Schweinhund posted:

There are a few reasons why Small Wonder got cancelled and I will list them. I would also list how those reasons could have been used to further the show and expand it. In the end wirters and producers were the real reason why the show ended.

1. Aging Vicky, Since the very beginning the producers and writers were concerned as to how they would explain the growth of the robot so at the very beginning they showed that Vicky could change size. Then in the 3rd season, I believe, Ted explains that he just loosens her joints and thins out her electrogel density - aka expands her at the joints and spreads out the inner material thinner. However, it would not explain puberty. The writers and producers were very concerned about that. That is why they tried to shoot as many episodes as they could before Vicky became a little woman. However, I believe there was a lot that the writers could have done with the concept of puberty. They could have explored body image issues with girls, how Vicky isn’t getting attention at school, Jamey gets busy with girla and cannot and does not want to accompany her anywhere, she feels lonely and rejected etc. Then Ted could have given her upgrades. And there they could have explored plastic surgery etc. The kids could have mae fun of her coz she didn’t rebel or go through different phases, etc. They could also have taken Lawsons abroad (not really just shown that they were) and shown how Vicky learns and implements new cultures and exaggerates the American thinking. I am surprised that the kids never talk about superheroes and comics and Jamie doesn’t try to start his own superhero team or something. There could have been a lot done. Maybe they just had really bad writers.

2. They were running out of ideas. The repeated the same concepts over and over again. Venessa was repeated, LES was repeated, many of the jokes were repeated, get rich schemes etc were repeated. I don’t know why. There are a million things that they could have explored with this issue. Instead of making a show about the magic abilities of the robot, they could have shown how robots actually help people. eg when Vicky helps Paula and that Deaf kid. But they made the premises to repititive. They could have explored the limitations more. Like she can’t function under water. There could have been an entire series where Ted takes up the project of installing one emotion at a time and then see how the emotions line up and interact and the importance of each. I would have liked to see other things. Like initially Vicky does not have a sense of touch and then Ted gives her that and so much more stuff. Moreover they could have explored more issues of the community as well. I mean they did factor in fat shaming, exercise, racism etc. but they were just one episode things. I am pretty sure there were not just 2 people who discriminated against Reggie. This should have been a constant struggle for the kid and his friends should have constantly helped him. LGBTQ was an entire world left unexplored. however, that was the mid 80’s. Can’t expect miracles, can we? They could have done more on the women empowernment front. Like how Joan might have faced sexual harassment at work or assumed that she cannot play hardball when straightening out students or entrusted with important tasks etc. They could have explored school life more and shown more school activities. They could have tries to explain music and art to a robot and see if it appeals to them like it does to humans, do they “enjoy” picnics, beautiful sceneries, fireworks, boat rides, religion etc, how she understands the concept of birth death and metaphysical. I dunno, like I said, they probably had really bad writers.

3. The main reason for the shutting down of the show was that the various companies that owned the show - Small Wonder was actually owned by five different companies: Metromedia, and Fox, and Rupert Murdoch had some money in it. And after a while, they just didn’t agree… And they knew that they got enough shows to do syndication, so why produce anymore? And not only that the parents of the stars that played Jamie, Vicky and Harriett didn’t get along even though the cast got along okay. Tiffany’s (Vicky’s) mother was universally accepted as completely insufferable. Tiffany was really talented. She could dance, sing, play the piano and was a brilliant actress but the show required her to be monotonous and dull. Tiffany’s mother would always push the producers to show more of her talent and every time they would do something silly like have a showman come and have a song and dance routine or shopping mall contest. If they had good writers, they could have just shown more talent seamlessly in the show. eg. she sees some dance on TV and tries to do that when Ted comes home, Jamie and Reggie decide to join a band and they ask her to teach them how to play instruments, Vicky has perfect pitch so girls who want to join the choir ask her for vocal lessons, they could have added church and all to it. Anyway, since their producers didn’t agree on what they wanted to do with the show and the writers were not creative enough to come up with workarounds and stories and they had plenty of other shows and handling the parents was a headache, they just decided to stop it.


The concept was pretty good, I believe it was just not explored well. Moreover, I do feel that the show had a little sexism (which was pretty much in line with the 80’s) but not because of the jokes. The jokes were pulled as much on the men as on women. But there were instances where it was sexist. eg. when Jamie tries to teach his mom basketball and she is shown to be a complete idiot etc.

Another thing that I didn’t like was absolute lack of character development. I would have like to see the kids go through highschool and see Jamie and Reggie drift apart, Jamie finding new friend and then rediscovering Reggie as someone he would always cherish or something, Jamie becoming a playboy and being taught how to respect women, Vicky goes through her own troubles in trying to understand how teenagers work - she tries makeup, high heels, short dresses, the body image thing I mentioned. They could have explored bullemia and obesity in more detail and instead of having an episode where the family has a health kick, they could have programmed Vicky to help a friend become fit over time and another to get over the bullemia.

I would have liked to see Harriett un-Brindle and become someone super interested in the arts and drift apart from Jamie and find self respect. In one of the shows they show that Harriett doesn’t like pulling one over her friends while her father pushes her to. Jamie on the other hand, becomes protective of her. He still insults her but doesn’t let anyone else do it. Brindles could have been shown to develop as well. They could have gotten a divorce and all of that area explored (Bonnie had already left somewhere in the middle). They could have occaisonally been shown to show compassion. They could have added good neighbours etc to the show.

There could have been more changes at Ted’s work where Harold becomes the acting President as Jennings suffers a heart attack and he promoted Ted and Ted and Brindle become equals but work in departments that need to regularly co-ordinate and so forth. That could have been played with.

Vicky could have been shown to be useful and useless in various situations like they go to a concert and there is a fire or they go on a cruise and there is a storm or something. How come she never goes to NASA and talks about the space shuttle or something? Or tries to decipher an ancient script? They could have shown bad influence of the TV, of their role models. The kids could have volunteered at hospitals, orphanages and old age centres and Vicky could have done a lot there. There could have been a recurrring kid who gets depressed and while Ted is programming her with sorrow, she is the only one who notices and saves his life, There is so much to explore in the world.

And if it were made today imagine, Influences of the internet, Ted connects her to the Wifi, then he tries regulating the content she can access, Vicky could be hacked by someone who thinks its a drone, Ted would have to install firewalls, then she could get fake news and give stupid answers in class and so on …..

I don’t know, it wasn’t the concept that was bad. It didn’t get dubbed in 52 languages and had reruns all over the world for 2 decades for nothing. If the concept were bad there wouldn’t be copies of it made of the concept in various other shows. If the show wasn’t good, all that would not have happened. It was good and fun and was actually targeted at little kids. It did that well. And just in line with that, it was just as immature. To keep the interest for all audience, the show would have to explore all ages which they did not do for lack of creativity. They did have a wonderful cast as well. It was just that they had little brains in the writers’ department else there can be so much that could have been done with the show.

I did like a few episodes as the one where Vicky helps Paula, where she gets jealous of an electronic cat, where the Lawsons try to get rid of the Brindles, where they do a radio show for World War etc.

However, Small Wonder, silly as it was, will always remain a fond memory of my childhood and I will always look at it with nostalgia. I wish there could be a reboot that would take all of these themes and run with it but the new cast will never take place of the original one. I wish they could shrink the actors back to kids and make the show again - a complex one for all audience. Of course, that is not possible.

gary oldmans diary posted:

dont try to fight big belvedere

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

sorry, the robot maid that looked like a 12 year old

Big Beef City posted:

Can you be more specific

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

the one from small wonder. How many robot maids do you know?

Big Beef City posted:

What am I on trial here? Who cares!

fakeaccount posted:

did the robot fart?

Schweinhund posted:

There are a few reasons why Small Wonder got cancelled and I will list them. I would also list how those reasons could have been used to further the show and expand it. In the end wirters and producers were the real reason why the show ended.

1. Aging Vicky, Since the very beginning the producers and writers were concerned as to how they would explain the growth of the robot so at the very beginning they showed that Vicky could change size. Then in the 3rd season, I believe, Ted explains that he just loosens her joints and thins out her electrogel density - aka expands her at the joints and spreads out the inner material thinner. However, it would not explain puberty. The writers and producers were very concerned about that. That is why they tried to shoot as many episodes as they could before Vicky became a little woman. However, I believe there was a lot that the writers could have done with the concept of puberty. They could have explored body image issues with girls, how Vicky isn’t getting attention at school, Jamey gets busy with girla and cannot and does not want to accompany her anywhere, she feels lonely and rejected etc. Then Ted could have given her upgrades. And there they could have explored plastic surgery etc. The kids could have mae fun of her coz she didn’t rebel or go through different phases, etc. They could also have taken Lawsons abroad (not really just shown that they were) and shown how Vicky learns and implements new cultures and exaggerates the American thinking. I am surprised that the kids never talk about superheroes and comics and Jamie doesn’t try to start his own superhero team or something. There could have been a lot done. Maybe they just had really bad writers.

2. They were running out of ideas. The repeated the same concepts over and over again. Venessa was repeated, LES was repeated, many of the jokes were repeated, get rich schemes etc were repeated. I don’t know why. There are a million things that they could have explored with this issue. Instead of making a show about the magic abilities of the robot, they could have shown how robots actually help people. eg when Vicky helps Paula and that Deaf kid. But they made the premises to repititive. They could have explored the limitations more. Like she can’t function under water. There could have been an entire series where Ted takes up the project of installing one emotion at a time and then see how the emotions line up and interact and the importance of each. I would have liked to see other things. Like initially Vicky does not have a sense of touch and then Ted gives her that and so much more stuff. Moreover they could have explored more issues of the community as well. I mean they did factor in fat shaming, exercise, racism etc. but they were just one episode things. I am pretty sure there were not just 2 people who discriminated against Reggie. This should have been a constant struggle for the kid and his friends should have constantly helped him. LGBTQ was an entire world left unexplored. however, that was the mid 80’s. Can’t expect miracles, can we? They could have done more on the women empowernment front. Like how Joan might have faced sexual harassment at work or assumed that she cannot play hardball when straightening out students or entrusted with important tasks etc. They could have explored school life more and shown more school activities. They could have tries to explain music and art to a robot and see if it appeals to them like it does to humans, do they “enjoy” picnics, beautiful sceneries, fireworks, boat rides, religion etc, how she understands the concept of birth death and metaphysical. I dunno, like I said, they probably had really bad writers.

3. The main reason for the shutting down of the show was that the various companies that owned the show - Small Wonder was actually owned by five different companies: Metromedia, and Fox, and Rupert Murdoch had some money in it. And after a while, they just didn’t agree… And they knew that they got enough shows to do syndication, so why produce anymore? And not only that the parents of the stars that played Jamie, Vicky and Harriett didn’t get along even though the cast got along okay. Tiffany’s (Vicky’s) mother was universally accepted as completely insufferable. Tiffany was really talented. She could dance, sing, play the piano and was a brilliant actress but the show required her to be monotonous and dull. Tiffany’s mother would always push the producers to show more of her talent and every time they would do something silly like have a showman come and have a song and dance routine or shopping mall contest. If they had good writers, they could have just shown more talent seamlessly in the show. eg. she sees some dance on TV and tries to do that when Ted comes home, Jamie and Reggie decide to join a band and they ask her to teach them how to play instruments, Vicky has perfect pitch so girls who want to join the choir ask her for vocal lessons, they could have added church and all to it. Anyway, since their producers didn’t agree on what they wanted to do with the show and the writers were not creative enough to come up with workarounds and stories and they had plenty of other shows and handling the parents was a headache, they just decided to stop it.


The concept was pretty good, I believe it was just not explored well. Moreover, I do feel that the show had a little sexism (which was pretty much in line with the 80’s) but not because of the jokes. The jokes were pulled as much on the men as on women. But there were instances where it was sexist. eg. when Jamie tries to teach his mom basketball and she is shown to be a complete idiot etc.

Another thing that I didn’t like was absolute lack of character development. I would have like to see the kids go through highschool and see Jamie and Reggie drift apart, Jamie finding new friend and then rediscovering Reggie as someone he would always cherish or something, Jamie becoming a playboy and being taught how to respect women, Vicky goes through her own troubles in trying to understand how teenagers work - she tries makeup, high heels, short dresses, the body image thing I mentioned. They could have explored bullemia and obesity in more detail and instead of having an episode where the family has a health kick, they could have programmed Vicky to help a friend become fit over time and another to get over the bullemia.

I would have liked to see Harriett un-Brindle and become someone super interested in the arts and drift apart from Jamie and find self respect. In one of the shows they show that Harriett doesn’t like pulling one over her friends while her father pushes her to. Jamie on the other hand, becomes protective of her. He still insults her but doesn’t let anyone else do it. Brindles could have been shown to develop as well. They could have gotten a divorce and all of that area explored (Bonnie had already left somewhere in the middle). They could have occaisonally been shown to show compassion. They could have added good neighbours etc to the show.

There could have been more changes at Ted’s work where Harold becomes the acting President as Jennings suffers a heart attack and he promoted Ted and Ted and Brindle become equals but work in departments that need to regularly co-ordinate and so forth. That could have been played with.

Vicky could have been shown to be useful and useless in various situations like they go to a concert and there is a fire or they go on a cruise and there is a storm or something. How come she never goes to NASA and talks about the space shuttle or something? Or tries to decipher an ancient script? They could have shown bad influence of the TV, of their role models. The kids could have volunteered at hospitals, orphanages and old age centres and Vicky could have done a lot there. There could have been a recurrring kid who gets depressed and while Ted is programming her with sorrow, she is the only one who notices and saves his life, There is so much to explore in the world.

And if it were made today imagine, Influences of the internet, Ted connects her to the Wifi, then he tries regulating the content she can access, Vicky could be hacked by someone who thinks its a drone, Ted would have to install firewalls, then she could get fake news and give stupid answers in class and so on …..

I don’t know, it wasn’t the concept that was bad. It didn’t get dubbed in 52 languages and had reruns all over the world for 2 decades for nothing. If the concept were bad there wouldn’t be copies of it made of the concept in various other shows. If the show wasn’t good, all that would not have happened. It was good and fun and was actually targeted at little kids. It did that well. And just in line with that, it was just as immature. To keep the interest for all audience, the show would have to explore all ages which they did not do for lack of creativity. They did have a wonderful cast as well. It was just that they had little brains in the writers’ department else there can be so much that could have been done with the show.

I did like a few episodes as the one where Vicky helps Paula, where she gets jealous of an electronic cat, where the Lawsons try to get rid of the Brindles, where they do a radio show for World War etc.

However, Small Wonder, silly as it was, will always remain a fond memory of my childhood and I will always look at it with nostalgia. I wish there could be a reboot that would take all of these themes and run with it but the new cast will never take place of the original one. I wish they could shrink the actors back to kids and make the show again - a complex one for all audience. Of course, that is not possible.

504 posted:

Steals some lunitics work for sweet SA rep.

Cocksucker.

Bogus Adventure posted:

Please leave the Voice Input Child Identicants alone, Jerry Seinfeld.

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

don't sign your posts

Schweinhund posted:

I wish they could shrink the actors back to kids and make the show again - a complex one for all audience.

Bogus Adventure posted:

Jose Oquendo posted:

The best robot show ever is Holmes and Yoyo and I'll fight anyone who disagrees.

Rad-daddio posted:

The thing that bugged me about this show was the fact that Ted made a young teen girl right out if the gate. Like, he could've made a giant male robot, or an adult female robot or some other kind of gender neutral android. But lol nope, gonna spend 100's of hours making a totally compliant robot that obeys my every command.....and make it look like a young teenage girl.

Hmm...

Rad-daddio posted:

The thing that bugged me about this show was the fact that Ted made a young teen girl right out if the gate. Like, he could've made a giant male robot, or an adult female robot or some other kind of gender neutral android. But lol nope, gonna spend 100's of hours making a totally compliant robot that obeys my every command.....and make it look like a young teenage girl.

Hmm...

Bogus Adventure posted:

FilthyImp posted:

Well you're not going to make a little boy because the pudger you have as an actual son will probably get depressed that he can't lift 17 trucks and run a marathon in 12 seconds.

And, well, I imagine all the Terminator media would make boybots kind of a touchy subject.

I'll add that not only was VICI a young girl, the dress she was in was half a step removed from a maid's outfit.

Bogus Adventure posted: