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Small Wonder

Anyone here remember Small Wonder? The show with Vicki the Robot? If so, what did you think of it? I, for one, LOVED it.
 
> Anyone here remember Small Wonder? The show with Vicki the
> Robot? If so, what did you think of it? I, for one, LOVED
> it.
>

It aired in the Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville market weekday afternoons at 4 p.m. (I believe) on WRAL-TV 5 in the late eighties. Decent show, but I was more fond of the later episodes, where computer scientist dad Ted Lawson (played by actor Dick Christie) "programmed" some personality and inflection into Vicki's voice (That computer voice was monotonous). I remember Edie McClurg played their neighbor and Emily Schulmann (who went on to play on ABC's "Christy" starring Kellie Martin) played her daughter.
 
They used to air it on WTAE-4/Pittsburgh, WCVB-5/Boston, WITI-6/Milwaukee, KITV-4/Honolulu and WPTY-24/Memphis.

BTW Tiffany Brisette(Vicki, or "VICI") has done well for herself: She's a missionary today.
 
> They used to air it on WTAE-4/Pittsburgh, WCVB-5/Boston,
> WITI-6/Milwaukee, KITV-4/Honolulu and WPTY-24/Memphis.
>
> BTW Tiffany Brisette(Vicki, or "VICI") has done well for
> herself: She's a missionary today.
>
Wasn't this show owned or produced by FOX before they became (or as they were becoming) a network?

Think of the possiblitites

Small Wonder = FOX + PAX

She's a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls.
She's a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls.
She's a miracle, and I grant you
She'll enchant you with her sight
She's a small wonder, and she'll make your heart beat twice.
She's fantastic, made of plastic,
Microchips here and there.
She's a small wonder, brings love and laughter everywhere.
 
> Wasn't this show owned or produced by FOX before they became
> (or as they were becoming) a network?
>
> Think of the possiblitites
>
> Small Wonder = FOX + PAX
>
> She's a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls.
> She's a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls.
> She's a miracle, and I grant you
> She'll enchant you with her sight
> She's a small wonder, and she'll make your heart beat twice.
>
> She's fantastic, made of plastic,
> Microchips here and there.
> She's a small wonder, brings love and laughter everywhere.>

Wow, I've forgotten that theme song after all these years, but not the show, which was a Metromedia production. (And, as such, it aired on each of Metromedia's outlets.) 20th Century Fox took over production of the series when News Corp. purchased the Metromedia TV stations and the syndication arm, Metromedia Producers Corp., starting in the 1986-87 season (season two, I'd assume).
<P ID="signature">______________
"Know your role and shut your mouth!!" -- The Rock</P>
 
> > Wasn't this show owned or produced by FOX before they
> became
> > (or as they were becoming) a network?
> >
> > Think of the possiblitites
> >
> > Small Wonder = FOX + PAX
> >
> > She's a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls.
> > She's a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls.
> > She's a miracle, and I grant you
> > She'll enchant you with her sight
> > She's a small wonder, and she'll make your heart beat
> twice.
> >
> > She's fantastic, made of plastic,
> > Microchips here and there.
> > She's a small wonder, brings love and laughter
> everywhere.>
>
> Wow, I've forgotten that theme song after all these years,
> but not the show, which was a Metromedia production. (And,
> as such, it aired on each of Metromedia's outlets.) 20th
> Century Fox took over production of the series when News
> Corp. purchased the Metromedia TV stations and the
> syndication arm, Metromedia Producers Corp., starting in the
> 1986-87 season (season two, I'd assume).
>

Why didn't Fox make it a network series when they launched? It was already known and reasonably popular, not to mention better than most of the utter crap they had during the first few years.

In Birmingham, it aired on WBRC-6. IIRC, they actually aired it in prime time after "Webster" for a short while, perhaps the entire first season. What ABC show were they pre-empting?
 
> Why didn't Fox make it a network series when they launched?
> It was already known and reasonably popular, not to mention
> better than most of the utter crap they had during the first
> few years.
>
I guess they were going for the "raunchy" stuff like Married With Children and Babes.

Although Tracy Ullman and Duet were pretty sophisticated and upscale for Fox. Of course then the turned Duet into the more raunchy Open House
 
> > > Wasn't this show owned or produced by FOX before they
> > became
> > > (or as they were becoming) a network?
> > >
> > > Think of the possiblitites
> > >
> > > Small Wonder = FOX + PAX
> > >
> > > She's a small wonder, pretty and bright with soft curls.
>
> > > She's a small wonder, a girl unlike other girls.
> > > She's a miracle, and I grant you
> > > She'll enchant you with her sight
> > > She's a small wonder, and she'll make your heart beat
> > twice.
> > >
> > > She's fantastic, made of plastic,
> > > Microchips here and there.
> > > She's a small wonder, brings love and laughter
> > everywhere.>
> >
> > Wow, I've forgotten that theme song after all these years,
>
> > but not the show, which was a Metromedia production.
> (And,
> > as such, it aired on each of Metromedia's outlets.) 20th
> > Century Fox took over production of the series when News
> > Corp. purchased the Metromedia TV stations and the
> > syndication arm, Metromedia Producers Corp., starting in
> the
> > 1986-87 season (season two, I'd assume).
> >
>
> Why didn't Fox make it a network series when they launched?
> It was already known and reasonably popular, not to mention
> better than most of the utter crap they had during the first
> few years.
>
> In Birmingham, it aired on WBRC-6. IIRC, they actually
> aired it in prime time after "Webster" for a short while,
> perhaps the entire first season. What ABC show were they
> pre-empting?
>

They did the same thing on 12 WKRC in Cincinnati, also an ABC affiliate at the time, on Friday nights after Webster. I'm assuming the ABC programming in the 8:30 time slot was a revolving door at the time so having "Small Wonder" between "Webster" and "Mr. Belvedere" was a wiser choice. *shrugs*
 
> Anyone here remember Small Wonder? The show with Vicki the
> Robot? If so, what did you think of it? I, for one, LOVED
> it.
>
I used to love that show as a kid, the show may have been low-budget (even by Fox standards), and the most recognizable star was Edie McClurg (although she was a "guest star"), who would also do Valerie/The Hogan Family around the same timeframe). One of the former producers of The Brady Bunch, Howard Leeds, was the creator of Small Wonder, and in my distant memory, some of the individual plotlines from Small Wonder came from The Brady Bunch, at least something quite similar.

KTTV (whose studios the show originated from) aired the show Saturdays at 6pm during its entire first run, then once the original run ended, they aired SM periodically weekday afternoons (mostly during the summer) until 1996. It last aired in tandem with Mr. Belvedere during the summer of 1996 (I remember this while I was in summer school that year), and both shows were eliminated from KTTV's lineup by the end of that year and haven't been seen since.

I remember seeing San Diego listings back during the original run, that KCST (now KNSD) carried the show Saturday mornings before the NBC cartoons. IIRC, once the original run ended, the reruns may have moved to another station (I'm thinking KUSI) before basically disappearing off the face of the earth.

I was thinking that Small Wonder would be something that TV Land should have aired during the late night Kitchsen block they had a couple years ago, or during the Box Set block they used to air on Sunday afternoons.
 
> They used to air it on WTAE-4/Pittsburgh, WCVB-5/Boston,
> WITI-6/Milwaukee, KITV-4/Honolulu and WPTY-24/Memphis.
>

Also WBAL-11 Baltimore and IIRC WTAF-29 (now WTXF) Philadelphia.

> BTW Tiffany Brisette(Vicki, or "VICI") has done well for
> herself: She's a missionary today.
>
I hope she doesn't preach in monotones. :)

ixnay
 
> > Why didn't Fox make it a network series when they
> launched?
> > It was already known and reasonably popular, not to
> mention
> > better than most of the utter crap they had during the
> first
> > few years.
> >
> I guess they were going for the "raunchy" stuff like Married
> With Children and Babes.
>
> Although Tracy Ullman and Duet were pretty sophisticated and
> upscale for Fox. Of course then the turned Duet into the
> more raunchy Open House
>

Anyone know what channel Small Wonder was on in the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA, market? I'm guessing it was KTVU 2, the Fox affiliate in that market. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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