Friday, January 15, 2010

SMALL WONDERs Never Cease

In days like these when good news is hard to find, it's good to know that a month from tomorrow (February 16, 2010), SMALL WONDER finally arrives on dvd! Dougsploitation is sure to have some fresh posts about the show, but in the meantime, he's another rerun of my post from a while back. Enjoy!

SMALL WONDER was a syndicated sitcom that from 1985 to 1989. In New York, where I lived at the time, it aired Saturday nights on Channel 5, WNEW (or WNYW) - around the time the station became a FOX affiliate.The show felt like an awkward throwback to the 1960s, especially with it's cheesy theme song. The premise was this: some nerdy scientist guy secretly builds a robot that looks like a 10-year-old girl, but she really is designed to perform house work at superhuman speed. The Robot is named Vicki, and this guy and his wife pass her off as their adopted daughter–even though they make her sleep in the box she came in!!! Very creepy!Complicating things are the guy's bastard of a boss, who lived next door with a nosy, bratty daughter. It was like THE JETSONS meets BEWITCHED meets MY LIVING DOLL (which I've never seen - but am dying to!) I can recall watching several episodes of this show just out of disbelief that it actually got "greenlit". It must have had some loyal fans because it lasted FOUR seasons!Of course, now I wish it was airing somewhere. Hello, TV LAND? Here's an ambitious fan site dedicated to the show. I'm sure the show is even (unintentionally) funnier as seen through 2008 eyes. I say "give me SMALL WONDER over over-hyped crap like GOSSIP GIRL any day!"
Apparently, after four seasons, yes, wonders do indeed cease.

1 comment:

laura linger said...

Marla Pennington was a regular on SOAP during its 1979 season, as Billy Tate's teacher/love interest. She was one hot tamale on that show, even donning a French maid getup in one episode.