Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Comedy
    Comedy TV Shows - 1980s 3 Mins Read

    Small Wonder

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    1 9 8 5 – 1 9 8 9 (USA)

    During the height of the mid-80s computer craze, while Apple was doing battle with Commodore for the exclusive rights to ‘Missile Command’, a smart new sitcom capitalising on the technology trend debuted on syndicated television.

    Small Wonder centred on the Lawson family, whose patriarch, Ted (Dick Christie), was a cybernetics engineer at United Robotronics. His piece de resistance was a robot built to resemble an adorable 10-year-old girl.

    Since the bot came complete with a built-in Voice Input Child Identicant, or V.I.C.I., the cybernetic one became known to the world as Vicki.

    Ted and Joan (Marla Pennington) Lawson pretended that Vicki was their goddaughter, the daughter of family friends who were killed in a crash and that they were making good on a promise to take care of the child. This explained her sudden appearance in their lives and household (at 16 Maple Drive, Los Angeles) should inquiring minds want to know.

    Their real child was 11-year-old Jamie (Jerry Supiran), a pudgy, good-intentioned junior high school student, who imagined himself a star at sports and a hit with the young women at his school, though he was hardly either.

    Most of the show’s plotlines depicted the misadventures and humorous situations the two kids would get themselves into as they tried to conceal the true nature of Vicki’s background.

    Outfitted in a lacy, red dress, patent leather pumps, white knee socks and a ponytail, Vicki (Tiffany Brissette) looked like a young maid, which was exactly what Jamie used her for. Since she was, in fact, a robot, Jamie had no problem exploiting Vicki and her android abilities, employing her to clean his room, do his chores and finish his homework for him, which she would complete in record time.

    Vicki also had superhuman strength, which came in handy when she needed to defend herself, and sometimes even to defend Jamie. Vicki lived in Jamie’s closet and spoke in a robotic monotone, though no one ever seemed to question why.

    The Brindles were the Lawson’s ultra-annoying next-door neighbours. Brandon Brindle (William Bogert) was also Ted’s wimpy boss at United Robotronics and was always trying to steal Ted’s ingenious ideas so he could pass them off as his own.

    His wife, Bonnie (Edie McClurg), was a nosy know-it-all who constantly snooped around the Lawson’s house, perchance to discover something unusual to tell her husband about.

    Unfortunately, Bonnie’s negative traits rubbed off on her daughter, Harriet (Emily Schulman), who could often be found peeping through Jamie’s window, trying to discover Vicki’s secret.

    Harriet also had a crush on Jamie, despite the fact that Jamie despised her and had a girlfriend of his own. Jessica (Lihann Jones) was the girl of Jamie’s dreams and Reggie (Paul C. Scott) was Jamie’s best friend.

    The 96 episodes of Small Wonder were produced for weekly syndication by five different production companies rather than by one network, which allowed the show to be scheduled at various times in various markets. This actually worked to the show’s advantage and played a large role in the continuing success of the show over its four-season run.

    And no, Virginia, the role of Jamie was not played by the Smashing Pumpkins‘ Billy Corgan, as urban legend would have you believe (Jerry Supiran played Jamie).

    Ted Lawson 
    Dick Christie
    Joan Lawson 

    Marla Pennington
    Jamie Lawson 

    Jerry Supiran
    Vicki the Robot 

    Tiffany Brissette
    Harriet Brindle 

    Emily Schulman
    Warren 

    Daryl Bartley
    Brandon Brindle 

    William Bogert
    Ida Mae Brindle 

    Alice Ghostley
    Bonnie Brindle 

    Edie McClurg
    Reggie Williams 

    Paul C. Scott
    Jessica 

    Lihann Jones
    Debbie Barnhill 

    Devon Odessa

    Related Posts

    • Bachelor Father
      Bachelor Father
      1 9 7 0 - 1 9 7 1 (UK) 24…
    • Get Smart
      Get Smart
      1 9 6 5 - 1 9 7 0 (USA) 138…
    • Holmes And YoYo
      Holmes And YoYo
      1 9 7 6 - 1 9 7 7 (USA) 16…
    • Small and Frye
      Small and Frye
      1 9 8 3 (USA) 6 x 30 minute episodes Nick…
    • Whiz Kids
      Whiz Kids
      1 9 8 3 (USA) 18 x 60 minute episodes Richie…
    • Tammy Grimes Show, The
      Tammy Grimes Show, The
      1 9 6 6 (USA) 4 x 30 minute episodes This short-lived…
    • Please Stand By
      Please Stand By
      1 9 7 9 (USA) 24 x 30 minute episodes This…
    • Andy Griffith Show, The
      Andy Griffith Show, The
      1 9 6 0 - 1 9 6 8 (USA) 249…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleShine On Harvey Moon
    Next Article Jackie Gleason Show, The

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
      The film opens on vertical audio patterns oscillating in sync […]
    • Ratbags
      1 9 8 1 (Australia) 13 x 50 minute episodes A woefully vacuous […]
    • Happy Hate Me Nots
      The Happy Hate Me Nots were an Australian band that formed in […]
    • Joni James
      Joni James was born Giovanna Carmella Babbo to an […]
    • Graeme Thorne Kidnapping (1960)
      Sydney (Australia) father Basil Thorne and his wife Freda won […]
    • Blow Football
      Blow Football was extremely simple. Each player had a straw and […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.