Small Wonder 

The zany adventures of a suburban family, their next-door neighbors, and an innovative robot designed to look like a human child.

Creator:

Howard Leeds

Stars:

Richard Christie, Marla Pennington, Jerry Supiran

2 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Richard 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

Storyline

Father Ted Lawson creates a robot, VICI (played by Tiffany Brissette). The family--Ted, Joan and Jamie--keep VICI's identity secret, and pretend that she is their daughter. Harriet, their nosy and annoying neighbor, has a crush on Jamie and plans to marry him. Her dad, Brandon Brindle, is Ted's boss; Brandon stole credit for Ted's ideas.

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Plot Keywords:

android | dress | inventor | gynoid | robot | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-G

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tapings took place on Friday afternoons. Scenes using detailed special effects like "blue screen" were taped the day before, without a studio audience.

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Goofs

Despite being "made of plastic, microchips here and there", the robot and her costume grew from season to season to accommodate 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.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Mrs. Brindle: No na na no no no!

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Sam and Max: Freelance Police (2015)

User Reviews

Wonderful, Wonderful Show!

I remember on a Saturday afternoon about 12 years ago I walked in on my mom watching this show in her bedroom, then I started watching it with her. That's how my little "Small Wonder craze," if you will, began. I remember that in 1992 and '93 KTTV Channel 11 (my local Fox affiliate) aired two episodes Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2:00 and 2:30. Then in about '94, they started showing it Monday through Friday afternoons at 1:30, then started airing it at 1:00 AND 1:30 all year round. In '95 and '96 they only showed it in the summer at 1:00 and 1:30 PM. Then after that, they yanked (stopped showing) it :'(, and I have been mad at them ever since. But I saw in another message board that this winter KDOC Channel 56 (another station in my area) would pick up the show. I'm keeping my fingers crossed :D.

Anyway, I liked this show because of only one thing: Vicki the Robot! I had a ***HUGE*** crush on her/it. I would (and still sometimes do) dream about her/it. My mom told me today that that was just part of being a little kid.

I guess it is no Small Wonder that said Fox affiliate stopped showing this wonderful, wonderful show. I guess maybe they figured that people were just plain tired of seeing the same 96 episodes over and over.

Details

Release Date:

7 September 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Small Wonder

Filming Locations:

21051 Warner Center Lane - Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Small Wonder Joint Venture, 20th Century Fox Television, Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (96 episodes)