I liked this TV series as a kid, but it always made me wonder. In almost every episode there seemed to be some dark undercurrent. I think it arose from the fact that, quite simply, Vicki was a robot and not a human being. I enjoyed the character immensely, but I always felt sorry for Vicki because I knew - even if it was never explicitly spoken on the show - that one day she would stop working and her "family" would have to destroy her.
The lightness of the comedy usually made me forget about this dire outcome, but it was always there, beneath the surface. Actually, the entire notion of robots in movies and TV has always disturbed me. Here are creatures with artificial intelligence who seem almost human, yet they are treated as slaves by real humans and shut out from the joy and pain that humans are heir to. And when they stop working, they're put to death. That seems a bit unfair; after all, even pet dogs and cats are kept alive after they've attained old age.
That's why it's always been hard for me to watch movies or TV shows where robots are the main characters, whether it's C-3PO in the STAR WARS movies (I don't care what anybody says, he's a real person to me) or Haley Joel Osment's heartbreaking performance as David in Steven Spielberg's A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Perhaps "Small Wonder" would have been easier for me to swallow if there was ever a possibility of Vicki becoming a human girl. Unfortunately, I knew that her "father," for all his scientific ingenuity, could never grant her that wish. The program never showed it, of course, but I knew how it would have all turned out: after Jamie went to college, the Lawsons would've taken the now-malfunctioning Vicki to the junkyard and left her there. It must be awful to be a robot.
The lightness of the comedy usually made me forget about this dire outcome, but it was always there, beneath the surface. Actually, the entire notion of robots in movies and TV has always disturbed me. Here are creatures with artificial intelligence who seem almost human, yet they are treated as slaves by real humans and shut out from the joy and pain that humans are heir to. And when they stop working, they're put to death. That seems a bit unfair; after all, even pet dogs and cats are kept alive after they've attained old age.
That's why it's always been hard for me to watch movies or TV shows where robots are the main characters, whether it's C-3PO in the STAR WARS movies (I don't care what anybody says, he's a real person to me) or Haley Joel Osment's heartbreaking performance as David in Steven Spielberg's A.I. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.
Perhaps "Small Wonder" would have been easier for me to swallow if there was ever a possibility of Vicki becoming a human girl. Unfortunately, I knew that her "father," for all his scientific ingenuity, could never grant her that wish. The program never showed it, of course, but I knew how it would have all turned out: after Jamie went to college, the Lawsons would've taken the now-malfunctioning Vicki to the junkyard and left her there. It must be awful to be a robot.