My Living Doll
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| My Living Doll | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom Science Fiction |
| Created by | Bill Kelsay Al Martin |
| Written by | Bill Kelsay Al Martin Russell Beggs Bernard Slade |
| Directed by | Lawrence Dobkin Ezra Stone |
| Starring | Bob Cummings (Episodes 1-21) Julie Newmar Jack Mullaney Doris Dowling (Episodes 1-21) |
| Theme music composer | George Greeley |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jack Chertok Leo Guild Bill Kelsay Al Martin Roland Wolpert |
| Running time | 30 mins. |
| Production company(s) | Jack Chertok Television, Inc. in association with The CBS Television Network |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Original run | September 27, 1964 – September 8, 1965 |
My Living Doll was an American comedy television series that aired for 26 episodes on CBS from September 27, 1964 to September 8, 1965. This series was produced by Jack Chertok and was filmed at Desilu studios by Jack Chertok Television, Inc., in association with the CBS Television Network. The series was also unique in that it was bought by the network without a formal pilot film (at the request of CBS' president, James T. Aubrey), due to the success of Chertok's previous series, My Favorite Martian.
Contents |
[edit] Series background
The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychologist who is given care of Rhoda, a life-like gynoid (played by Julie Newmar) in the form of a sexy, Amazonian female, by her creator, a scientist who did not want her to fall into the hands of the military.
Rhoda's real name was AF709, and she was a prototype robot that Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built for the U.S. Air Force. When Dr. Miller was about to be transferred to Pakistan, he gives his friend, Air Force psychologist Bob McDonald, the job of completing the education of the sophisticated (yet naive) robot. Bob's job is to teach Rhoda how to be a "perfect" woman, and keep her identity secret from the world.
Although many aspects of the series would seem tame by later standards, Newmar's sex appeal was obvious. Many of the story situations and idea of what it takes to be the "perfect" woman would be branded sexist today. Rhoda is taught to cook, to clean and to follow orders.
Other regular cast members included:
- Peter Robinson (a somewhat lecherous neighbor who decides that Rhoda is the girl of his dreams – played by Jack Mullaney)
- Irene Adams (Bob's sister who decides to move in as his housekeeper and to make sure that nothing inappropriate is going on – played by Doris Dowling).
[edit] Behind the scenes and ratings reception
During the series run, Cummings and Newmar reportedly did not get along, with Cummings actually quitting the show, after a dispute with Jack Chertok, in January 1965. Bob's character was written out of the series. (He, too, is reassigned to Pakistan). With episode #22, Peter learns Rhoda's secret and takes over the position of watching over her. Nora Marlowe appeared in several of the final episodes as Peter's housekeeper, Mrs. Moffat.
Although My Living Doll was somewhat popular during its short run, it was scheduled against highly-rated shows such as Bonanza, The Virginian and The Patty Duke Show. As a result. it didn't deliver the ratings that network executives had hoped for and was canceled.
According to The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, My Living Doll is the source of the science fiction phrase "Does not compute" in popular culture.
[edit] Episodes
| # | Name | Airdate | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boy Meets Girl? | September 27, 1964 | |
| 2 | Rhoda's First Date | October 4, 1964 | |
| 3 | Uninvited Guest | October 11, 1964 | |
| 4 | Rhoda's Debut | October 18, 1964 | |
| 5 | Lesson In Love | October 25, 1964 | |
| 6 | Something Borrowed, Something Blew | November 1, 1964 | |
| 7 | The Love Machine | November 8, 1964 | |
| 8 | Leave 'Em Laughing | November 15, 1964 | |
| 9 | My Robot The Warden | November 22, 1964 | |
| 10 | the Beauty Contest | November 29, 1964 | |
| 11 | Just Lucky, I Guess | December 6, 1964 | |
| 12 | The Language Barrier | December 13, 1964 | |
| 13 | Little White Lie | December 16, 1964 | |
| 14 | I'll Leave It to You | December 23, 1964 | |
| 15 | The Perfect Woman | December 30, 1964 | |
| 16 | Sky Divers | January 6, 1965 | |
| 17 | Pool Shark | January 13, 1965 | |
| 18 | Color Me Trouble | January 20, 1965 | |
| 19 | The Kleptomaniac | January 27, 1965 | |
| 20 | The Astronaut | February 3, 1965 | |
| 21 | The Witness | February 10, 1965 | Cummings' final appearance |
| 22 | Boy Gets Robot | February 17, 1965 | |
| 23 | Dancing Doll | February 24, 1965 | |
| 24 | The Mannequin | March 3, 1965 | |
| 25 | Murder, He Says | March 10, 1965 | |
| 26 | Brother Harry | March 17, 1965 |
[edit] Current status
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009) |
According to researchers[who?], CBS had the 35 mm masters stored in the stock footage department of their Radford lot as recently as the late 1980s. However, more recent film researchers[who?] have been unable to locate these masters, and they are now presumed to have been taken to a facility in Sun Valley, California with the other Radford holdings in 1990[citation needed]. For many years the show was thought to be forgotten property, this however changed in 2005. Chertok Television's Licensing Manager Peter Greenwood has been conducting a world wide search for all existing film elements[citation needed]. The search is similar in its scope to the BBC search for the early Dr. Who segments[citation needed].
[edit] References
- Does not compute (Jesse Sheidlower, American Dialect Society mailing list, 15 September 2001) — cites The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang
