Holmes & Yoyo
A sitcom about a detective and his android partner.
The show centers on police detective Holmes and his android partner, Yoyo, as they stumble through crime investigations. Detective Alexander Holmes is a luckless cop who keeps injuring his partners. The department assigns him Gregory "Yoyo" Yoyonovich, a clumsy, naive, but good-natured and extremely strong partner. After Yoyo is shot on a case, Holmes learns Yoyo is actually an android—a secret crime-fighting machine developed by the police. Holmes tries to teach Yoyo human behavior while hiding his partner's true nature from criminals and other officers. Richard B. Shull plays Detective Alexander Holmes, and John Schuck plays Gregory "Yoyo" Yoyonovich. Andrea Howard and Bruce Kirby co-star, and Jay Leno appears as a gas station attendant in the pilot. Executive producer Leonard Stern, a former writer and producer on *Get Smart* (which featured a similar android character named Hymie), developed the series. John Astin directed several episodes. John Schuck also played SFPD Detective Sgt. Charles Enright in the *McMillan & Wife* TV films, which Stern created and executive produced. Yoyo possesses super-strength, speed reading, and clue analysis abilities. Pressing his nose triggers a built-in Polaroid camera that ejects a photo from his shirt pocket. Pulling his tie opens a control panel in his chest. His batteries are critical—if they run down, his memory and being are erased. In one episode, he is recharged by pressing against an electric fence with his arms extended. Comedy comes from Yoyo’s malfunctions: spinning head over heels near electric garage doors, dancing when hit by bullets, attracting magnets, picking up Swedish radio signals, spewing Polaroid photos when punched in the nose, repeating "the bunco squad" like a skipping record, and reading books by fanning pages, always saying, "Thanks for the book! It ranks number 33 on *TV Guide*'s List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time.
- Field
- Television sitcom
- Network
- ABC
- Episodes
- 13
- Executive producer
- Leonard Stern
- Known for
- Android police partner; ranked among worst TV shows
Lore & Background
The series follows Detective Alexander Holmes, a down-on-his-luck cop who chronically injures his partners. The department gives him a new partner, Gregory 'Yoyo' Yoyonovich, who is clumsy and naive, but good-natured and very strong. During one of their first cases together, Yoyo is shot, and Holmes discovers that his new partner is an android, a sophisticated crime-fighting machine designed by the police department as their secret weapon. Over the course of the series, Holmes teaches Yoyo how to be more human, while trying to keep his quirky partner's true nature a secret from both criminals and fellow cops. Yoyo possesses super-strength, speed reading, and the ability to analyze clues. He has a built-in Polaroid camera that ejects photos from his shirt pocket when his nose is pressed, and his control panel is accessed by pulling his tie. His batteries are critical: if they run down, his memory and being would be erased. In one episode, he is recharged by being pushed against an electric fence. Much of the comedy derives from his constant malfunctions, such as spinning head over heels near electric garage doors, breaking into dance when hit by bullets, attracting magnets, picking up Swedish radio signals, and repeating phrases like a skipping record.
Reader's Guide
Holmes & Yoyo is significant as an early attempt to blend the police procedural with science fiction comedy, predating later series with similar premises such as Future Cop, Mann & Machine, and Almost Human. Its executive producer, Leonard Stern, had previously worked on Get Smart, which featured an android character named Hymie who served as a prototype for Yoyo. It was later ranked number 33 on TV Guide's List of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time. The series is also notable for featuring a young Jay Leno in the pilot episode as a gas station attendant.
The Premise & Character Dynamic
The central conceit of Holmes & Yoyo rests on an unlikely partnership between a perpetually unlucky police detective and a secret weapon no one else knows about. Detective Alexander Holmes, portrayed by Richard B. Shull, is a down-on-his-luck officer whose track record of injuring partners has led the department to hand him an unconventional replacement: Gregory "Yoyo" Yoyonovich, played by John Schuck. Yoyo presents as a clumsy, naive, and remarkably strong man, but during one of their earliest joint investigations, a bullet reveals the truth—Yoyo is actually a sophisticated android engineered by the police department as a covert crime-fighting machine. From that moment, Holmes shoulders a dual burden: teaching his mechanical partner the subtleties of human behavior while shielding Yoyo's true nature from both suspects and his own fellow officers. The supporting cast included Andrea Howard and Bruce Kirby, and the pilot even featured a young Jay Leno in a small role as a gas station attendant.
Yoyo's Mechanical Quirks & Running Gags
Much of the series' humor was built around Yoyo's frequent mechanical malfunctions and his unique built-in features. Beyond super-strength, speed reading, and the capacity to analyze crime-scene clues, Yoyo carried a Polaroid camera inside his body; pressing his nose would snap a photo that ejected from his shirt pocket. His control panel was concealed in his chest, accessible by pulling his tie. Battery life was a persistent narrative threat—should his power drain completely, his memory and essentially his identity would be wiped. In one tense episode, he was recharged by being pressed against an electric fence with his arms outstretched. The comedy, however, came from his glitches: bullets would set him into an involuntary dance, magnets would yank him across the room, he would spin uncontrollably near an electric garage door, and his radio receiver would pick up broadcasts from Sweden. A beloved recurring bit had him answering any question with "The bunco squad," repeating the phrase like a skipping record. Another staple involved him fanning through an entire book's pages and declaring, "Thanks for the book! I really enjoyed reading it."
Creative Lineage & Production
The show's development was deeply rooted in the world of Leonard Stern, who served as executive producer and had previously been a staff writer and executive producer on the classic spy series Get Smart. That show featured an android character named Hymie, which functioned as a clear prototype for Yoyo's concept. Stern's creative footprint extended further: he was also the creator and executive producer behind the McMillan & Wife made-for-television films starring Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James, in which John Schuck—cast as Yoyo here—had appeared as SFPD Detective Sergeant Charles Enright. Several episodes of Holmes & Yoyo were directed by John Astin, adding a layer of familiar television talent to the production. The overlap of Stern's prior work with both Get Smart's android comedy and the McMillan & Wife franchise suggests that Holmes & Yoyo sat at a natural intersection of those two successful formulas, blending the android-partner comedy with the buddy-cop procedural structure.
Reception, Cancellation & Lasting Echoes
Despite its inventive premise, Holmes & Yoyo struggled to find an audience. Its reputation has not improved with time; TV Guide placed it at number 33 on its list of the 50 Worst TV Shows of All Time. Nevertheless, the core idea of a human officer paired with a machine partner proved remarkably durable in television. The very next year, ABC picked up Future Cop, starring Ernest Borgnine and Michael J. Shannon on a similar premise. For English-speaking fans, the series remains largely a curiosity accessible primarily through its brief ABC run.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Holmes & Yoyo?
Holmes & Yoyo is a 13-episode ABC sitcom in which a hapless police detective is paired with a new partner who is secretly a robot built for law enforcement. The comedy hinges on Holmes teaching his android colleague basic human mannerisms while keeping the truth hidden from suspects and fellow officers.
What is Yoyo's secret?
Gregory "Yoyo" Yoyonovich is not a flesh-and-blood cop but a police-engineered android designed to assist in crime-fighting. Holmes only learns the truth after Yoyo takes a bullet on a case and walks it off, exposing the robot's true nature.
Who is Detective Alexander Holmes?
Holmes is a perpetually unlucky officer whose track record of injuring his partners earns him yet another assignment in Yoyo. He is forced to both coach his clumsy, super-strong robot partner in everyday social behavior and shield the android's identity from the criminal underworld.
How many episodes of Holmes & Yoyo were produced?
The series consisted of a single 13-episode season that aired on ABC, with Leonard Stern credited as executive producer. It never picked up a second season.
Why is Holmes & Yoyo remembered by fans?
The show is best known for introducing one of television's earliest robot sidekicks in a police-comedy setting. It has since earned a reputation as one of the worst series ever broadcast, which keeps it in the conversation among sitcom trivia buffs.
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