Robot series

Novels and stories

The series began with the story "Robbie" in the September 1940 issue of Super Science Stories, published under the title "Strange Playfellow", which was not Asimov's chosen title. Although originally a stand-alone story, Asimov published additional robot stories the following year that formed a narrative later collected as the book I, Robot. Collections of short stories and essays include The Complete Robot (1982), which contains all short stories from I, Robot (1950) and The Rest of the Robots (1964), as well as Robot Dreams (1986), Robot Visions (1990), and Gold (1995).

The short story "The Bicentennial Man" (1976) and the novel The Positronic Man (1992) are related works. The short story "Mother Earth" (1949) features positronic robots only in the background. The short story "Mirror Image" (1972) also involves R. Daneel Olivaw and detective Elijah Baley. Most of Asimov's robot short stories, begun in 1939, are set in the first age of positronic robotics and space exploration.

The stories were not initially conceived as a set but share a theme of human-robot interaction and morality. Some stories, such as "Victory Unintentional", include positronic robots obeying the Three Laws but also a non-human civilization on Jupiter. "Let's Get Together" features humanoid robots in a different future with no mention of the Three Laws. The fictional corporation U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men is often identified as the manufacturer.

The Complete Robot includes most of Asimov's robot short stories; six are omitted, either because they were written after its publication or because they formed the connecting text in I, Robot.

Inspiration

One source of inspiration for Asimov's robots was the Zoromes, a race of mechanical men from the 1931 short story "The Jameson Satellite" by Neil R. Jones. Asimov read this story at age 11 and acknowledged it as an influence in his anthology Before the Golden Age (1975). Asimov stated that the Zoromes, beginning with their first appearance in "The Jameson Satellite," gave him his feeling for benevolent robots that could serve man with decency, and that they were the spiritual ancestors of his own positronic robots, from Robbie to R. Daneel.

Other authors of robot novels set in Asimov's universe

The 1989 anthology Foundation's Friends included positronic robot stories by Mike Resnick, Hal Clement, Sheila Finch, Poul Anderson, Harry Harrison, Robert Sheckley, and Pamela Sargent, though not all are entirely consistent with Asimov's stories. Shortly before his death in 1992, Asimov approved an outline for three novels by Roger MacBride Allen—Caliban, Inferno, and Utopia—set between Robots and Empire and the Empire series, about the terraforming of the Spacer world Inferno and a robot revolution involving "No Law Robots" and "New Law Robots."

Additional series by various authors include Isaac Asimov's Robot City, Robots and Aliens, and Robots in Time. The Asimov estate authorized a trilogy of robot mysteries by Mark W. Tiedemann—Mirage (2000), Chimera (2001), and Aurora (2002)—set several years before Asimov's Robots and Empire, followed by Alexander C. Irvine's Have Robot, Will Travel (2004), set five years after that trilogy. In November 2009, the Asimov estate announced a trilogy featuring Susan Calvin by Mickey Zucker Reichert; the first volume, I, Robot: To Protect, was published in November 2011, with sequels I, Robot: To Obey (2013) and I, Robot: To Preserve (2016).

Adaptations

The first screen adaptation of an Asimov robot story was the third episode of the British television series Out of This World, based on "Little Lost Robot," first broadcast in 1962 and dramatized by Leo Lehman, starring Maxine Audley as Susan Calvin; it is the only episode of the series known to have survived. A 1964 dramatization of The Caves of Steel aired on the BBC series Story Parade, followed by four episodes of the BBC series Out of the Unknown, based on "Satisfaction Guaranteed" (1966), "Reason" (titled "The Prophet", 1967), "Liar!" (1969), and The Naked Sun (1969).

In these, Elijah Baley was portrayed by Peter Cushing and Paul Maxwell, R. Daneel Olivaw by John Carson and David Collings, and Susan Calvin by Beatrix Lehmann and Wendy Gifford; in "Satisfaction Guaranteed," Susan Calvin was renamed Dr. Inge Jensen and played by Ann Firbank. The short film El robot embustero (1966) was based on "Liar!" The film Robots (1988) was directed by Doug Smith and Kim Takal. The adventure game Robot City (1995) was released for Windows and Mac OS.

The film Bicentennial Man (1999) was directed by Chris Columbus, based on the novelette "The Bicentennial Man" and the novel The Positronic Man. The film I, Robot (2004) was directed by Alex Proyas, based on ideas from the Robot series short stories. The Apple TV adaptation of the Foundation books includes references to the shared universe with the Robots series, with the robot character Eto Demerzel adapted from R. Daneel; show runner David S. Goyer stated that references to the "Robot Wars" are planned for future seasons.

In the late 1970s, Harlan Ellison wrote a screenplay based on I, Robot for Warner Bros., which was abandoned but later published as I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay (1994).