My Living Doll

Series background

The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychiatrist who is given care of Rhoda Miller, a lifelike android (played by Julie Newmar) in the form of a sexy, Amazonian female, by her creator, a scientist who did not want her to fall into the hands of the military.

Rhoda's real name is AF 709, and she is a prototype robot that Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built for the U.S. Air Force. Through a series of mishaps, the robot ends up in the care of Dr. Miller's friend, Air Force psychiatrist Bob McDonald, when Miller is transferred to Pakistan. Bob is initially reluctant but soon becomes intrigued by the experiment of educating this sophisticated but naive robot. Bob's initial goal is to teach Rhoda how to be a perfect woman, which he defines as one who "does what she's told" and "doesn't talk back". He also strives to keep her identity secret from the world.

Many episodes deal with Rhoda learning how human society works. She also begins showing (or at least emulating) rudimentary emotions as the series progresses; in the episode "The Kleptomaniac", for example, she displays a childlike, playful attitude. At one point, McDonald notices this and utters, "What a goofy robot!", to which Rhoda replies, beaming, "The goofiest!" At the conclusion of this episode, Rhoda giggles without prompting after pulling a plot-resolving prank on another character. Another episode, "The Pool Shark", has Rhoda displaying apparent enjoyment in playing pool. The series doesn't explore whether these are truly learnt behaviors, or the result of programming, or if (in the fantasy context of the series) Rhoda is truly learning human emotion. The concept of a robot gaining human emotion is a frequently visited topic in science fiction television, with characters such as Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the android leads in Holmes & Yo-Yo, Mann & Machine, and Future Cop.

Other regular cast members included:

Cummings' departure

Bob Cummings was written out of the series after twenty-one episodes, reportedly at his own request, because of the low ratings of the series. The show was initially scheduled opposite NBC's Bonanza on Sunday nights but was shifted to Wednesdays in December. It was also reported at the time that Cummings and Newmar were not getting along during production; with Newmar stating in a 1965 interview that Cummings had tried to teach her how to act, was unhappy that she appeared to be getting more press attention than he was, and was "trying too desperately to hold on to his long-gone youth"; however, this is denied by Newmar and show producer Howard Leeds in The Living Doll Story, a featurette included in the 2012 DVD release. Writers reassigned Cummings' character to Pakistan, and, in episode #22, Peter learns Rhoda's secret and takes over the position of watching over her.

Reception

Although My Living Doll was somewhat popular during its short run, it did not rank in the top 30, as it was scheduled against highly-rated shows such as Bonanza, The Virginian, and The Patty Duke Show. As a result, it didn't deliver the ratings that network executives had hoped for and was cancelled. The cancellation freed Newmar to appear as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman TV series.

Opening credits

Two versions of the opening credits were created. The first version had Rhoda wearing short lingerie similar to a teddy; according to an interview with Newmar included on the DVD release, this version was rejected as being too risque, so a new version with Rhoda wearing a full-length outfit (though still suggestive of lingerie) was filmed. This latter version is the one used on the versions of the episodes that were broadcast and released to DVD; however, the unofficial circulation of several episodes used the teddy version of the credits.

Episodes

*Cummings' final appearance

DVD release

On March 20, 2012, MPI Home Video released My Living Doll- The Official Collection, Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1. The 2-disc set features 11 episodes of the series. The episodes featured on the DVD collection were created from 16mm prints of the show held by collectors as the original 35mm negatives were destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. As a result, the rest of the series has not been released on DVD.

In popular culture

According to The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, My Living Doll is the source of the science fiction phrase "Does not compute" in popular culture.

My Living Doll producer Howard Leeds would go on to create Small Wonder, an eighties sitcom that featured a young girl robot named Vicki. He also employed composer George Greeley who composed the music for My Living Doll.

Leeds, when in the employ of Reg Grundy Productions Australia producing Chopper Squad, proposed and produced a new My Living Doll presentation pilot using an all-Australian cast.

In Star Trek: Voyager, the character Seven of Nine is named after Rhoda - Robot AF709.