7.4 /10 1 Votes
7.6/10 TV Opening theme "She's a Small Wonder" Final episode date 20 May 1989 Number of episodes 96 | 7.1/10 IMDb Created by Howard Leeds First episode date 7 September 1985 Network Broadcast syndication Number of seasons 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre Comedy science fiction sitcom Directed by Peter Baldwin
John Bowab
Bob Claver
Dick Christie
Linda Day
Selig Frank
Leslie H. Martinson Starring Tiffany Brissette
Dick Christie
Marla Pennington
Jerry Supiran
Emily Schulman Theme music composer Rod Alexander
Howard Leeds
Diane Leslie Cast Tiffany Brissette, Jerry Supiran, Marla Pennington, Emily Schulman, Dick Christie Similar My Living Doll, Out of This World, Too Close for Comfort, Webster, Mr Belvedere | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Small Wonder is an American comedy science fiction sitcom that aired in first-run syndication from September 7, 1985, to May 20, 1989. The show chronicles the family of a robotics engineer who secretly creates a robot modeled after a human girl, then tries to pass it off as their adopted daughter.
Contents
Premise
The story lines revolve around V.I.C.I. (an acronym for Voice Input Child Identicant, pronounced "Vicky"), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl. V.I.C.I. was 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 serial port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family initially tries to pass V.I.C.I. off as an orphaned family member whom they eventually legally adopt as their daughter.
The Lawson family tries to keep the robot's existence a secret, but their disagreeable neighbors, the Brindles, keep on popping up at the most unexpected moments — especially nosy next-door neighbor Harriet, whose father happens to be Ted Lawson's co-worker. The show's humor frequently derived from V.I.C.I.'s attempts to learn human behavior, the robot's literal interpretation of speech and the family's efforts to disguise the robot's true nature.
To explain child actress Tiffany Brissette's aging during the show, the series' producers had Ted give V.I.C.I. an upgrade in the series' third season. 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.
Characters
Recurring
2009 reunion
On January 14, 2009, on Fox's The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, Tiffany Brissette appeared in-studio as a guest for a "Where Are They Now?" segment; unbeknownst to her until the segment began, Dick Christie, Marla Pennington, and Edie McClurg were all present for the interview via satellite. Fond remarks and memories were shared about Brissette in the very brief segment. On the show, Brissette stated that she was living in Boulder, Colorado, and attending nursing school.
Reruns and international airings
After the series ended, the show entered weekday rerun syndication on many stations across the United States and continued until 1996. After that, the show had not aired anywhere in the country until January 10, 2015 when Antenna TV began airing the series.
In the United Kingdom, the show was screened regionally on the ITV Network from January 1986 until late 1988, Only the first two series were shown. Sky One also broadcast the series in full from 1988 to the early 1990s on . In Italy, the show appeared in the mid-1980s on Italia 1 network and was titled Super Vicky. In France, the series was shown as Petite merveille on Canal+, starting in November 1985. In Spain, the show was broadcast on Antena 3 Televisión as Un robot en casa in December 1995. In India, China, Pakistan and other Asian countries, Small Wonder was syndicated on local TV stations and the Star TV Network in the mid-1990s. In Latin America, the show appeared on Rede Globo and, later, TV Record in Brazil and was called Super Vicky. It also aired on VTV (Venezolana de Television) in Venezuela between 1987 and 1990, Canal 13 in Argentina, Bogotá local network Canal Capital in Colombia, Teleantillas in the Dominican Republic and Frecuencia Latina in Peru, where it was called La pequeña maravilla. In the Philippines, it aired on GMA Network in the mid-1980s, and on ABC in 1992. In Saudi Arabia, it was aired during the '80s as a daily family show during the month of Ramadan on Saudi TV (Channel 2). In 1994, It was aired in India on Star Plus first in English then in Hindi the same year most of the time, until 1998. It aired in Pakistan on Network Television Marketing. In Indonesia, it was aired on TVRI. It was aired on many TV stations in Middle East as well, such as Saudi TV Channel 2 and Iraq TV Channel 1, with Arabic subtitles and called الاعجوبة الصغيرة. In Germany the show was broadcast on ProSieben in 1990 (with several reruns in the early 1990s) and was titled Vicki. Antenna TV is currently running the show on weekends as of January 2015. In Thailand aired on Channel 9 in 1986 at 9:00 p.m. after evening news.
DVD releases
Shout! Factory has released the first two seasons of Small Wonder on DVD in Region 1. Season 2 was released as a Shout! Factory select title, available exclusively through their online store.