My Living Doll (partially found CBS sitcom; 1964-1965): Difference between revisions
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The series was conceived by ''My Favourite Martian'' producer Jack Chertok, who in turn was inspired by the Pygmalion myth. CBS decided it would provide an ideal lead role for rising starlet Julie Newmar (better known these days as Catwoman in the ''Batman'' TV series) and, further impressed by the success of ''Martian'', greenlit the series without a pilot - very unusual at the time - at the personal request of network president James T. Aubrey. | The series was conceived by ''My Favourite Martian'' producer Jack Chertok, who in turn was inspired by the Pygmalion myth. CBS decided it would provide an ideal lead role for rising starlet Julie Newmar (better known these days as Catwoman in the ''Batman'' TV series) and, further impressed by the success of ''Martian'', greenlit the series without a pilot - very unusual at the time - at the personal request of network president James T. Aubrey. | ||
It was a troubled production. Cummings - whose career had been built largely on his boyish good looks and 'swinging single' style - was suffering from a rapidly worsening methamphetamine addiction at this time, which resulted in erratic behavior on set, besides increasing depression and insecurity about his age and subsequently declining stardom. Reportedly he became jealous of Newmar's greater share of the screen time and media attention, compensating by lecturing her constantly on 'how to act'. Eventually he would request to be written out of the series after 21 episodes, with Jack Mullaney taking his place as the male lead. | It was a troubled production. Cummings - whose career had been built largely on his boyish good looks and 'swinging single' style - was suffering from a rapidly worsening methamphetamine addiction at this time, which resulted in erratic behavior on set, besides increasing depression and insecurity about his age and subsequently declining stardom. Reportedly he became jealous of Newmar's greater share of the screen time and media attention, compensating by lecturing her constantly on 'how to act'. Eventually, he would request to be written out of the series after 21 episodes, with Jack Mullaney taking his place as the male lead. | ||
Things weren't much better in front of the camera. Despite a generally positive reception, ''My Living Doll'' garnered low ratings due to being scheduled alongside monster hits such as ''Bonanza'', ''The Virginian'', and ''The Patty Duke Show''. Faced with this in tandem with Cummings' departure, CBS declined to renew the show for a second season. | Things weren't much better in front of the camera. Despite a generally positive reception, ''My Living Doll'' garnered low ratings due to being scheduled alongside monster hits such as ''Bonanza'', ''The Virginian'', and ''The Patty Duke Show''. Faced with this in tandem with Cummings' departure, CBS declined to renew the show for a second season. | ||
==Availability== | ==Availability== | ||
Only 26 episodes of ''My Living Doll'' would be produced between 1964 and 1965, but they would have an outsized influence on pop | Only 26 episodes of ''My Living Doll'' would be produced between 1964 and 1965, but they would have an outsized influence on pop culture, as they featured the first known use of the phrase "does not compute". Later, the show would serve as inspiration for the 1980s TV sitcom ''Small Wonder'', which had a similar premise (albeit this time the android was a little girl living within a family) and was created by ''My Living Doll'' producer Howard Leeds. Meanwhile, ''Doll'' episodes have become rare and sought-after; CBS disposed of many of their own copies of episodes to save archive space (standard practice in the industry at the time) and home recording devices were vanishingly rare back then. | ||
It is believed that a single complete archive of 35mm negatives of ''My Living Doll'' once existed within the San Fernando Valley area but was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, leaving no complete collections of the series remaining.<ref>[https://latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-apr-04-la-et-living-doll-20120404-story.html Article about ''My Living Doll'' in the ''Los Angeles Times''.] Retrieved 19 Mar '23</ref> 16mm copies of 11 episodes would later be found in the hands of various private collectors, and were gathered together for a DVD release in 2012. To date, none of the remaining 15 episodes have surfaced. | It is believed that a single complete archive of 35mm negatives of ''My Living Doll'' once existed within the San Fernando Valley area but was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, leaving no complete collections of the series remaining.<ref>[https://latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2012-apr-04-la-et-living-doll-20120404-story.html Article about ''My Living Doll'' in the ''Los Angeles Times''.] Retrieved 19 Mar '23</ref> 16mm copies of 11 episodes would later be found in the hands of various private collectors, and were gathered together for a DVD release in 2012. To date, none of the remaining 15 episodes have surfaced. | ||
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! style="background-color:green" | Episode Title | ! style="background-color:green" |Episode Title | ||
! style="background-color:green" | Air Date | ! style="background-color:green" |Air Date | ||
! style="background-color:green" | Status | ! style="background-color:green" |Status | ||
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|1||Boy Meets Girl?||Sep 27th, 1964||<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span><ref>[https://amazon.com/My-Living-Doll-Official-Collection/dp/B0063DOV2Q/ Amazon page for ''My Living Doll'' : The Official Collection Vol. 1 DVD.] Retrieved 15 Mar '23</ref> | |1||Boy Meets Girl?||Sep 27th, 1964||<span style="color:green;">'''Found'''</span><ref>[https://amazon.com/My-Living-Doll-Official-Collection/dp/B0063DOV2Q/ Amazon page for ''My Living Doll'' : The Official Collection Vol. 1 DVD.] Retrieved 15 Mar '23</ref> | ||
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|20||The Robotic Astronaut||Feb 3rd, 1965||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost''' | |20||The Robotic Astronaut||Feb 3rd, 1965||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
|21|| | |21||The Witness||Feb 10th, 1965||<span style="color:green;">'''Found''' | ||
|- | |- | ||
|22||Rhoda Meets Dr. Robinson (aka "Boy Gets Robot")||Feb 17th, 1965||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost''' | |22||Rhoda Meets Dr. Robinson (aka "Boy Gets Robot")||Feb 17th, 1965||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost''' |
Latest revision as of 16:19, 31 August 2024
My Living Doll was an American sitcom TV series created by Bill Keslay, Al Martin, and Leo Guild that was broadcast on CBS for 26 episodes from September 27th, 1964 to March 17th, 1965.
Premise
The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, an Air Force psychiatrist who suddenly finds himself responsible for Rhoda (Julie Newmar), a lifelike female android prototype built by Bob's friend Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman). After Carl is transferred to Pakistan, he places Rhoda in Bob's care so that she will not fall into the hands of the military. Rhoda subsequently moves in with Bob and his sister Irene Adams (Doris Dowling), who serves as both housekeeper and chaperone.
Otherwise, Bob strives to keep Rhoda's true identity a secret, as he sets about teaching the sophisticated yet naive android to become the perfect human woman - one who (in his own words) "does what she's told" and "doesn't talk back." Thus much of the series' comedy sparks from Rhonda's attempts to understand and fit into human society, as in the episode "The Kleptomaniac", wherein she helps herself at a jewelry counter after failing to grasp the concept of a department store.
Another recurring character is Peter Robinson (Jack Mullaney), Bob's lecherous neighbor and colleague who immediately decides that Rhoda is the girl of his dreams. In the 22nd episode of the series, however, Peter learns the truth and becomes Rhoda's guardian, after Bob is also transferred to Pakistan. Rhoda consequently moves in with Peter and his housekeeper Mrs. Moffat (Nora Marlowe) for the remaining five episodes.
Production
The series was conceived by My Favourite Martian producer Jack Chertok, who in turn was inspired by the Pygmalion myth. CBS decided it would provide an ideal lead role for rising starlet Julie Newmar (better known these days as Catwoman in the Batman TV series) and, further impressed by the success of Martian, greenlit the series without a pilot - very unusual at the time - at the personal request of network president James T. Aubrey.
It was a troubled production. Cummings - whose career had been built largely on his boyish good looks and 'swinging single' style - was suffering from a rapidly worsening methamphetamine addiction at this time, which resulted in erratic behavior on set, besides increasing depression and insecurity about his age and subsequently declining stardom. Reportedly he became jealous of Newmar's greater share of the screen time and media attention, compensating by lecturing her constantly on 'how to act'. Eventually, he would request to be written out of the series after 21 episodes, with Jack Mullaney taking his place as the male lead.
Things weren't much better in front of the camera. Despite a generally positive reception, My Living Doll garnered low ratings due to being scheduled alongside monster hits such as Bonanza, The Virginian, and The Patty Duke Show. Faced with this in tandem with Cummings' departure, CBS declined to renew the show for a second season.
Availability
Only 26 episodes of My Living Doll would be produced between 1964 and 1965, but they would have an outsized influence on pop culture, as they featured the first known use of the phrase "does not compute". Later, the show would serve as inspiration for the 1980s TV sitcom Small Wonder, which had a similar premise (albeit this time the android was a little girl living within a family) and was created by My Living Doll producer Howard Leeds. Meanwhile, Doll episodes have become rare and sought-after; CBS disposed of many of their own copies of episodes to save archive space (standard practice in the industry at the time) and home recording devices were vanishingly rare back then.
It is believed that a single complete archive of 35mm negatives of My Living Doll once existed within the San Fernando Valley area but was destroyed in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake, leaving no complete collections of the series remaining.[1] 16mm copies of 11 episodes would later be found in the hands of various private collectors, and were gathered together for a DVD release in 2012. To date, none of the remaining 15 episodes have surfaced.
Episode List
# | Episode Title | Air Date | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Boy Meets Girl? | Sep 27th, 1964 | Found[2] |
2 | Rhoda's First Date | Oct 4th, 1964 | Found |
3 | Uninvited Guest | Oct 11th, 1964 | Found |
4 | Lesson in Love | Oct 18th, 1964 | Lost |
5 | Rhoda's Debut (aka "Rhoda and the V.I.P.") | Oct 25th, 1964 | Lost |
6 | Something Borrowed, Something Blew | Nov 1st, 1964 | Found |
7 | The Love Machine | Nov 8th, 1964 | Found |
8 | The Beauty Contest | Nov 15th, 1964 | Found |
9 | Leave 'Em Laughing (aka "Not So Comic, Comic") | Nov 22nd, 1964 | Lost |
10 | My Robot, the Warden | Nov 29th, 1964 | Found |
11 | The Rhoda Gamble (aka "Just Lucky, I Guess") | Dec 6th, 1964 | Lost |
12 | The Language Barrier | Dec 13th, 1964 | Lost |
13 | Little White Lie (aka "The Doctor Is In") | Dec 16th, 1964 | Lost |
14 | I'll Leave It to You | Dec 23rd, 1964 | Found |
15 | Mechanical Perfection | Dec 30th, 1964 | Lost |
16 | Pool Shark | Jan 6th, 1965 | Found |
17 | Color Me Trouble | Jan 13th, 1965 | Lost |
18 | The Kleptomaniac | Jan 20th, 1965 | Found |
19 | Sky Divers | Jan 27th, 1965 | Lost |
20 | The Robotic Astronaut | Feb 3rd, 1965 | Lost |
21 | The Witness | Feb 10th, 1965 | Found |
22 | Rhoda Meets Dr. Robinson (aka "Boy Gets Robot") | Feb 17th, 1965 | Lost |
23 | Dancing Doll | Feb 24th, 1965 | Lost |
24 | The Mannequin (aka "A Paris Original") | Mar 3rd, 1965 | Lost |
25 | Murder, He Say's (aka "Rhoda's Suntan") | Mar 10th, 1965 | Lost |
26 | Brother Harry (aka "Comic Interference") | Mar 17th, 1965 | Lost |
External Links
References
- ↑ Article about My Living Doll in the Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 Mar '23
- ↑ Amazon page for My Living Doll : The Official Collection Vol. 1 DVD. Retrieved 15 Mar '23