"Lost" Julie Newmar robot series coming to DVD

[23skidoo]

Hmmm, anyone who has seen Living Doll want to compare it to Small Wonder, which is also about a robot living as a human and the family trying to hide her secret? Big difference is Vicki was a child in Small Wonder.

This was brought up in a podcast review of the Doll set. It's pretty clear Small Wonder was, if not a rip-off, definitely strongly inspired by My Living Doll. The only difference is My Living Doll was actually a half-decent TV series, whereas Small Wonder was virtually unwatchable, even when taken in the context of it being made for kids (whereas My Living Doll was aimed at adults). I remember seeing a fair share of SW episodes back in the day because it was scheduled before DS9 or TNG or something in my neck of the woods and it was often on in the background. I tend to consider it the American equivalent of The Trouble with Tracy. I'll let the curious do the research as to why that is NOT a compliment. The girl was cute but sort of disappeared after the series (though according to the IMDb she did go on to do a Parker Lewis Can't Lose episode and appeared in a series called Equal Justice in the early '90s before dropping off the map; by comparison Julie Newmar had a minor success about a year after Doll ended with something called Batman...)

And since the fetish crowd have come out re: Barbara Eden I present this clip featuring a late-40-something Julie Newmar playing a hitwoman in an episode of Hart to Hart, for some reason wearing a suit and tie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYABMxAGOTQ

Sorry - I like Barbara Eden plenty, but Julie Newmar trumps all comers...

Alex

 

[Greg Cox]

Sorry - I like Barbara Eden plenty, but Julie Newmar trumps all comers...

Alex

You're not going to get an argument from me . . . .

 

[Christopher]

I've never found Barbara Eden attractive, but Julie Newmar is definitely very near the top of the list of '60s TV sex symbols -- up there with the likes of Yvonne Craig, Dawn Wells, Barbara Feldon, Diana Rigg, and Deanna Lund.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's a great list, but I'd definitely put Barbara Eden on it and near the top.

 

[23skidoo]

I've never found Barbara Eden attractive, but Julie Newmar is definitely very near the top of the list of '60s TV sex symbols -- up there with the likes of Yvonne Craig, Dawn Wells, Barbara Feldon, Diana Rigg, and Deanna Lund.

I'd add Elizabeth Montgomery and Honor Blackman to the list, too!

Alex

 

[Forbin]

I'm a bit of a Melody Paterson fan too.

 

[23skidoo]

Hmmm, anyone who has seen Living Doll want to compare it to Small Wonder, which is also about a robot living as a human and the family trying to hide her secret? Big difference is Vicki was a child in Small Wonder.

I'm quoting this response from a number of weeks back because I just found out that the executive producer on Small Wonder was Howard Leeds ... who was the producer on My Living Doll. So I would hazard a guess that the similarities (at least in plot) between the two shows is no coincidence.

With the big difference being MLD is a million times better a show, of course!

Alex

 

[Forbin]

btw, I got the DVD set, and we've been watching an episode per day over dinner. It's wonderful! I was afraid my wife was going to decline to watch, citing "you just wanna see Julie Newmar" (well, YEAH!), but my wife loves it too. She comments on how much she likes the way Julie played the part with a dry humor and a subtle wit.

The ONLY negative comment I'll give it is a sign of the times it was made in, in the first episode when Bob Cummings realizes he has custody of a "female" voice-command robot - "The perfect woman! Does whatever you tell her and keeps her mouth shut!"

 

[23skidoo]

The ONLY negative comment I'll give it is a sign of the times it was made in, in the first episode when Bob Cummings realizes he has custody of a "female" voice-command robot - "The perfect woman! Does whatever you tell her and keeps her mouth shut!"

Yeah, but people make jokes about that even now. And while someone even wrote an entire thesis blasting the series because of its alleged sexism (it's online if you dig around), having now seen the first batch of episodes it's pretty clear that joke (and similar ones) were intended with irony. Problem is the lines were being delivered by Bob Cummings who very much represented the "old school" TV performer; had it been Efrem Zimbalist or Bob Crane, the original choices for the character, the irony might have come off a bit more obvious.

What I find interesting is how Bob's relationship with Rhoda evolves over the dozen episodes. He starts the series treating her very much like a thing, but by the later episodes he's calling her "honey", gives her a kiss on the cheek at one point, and they even share a few playful moments. Sort of puts a whole new perspective on things. And Newmar's performance evolves to the point where she begins playing up the childlike aspect of the character, though I wonder if anyone has also noticed that in some episodes her performance of Rhoda is (perhaps accidentally, but perhaps intentionally given how intelligent and well-read Newmar is) a very close approximation of autism.

I found out on another forum why Cummings apparently left. Allegedly he commissioned an episode in which Rhoda appeared only for a few moments at the start and end and the episode focused on Bob and his grandfather (and apparently the grandfather was going to be a revival of a character from the earlier Love That Bob series). The producer blew a gasket, reminded Cummings that it wasn't The Bob Cummings Show, and Cummings subsequently quit.

At least that's the story. I'm skeptical because I can't see the star of a series commissioning an episode behind the back of the producer. Such a plan would have to be discussed with the powers that be before anyone put finger to typewriter key. That said, Newmar has recalled that there was an episode in which Cummings tried to write her out, which could be a reference to this one...

Fascinating stuff. Hopefully when and if Volume 2 is released they'll explore that a bit more.

Alex