Holmes And YoYo

1 9 7 6 – 1 9 7 7 (USA)
16 x 30 minute episodes

A fantasy sitcom from ABC in which bumbling Detective Sergeant Alexander Holmes (Richard B Schull) is given a new robot partner called YoYo (John Schuck) who looks just like a human.

All of Holmes’ previous partners had been injured due to his continuing clumsiness and bad luck, so the theory is that the 427lb Gregory “YoYo” Yoyonovich (named for his inventor) will be impervious to all Holmes-inspired mishaps.

YoYo suffered various indignities despite his many robotic advantages (an internal trash compactor, a photographic memory, etc), and whenever he shorted out, he was stuck uttering the phrase “bunko squad” over and over.

Add to the series an amorous female officer called Maxine Moon (Andrea Howard) who tries to put the moves on the unresponsive android and you had a recipe for a comedy smash. Or not . . .

ABC had high hopes for this show and the actor John Schuck had previously scored as Sergeant Enright, a comic foil in producer Leonard Stern’s light-hearted mystery drama McMillan And Wife on NBC.

But, while fans of the show appreciated gags similar to those from producer Leonard Stern’s earlier Get Smart, there weren’t enough who got the jokes and the series was cancelled after just three months and is now considered one of the worst television series ever made.

Another TV drama, Future Cop (1976 – 1977), utilised a similar basic premise and also failed to make the grade, but RoboCop, a more violent spin on the theme, became a movie hit in three different films (1987 – 1991) before being adapted for a moderately successful TV show (1994).

Some episodes of Holmes And YoYo were directed by John Astin, best known as Gomez in The Addams Family.

DS Alexander Holmes 
Richard B Schull
DS Gregory “YoYo” Yoyonovich 
John Schuck
Capt Harry Sedford 
Bruce Kirby
Officer Maxine Moon 
Andrea Howard

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