daughter with fiery red hair and marks of the devil all about her skin. Is Harriet Satan? Is Vicki Christ?

A theological treatment of "Small Wonder", in itself, would likely fill multiple volumes. I'm surprised more hasn't been written about the show.

In addition to such a captivating and intellectually challenging premise, the show also featured some of the most remarkable special effects ever to be put on film. Before or since. When Vicki would lift the couch, for instance, it was almost impossible to see the thick blue line around the couch's edges. Special effects which later influenced the likes of "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day", no doubt.

I could go on and on about this show, but I won't. If you haven't seen every episode at least five times, consider yourself incomplete. I would be both enticed and excited by the proposal of opening up a school, (an Academy, if you will) where the curriculum consisted solely of screenings and discussions of episodes of "Small Wonder".