| Genre: | Comedy science fiction sitcom |
| Creator: | Howard Leeds |
| Starring: | Tiffany Brissette Dick Christie Marla Pennington Jerry Supiran Emily Schulman |
| Theme Music Composer: | Rod Alexander Howard Leeds Diane Leslie |
| Opentheme: | "She's a Small Wonder" |
| Endtheme: | "She's a Small Wonder" |
| Composer: | George Greeley Ed Lojeskie |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 96 |
| List Episodes: | List of Small Wonder episodes |
| Executive Producer: | Howard Leeds |
| Producer: | Budd Grossman Bruce Taylor |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 22 minutes |
| Network: | First-run syndication |
| Company: | The Small Wonder Joint Venture Metromedia Video Productions[1] |
Small Wonder is an American children's comedy 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 secretly creates a robot modeled after a human girl, then tries to pass it off as their adopted daughter, Vicki. The series turned out to be a surprise hit, specifically among children, with reruns airing internationally. Owing to its popularity in some countries, the show had to be dubbed for different languages.
The story lines 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. Vicki was built by Ted Lawson, an engineer/inventor for United Robotronics, in an effort to assist handicapped children. Lawson takes the robot home so that it can mature within a family environment. Vicki's features include superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a data port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. Despite this, the Lawson family initially tries to pass Vicki off as an orphaned family member whom they legally adopted 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 father happens to be Ted Lawson's co-worker. The show's humor frequently derived from Vicki's attempts to learn human behavior, her unprecedented echolalia, the robot'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, the series' producers had Ted give Vicki 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.
After the series ended, the show entered weekday rerun syndication on many stations across the United States and continued until 1996. After that, the show had not aired anywhere in the country until January 10, 2015, when Antenna TV began airing the series on weekends, which continued until May 27, 2017. The network resumed airing the show on September 9, 2017. It was dropped again after March 31, 2019.
In Europe, the show was screened regionally in the United Kingdom on ITV from October 1985 until late 1988. Only the first two series were shown. Sky One also broadcast the series in full from 1988 to the early 1990s. 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 La Petite merveille (The Little Wonder) on Canal+, starting in November 1985. In Spain, the show was broadcast on Antena 3 Televisión as Un robot en casa (A Robot at Home) in December 1995. In Germany the show was broadcast on ProSieben in 1990 (with several reruns in the early 1990s) and was titled Vicki.
It was aired on many TV stations in Middle East as well, such as Saudi TV Channel 2 and Iraq TV Channel 1, with Arabic subtitles and called الاعجوبة الصغيرة. In Saudi Arabia, it was aired during the '80s as a daily family show during the month of Ramadan on Saudi TV (Channel 2).
In India, Pakistan, China, and other Asian countries, Small Wonder was syndicated on local TV stations and the Star TV Network in the mid-1990s. In 1994, it was aired in India on Star Plus first in English then in Hindi the same year most of the time, until 1998 and in Tamil in Star Vijay in the beginning of the 2000s. It aired in Pakistan on Network Television Marketing. In 1986, it aired in Thailand on Channel 9 at 9:00 p.m. after the evening news.[3] In the Philippines, it aired on GMA Network in the mid-1980s, and on ABC in 1992. In Indonesia, it was aired on TVRI. TVNZ screened the show in New Zealand in a weekday afternoon slot the mid-1980s.
In Latin America, the show appeared on Rede Globo and, later, TV Record in Brazil and was called Super Vicky. It also aired on VTV (Venezolana de Televisión) in Venezuela between 1987 and 1990, Canal 13 in Argentina, Bogotá local network Canal Capital in Colombia, Teleantillas in the Dominican Republic and Frecuencia Latina in Peru, where it was called La pequeña maravilla (Small Wonder).
Despite proving popular among viewers, it has been regarded by some critics as one of the worst sitcoms of all time, such as Robert Bianco, TV critic for USA Today, who listed it as a contender for one of the worst TV shows of all time in 2002.[4] According to the BBC, it "is widely considered one of the worst low-budget sitcoms of all time."[5]
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Young Artist Award | Best Young Supporting Actress in a New Television Series | Emily Schulman |
| 1987 | Exceptional Performance by a Young Actress in a Long-Running Series, Comedy or Drama |
See main article: List of Small Wonder episodes.
Shout! Factory has released the first two seasons of Small Wonder on DVD in Region 1.[6] [7]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Region 1 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 24 | February 16, 2010 | |
| The Complete Second Season | 24 | June 22, 2010 |