My Living Doll
| My Living Doll | |
|---|---|
Bob Cummings and Julie Newmar, 1964.
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| Genre | Science fiction sitcom |
| Created by |
Bill Kelsay Al Martin Leo Guild |
| Written by | Bill Kelsay Al Martin Roland Wolpert Russell Beggs Bernard Slade |
| Directed by |
Lawrence Dobkin Ezra Stone Robert Daley |
| Starring |
Bob Cummings (Episodes 1–21) Julie Newmar Jack Mullaney Doris Dowling (Episodes 1–21) |
| Theme music composer | George Greeley |
| Composer(s) | George Greeley |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jack Chertok |
| Producer(s) | Howard Leeds |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 24–25 mins. |
| Production company(s) | Jack Chertok Television Productions CBS Television Network (filmed at the studios of Desilu) |
| Distributor |
CBS Films Viacom Paramount Television CBS Paramount Television CBS Television Distribution (current as of 2007) |
| Release | |
| Original network | CBS |
| Picture format | Black-and-white |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 27, 1964 – March 17, 1965 |
My Living Doll is an American science fiction sitcom that aired for 26 episodes on CBS from September 27, 1964, to March 17, 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 unusual 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.
The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychiatrist who is given care of Rhoda Miller, a lifelike android (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 is AF 709, and she is a prototype robot that Dr. Carl Miller (Henry Beckman) built for the U.S. Air Force. Through a series of mishaps, the robot ends up in the care of Dr. Miller's friend, Air Force psychiatrist Bob McDonald, when Miller is transferred to Pakistan. Bob is initially reluctant but soon becomes intrigued by the experiment of educating this sophisticated but naive robot. Bob's initial goal is to teach Rhoda how to be a perfect woman, which he defines as one who "does what she's told" and "doesn't talk back". He also strives to keep her identity secret from the world.
Many episodes deal with Rhoda learning how human society works. She also begins showing (or at least emulating) rudimentary emotions as the series progresses; in the episode "The Kleptomaniac", for example, she displays a childlike, playful attitude. At one point, McDonald notices this and utters, "What a goofy robot!", to which Rhoda replies, beaming, "The goofiest!" At the conclusion of this episode, Rhoda giggles without prompting after pulling a plot-resolving prank on another character. Another episode, "The Pool Shark", has Rhoda displaying apparent enjoyment in playing pool. The series doesn't explore whether these are truly learnt behaviors, or the result of programming, or if (in the fantasy context of the series) Rhoda is truly learning human emotion. The concept of a robot gaining human emotion is a frequently visited topic in science fiction television, with characters such as Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and the android leads in Holmes & Yo-Yo, Mann & Machine, and Future Cop.
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