Small Wonder (TV series)

The series follows the family of a robotics engineer who secretly constructs a robot that looks like a human girl and attempts to present her as their adopted daughter, Vicki. The show centers on V.I.C.I. (Voice Input Child Identicant, nicknamed Vicki), an android built by engineer Ted Lawson to help handicapped children. Ted brings the robot home to develop within a family setting. Vicki has superhuman strength and speed, an AC outlet under her right arm, a data port under her left arm, and an access panel in her back. The Lawson family initially tries to pass her off as an orphan they legally adopted. They work to keep her true nature hidden, but their nosy neighbors—especially Harriet Brindle, whose father works with Ted—frequently interrupt at awkward moments. Much of the humor comes from Vicki learning human behavior, her echolalia, her literal interpretation of speech, and the family's attempts to conceal her identity. To account for actress Tiffany Brissette's aging, the producers had Ted upgrade Vicki in the third season, aging her face, dressing her in casual clothes, and allowing her to eat and drink (food passed through naturally, and drink cooled her internal system). The main cast includes Dick Christie as Ted Lawson, a robotics engineer who originally created Vicki as a domestic servant with a child's appearance; Marla Pennington as Joan Anderson Lawson, Ted's wife who treats Vicki as a real person; Jerry Supiran as Jamie Lawson, the couple's 10-year-old son; Emily Schulman as Harriet Brindle, the neighbor girl with a crush on Jamie; and Tiffany Brissette as Vicki, a robot with realistic hair and skin, atomic power, and an imperfect artificial intelligence that leaves her emotionless, monotone, and literal-minded. Vicki attends school, with only family and trusted friends knowing her secret. She occasionally shows rare abilities like elongating her neck, shrinking to doll size, growing to ten feet tall, or channeling electricity to jump-start a car or serve as a defibrillator. A recurring plot involves Vicki's super-powered learning system improving things like detergent or car mileage, which Jamie sees as a chance to get rich, though her improvements are never perfect.