Small Wonder

Small Wonder Information

Small Wonder is an American 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, after he secretly creates a robot modeled after a real human girl, tries to pass it off as their daughter. The show was created under Metromedia Productions, as the rights to the show were acquired by 20th Century Fox Television in 1986.

Premise

The storylines revolve around V.I.C.I. (an acronym for "Voice Input Child Identicant", pronounced Vicki), an android in the form of a 10-year-old girl, 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 tries to pass the robot off 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 dad just 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, V.I.C.I'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, Ted gave 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

Victoria "Vicki" Ann Smith-Lawson (Tiffany Brissette) - A robot modeled after a real human girl. The robot was a Voice Input Child Identicant (V.I.C.I.), but was nicknamed Vicki. She has real hair and realistic skin. She possesses super human strength and speed and runs on atomic power. Vicki has an access panel in her back, an electric socket in her right armpit, and an RS-232 serial port under her left armpit. Vicki's artificial intelligence is not perfect. She is incapable of emotion, speaks in a monotone voice, and interprets most commands literally. She does manage to blend in to the real world to a point. Vicki attends school, and no one but her family members and a few trusted friends know her secret. Occasionally Vicki had rare abilities that seemed to only appear in one or two episodes, such as elongating her neck to reach a door's peephole, shrinking her size to become as small as a doll or making herself ten feet tall to get noticed by everyone. One recurring theme was that Vicki had a super-powered learning system which enabled her to improve upon something such as a new detergent or to greatly increase the gas mileage of cars, which Ted and Jamie often saw as a chance to get rich quick, only to find her improvements were not perfect. Vicki lives in a large cabinet in Jamie's bedroom, and becomes more human over the course of the show.
Jamie Lawson (Jerry Supiran) - The 12 year old son of Ted and Joan.
Ted Lawson (Dick Christie) - Jamie's father. Vicki's creator. A robotics engineer who originally created Vicki as a domestic servant whose girl-child appearance was only meant to be a selling point.
Joan Lawson (Marla Pennington) - Ted's wife. Joan regards Vicki as a real person more than anyone else on the show does.
Harriet Brindle (Emily Schulman) - The nosy neighbors' daughter who has a crush on Jamie.

Recurring

Brandon Brindle (William Bogert) - Harriet's father. Becomes Ted Lawson's boss after stealing Ted's ideas.
Bonnie Brindle (Edie McClurg) - Harriet's mother. Written out after the second season.
Ida Mae Brindle (Alice Ghostley) - Brandon's outspoken, know-it-all sister, who is nearly identical to his wife Bonnie.
Reggie Williams (Paul C. Scott) - Jamie's best friend.
Jessica (Lihann Jones) - Jamie's sometime girlfriend.
Warren Enright (Daryl Bartley) - Jamie's sometime school friend.
Vanessa (Tiffany Brissette) - Evil robot who looks identical to Vicki, but does not speak in monotone. (Seen in seasons 3 and 4)

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 had stated that she was living in Boulder, Colorado and attending nursing school.

International airings

In the United Kingdom, the show was screened regionally on the ITV Network and in the early 1990s on Sky One. 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", VTV (Venezolana de Television) in Venezuela between 1987 and 1990, Canal 13 in Argentina, 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 Ramadhan on Saudi TV (Channel 2). India on Star Plus first in English then in Hindi most of the time.

Awards and critical reception

Year	Award	Category	Recipient
1986	Young Artist Award	Best Young Supporting Actress in a New Television Series	Emily Schulman
1987	Young Artist Award	Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress in a Long-Running Series, Comedy or Drama	Emily Schulman

In 2002, Robert Bianco, TV critic for USA Today, listed it as a contender for one of the worst TV shows of all time. This was repeated in 2003 by Mark Lewisohn of the BBC who referred to the program as, "widely considered one of the worst low-budget sitcoms of all time."

Episodes

First Season

Episode #	Prod #	Episode Name/Summary	Original Air Date
1-01	101	Vicki's Homecoming Vicki is brought from Ted's lab in a briefcase, to help VICI learn human behaviour.	September 7, 1985
1-02	102	The Neighbors Nosy neighbors, the Brindles, invite themselves over for dinner due to a power outage at their house. Naturally, Vicki tickles their curiosity, leading them to ask several questions that the Lawsons have no answers for. Can the Lawsons keep Vicki from blowing the evening - and her cover?	September 14, 1985
1-03	103	The Sitter In need of a sitter for son Jamie, Ted and Joan decide to give Vicki the job for the evening. But can Jamie be trusted to not take advantage of a useful robot? And is Vicki ready to be a sitter?	September 21, 1985
1-04	104	The Suitor When Jamie's classmate Warren stops by the house, he becomes smitten with Vicki. But when Jamie tries to interfere in the relationship by programming Vicki with insults, Warren's feelings are hurt.	September 28, 1985
1-05	105	Sibling Rivalry Feeling neglected due to his parents' preoccupation with Vicki, Jamie decides to run away. But when he uses Vicki to avoid contact with his parents, the family gets a scare.	October 5, 1985
1-06	106	Spielberg, Jr. Jamie turns into a dictator when he puts himself in charge of his school project. But best friend Reggie and Jamie's parents won't let him continue without being taught a lesson in etiquette.	October 12, 1985
1-07	107	The Lie Jamie's parents don't believe him when he says that Harriet's cousin was the one who broke a teapot. Leave it to the robot and her tape recorder to save the day.	October 19, 1985
1-08	108	The Bully When a bully extorts Jamie's Fearless Five Club for a daily dollar, Jamie ends up with a black eye. Lucky for him and the club, Vicki is tougher than any bully	October 26, 1985
1-09	109	Slightly Dishonorable Jamie uses Vicki's new speed-scan reading ability to complete 55 chapters of his homework overnight, which earns him the school honor roll"?along with snowballing guilt.	November 2, 1985
1-10	110	The Adoption When nosy Mrs. Brindle reports the Lawsons to child services for not having Vicky enrolled in school, the Lawsons rush to forge adoption papers. But their plan gets complicated when a doctor's exam is required - on their robot.	November 9, 1985
1-11	111	Child Genius Ms. Fernwald of Child Services forces the Lawsons to hire a tutor for Vicki. But when the tutor gets too excited about Vicki's super memory, Ted gets worried and comes up with an idea for a replacement teacher.	November 16, 1985
1-12	112	Ted's New Boss Brandon gets a promotion, and becomes Ted's boss.The Brindles house catches fire, and the Brindles come to the Lawson's home, in fear of her husband getting fired Joan allows them to stay, but they do not leave the Lawson's home after the smoke has cleared, the fire was faked by the Brindles to get insurance money.	November 23, 1985
1-13	113	Brainwashed Harriet teaches Vicki how she should throw tantrums and get money and toys from parents. When the Lawsons find this out, Vicki is taken to Ted's lab to get her fixed, meanwhile Harriet calls the Police and files a missing complaint.	November 30, 1985
1-14	114	The Burrito Story When Vicki creates too many Burritos, Jamie and Reggie decide to sell them for money.	January 4, 1986
1-15	115	The Camping Trip The Lawson family go to a camping trip with Reggie and Harriet, Ted tells Joan that they are lost and not to tell it to the kids, when looking for wood, Vicki smells chili dogs, Jamie and Reggie see they are near a zoo with a food stand. The three of them Got to the zoo to eat the chilly dogs, at night the family is woken at the sound of a lion, Jamie finally tells the truth and all of them go to check if the food stand is still open.	January 11, 1986
1-16	116	Love Story Jamie falls in love for the first time, with a new girl at school named Jessica.Jamie tries to impress her numerous times but fails, finally he invites her to a party at his house, but she brings her boyfriend with her, Jamie gets angered and begins to like his tomboy friend, who now looks beautiful.	January 18, 1986
1-17	117	Substitute Father Brandon agrees to be Jamie's substitute father for a school family picnic because Ted was busy with his golf game.	January 25, 1986
1-18	118	The Robot Nappers People from Tentrix electronics send executives to Ted's office, impressed by him they decide to talk to him for a proposition, he invites them for dinner. Ted wants to expand Vicki's capability by selling her design to the electronics company. The executives are surprised after seeing Vicki and suspect she is a robot and plan to kidnap her and not credit Ted, when spying on Jamie's room, he notices Harriet doing R2D2 impressions, and think she's the robot. The executives ask Brandon for a meeting and leave the Lawson's house.	February 8, 1986
1-19	120	The Company Takeover United Robotronics cutbacks have the Lawsons scrambling for odd jobs.	February 15, 1986
1-20	123	Good Ol' Lou Ted becomes obsessed about being thin and fit when his fat friend turns into a fit man, he programs Vicki to train the family, resulting in a very strict exercise routine.Ted also makes the family eat some fibrous but not so tasty cereal.	February 22, 1986
1-21	121	Like Father, Like Son Ted becomes excited that his son is playing football on his school's Peewee League, but Jamie is cut out, Jamie tries to tell his father the truth but seeing him all excited he can't say it.	March 1, 1986
1-22	122	Vaudeville Vicki When a vaudeville actor thinks Vicki is his long-lost daughter, he drafts her into a show and threatens her adoption.	May 3, 1986
1-23	119	The Real Facts of Life Vicki tells Harriet about birds and bees when Harriet inquires how babies are made, Brandon is furious at Ted on what Vicki told his daughter, and now he has to tell her the truth in ways an eight-year-old could understand.Jamie also inquires about babies with Ted but he could not tell. Ted wants to buy a book to explain the Facts of Life to Jamie.	May 10, 1986
1-24	124	The Grandparents Ted's parents come for a week long visit, the family introduce Vicki to Ted's parents, Ted's father quickly bonds with Vicki, until he is told that she's a robot, and he hates robots because they took away his job, but when Vicki saves grandpa from a heart attack, he likes her again.	May 17, 1986

Second Season

Episode #	Prod #	Episode Name	Original Air Date
2-01	215	Chewed Out	September 13, 1986
2-02	201	Money, Money, Money	September 20, 1986
2-03	203	My Mother the Teacher When Jamie's teacher is ill, Mrs. Lawson gets hired as a substitute.	September 27, 1986
2-04	213	Here Comes the Judge	October 4, 1986
2-05	209	Home Sweet Homeless	October 11, 1986
2-06	212	Crazy Like a Fox	October 18, 1986
2-07	210	The Older Woman	October 25, 1986
2-08	204	Who's the Boss?	November 1, 1986
2-09	207	P-P-P Paula Jamie is assigned to help a stuttering girl gain confidence to give an oral report. Vicki decides to get to the root of the stuttering through aversion therapy.	November 8, 1986
2-10	211	You Gotta Have Heart	November 15, 1986
2-11	202	The Shoplifter	November 22, 1986
2-12	208	Thanksgiving Story	November 29, 1986
2-13	206	Neighborhood Watch	December 6, 1986
2-14	205	Movin' Up	January 10, 1987
2-15	221	Top Secret	January 17, 1987
2-16	218	The Personality Kid	January 24, 1987
2-17	216	Matchmaker, Matchmaker	January 31, 1987
2-18	223	Little Miss Shopping Mall	February 7, 1987
2-19	214	Victor/Vicki-toria Jamie disguises Vicki as a boy named Victor to aid his struggling baseball team, but Ted is unsure about having a robot play against a bunch of little boys.	February 14, 1987
2-20	222	Look Into My Eyes	February 21, 1987
2-21	217	Wally the Wimp	February 28, 1987
2-22	219	The Cat's Meow	May 9, 1987
2-23	220	Vicki Goodwrench	May 16, 1987
2-24	224	Double Wedding	May 23, 1987

Third Season

Episode #	Prod #	Episode Name	Original Air Date
3-01	303	Woodward and Bernstein	September 12, 1987
3-02	312	Everyone Into the Pool	September 19, 1987
3-03	314	Whodunit?	September 26, 1987
3-04	306	Bride and Groom	October 3, 1987
3-05	302	It's Okay to Say No	October 10, 1987
3-06	307	Read My Lips	October 17, 1987
3-07	316	The Promotion	October 24, 1987
3-08	320	The Lawsonville Horror	October 31, 1987
3-09	308	The Bad Seed	November 7, 1987
3-10	318	Breakfast of Criminals	November 14, 1987
3-11	317	The Fats of Life	November 21, 1987
3-12	309	The Bank Job	November 28, 1987
3-13	305	Oooga Mooga	December 5, 1987
3-14	301	Here Today, Gone Tomorrow	January 16, 1988
3-15	304	Bye Bye Brindles	January 23, 1988
3-16	319	For Sale by Robot	January 30, 1988
3-17	411	Ronald McDonald House	February 6, 1988
3-18	325	The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming	February 13, 1988
3-19	311	I'll Drink to That	February 20, 1988
3-20	313	Big J, the D.J. (Special guest star NFL star Lyle Alzado)	February 27, 1988
3-21	324	The Rock Band	April 30, 1988
3-22	415	Book-It	May 7, 1988
3-23	310	Safety First	May 14, 1988
3-24	320	When You Hear the Beep	May 21, 1988

Fourth Season

Episode #	Prod #	Episode Name	Original Air Date
4-01	409	Divided We Stand	September 17, 1988
4-02	413	Double Dates	September 24, 1988
4-03	315	The Gang's All Here	October 1, 1988
4-04	422	Rashomon	October 15, 1988
4-05	410	Come Fly With Me	October 22, 1988
4-06	322	Love at First Byte	October 29, 1988
4-07	405	The Sheik	November 5, 1988
4-08	403	Togetherness	November 12, 1988
4-09	416	My Favorite Martian	November 19, 1988
4-10	406	Mommie Dearest	November 26, 1988
4-11	407	No Laughing Matter	December 4, 1988
4-12	401	Tag, You're It	December 11, 1988
4-13	404	The Jailbirds	January 7, 1989
4-14	408	Riches to Rags	January 14, 1989
4-15	418	Radio Days	January 21, 1989
4-16	421	Kid-O-Grams	January 28, 1989
4-17	402	More About L.E.S.	February 4, 1989
4-18	420	Hooray for Hollyweird!	February 11, 1989
4-19	419	Minnesota Vicki	February 18, 1989
4-20	417	Vicki Doolittle	February 25, 1989
4-21	414	The Tattletale	April 29, 1989
4-22	323	The Strike	May 6, 1989
4-23	412	See No Evil	May 13, 1989
4-24	326	Thy Neighbor's Wife	May 20, 1989

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.

DVD Name	Ep#	Region 1
The Complete First Season	24	February 16, 2010
The Complete Second Season?	24	June 22, 2010

? - Shout! Factory select title

References in popular culture

American Dad!: In the episode "Haylias", Hayley's secret agent code name is "Small Wonder". And, in "Brains, Brains and Automobiles", a flashback in Roger's mind shows him auditioning for the part of V.I.C.I. in the 1980s.

Family Guy: In the episode "Brian Goes Back to College", Tiffany Brissette is seen at the Small Wonder booth at a convention of fans of 1980s TV series.

I'm With Busey: In the episode "Technology: Rise of the Robots", Gary Busey is (in real life) fooled into temporarily believing that a young girl, dressed and acting like V.I.C.I., is actually a robot (series regular Adam de la Pena includes an explanation describing Small Wonder and Brissette).

MADtv: In episode #707 (November 24, 2001), V.I.C.I. (played by Stephnie Weir) was parodied in a spoof of the TV game show The Weakest Link, where all the contestants were classic American TV stars.

The Small Wonder Experience: A musical group from Joshua Tree, California named after the television program (and also in honor of the famous guitarist Jimi Hendrix). The band's songwriter and guitarist, Leslie Mariah Andrews, cites the show as a memorable influence on some of her early work.

TV Junkies: In the episode "I, Wonder: It's Small Wonder meets I, Robot" (Episode #16) of this YouTube-based web comedy, Small Wonder is spoofed simultaneously with the movie I, Robot.

Two Broke Girls: In the episode 'And the 90s horse party' they met a bunch of ?80s dance party-attending hipsters at a Laundromat who claim that Tiffany Brissette from the Small Wonder TV show would be attending the party.

In (500) Days of Summer the protagonist describes the titular character as being "either an evil, emotionless, miserable human being or she's a robot. Small Wonder. You know, Vicki?"

On the audio commentary for the South Park episode "The Simpsons Already Did It", co-creator Matt Stone laments "we only get compared to The Simpsons which is unfortunate that we get compared to one of the best shows on television, ever and one of the most popular shows on television, ever and the show with 350 episodes. So we never get compared to Sister, Sister or Small Wonder, we always get compared to The Simpsons, which I guess is a good thing."