My Living Doll
My Living Doll | |
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sitcom | |
Created by |
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Starring |
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Theme music composer | CBS Television Network |
Original release | |
Network | CBS |
Release | September 27, 1964 March 17, 1965 | –
My Living Doll is an American
Series background
The series starred
Rhoda also begins showing (or at least emulating) rudimentary emotions as the series progresses. For example, in the episode "The Kleptomaniac", 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 does not explore whether these are truly learned behaviors or the result of programming, or if, in the fantasy context of the series, Rhoda is truly learning human emotion.
Other regular cast members included:
- Doris Dowling as Irene Adams, Bob's sister, whom he asks to move in as his housekeeper and chaperone to keep his neighbors from thinking that something inappropriate is going on between Rhoda and him. She was dropped from the cast when Bob was transferred to Pakistan.
- Jack Mullaney as Peter Robinson, a lecherous colleague and neighbor of Bob's who decides that Rhoda is the girl of his dreams. A regular supporting character in episodes 1-20, he learns the truth in the fifth-to-last episode, after Bob is transferred to Pakistan. As of episode 21, he becomes Rhoda's guardian (and series co-lead).
- Nora Marlowe as Mrs. Moffat, Peter's housekeeper. She was added to the cast when Peter became Rhoda's guardian.
Production
The show was created by Jack Chertok based on the
The series was developed with Julie Newmar in mind for the female lead. CBS had been looking for a vehicle for Newmar for two years, and found this to be the best project for her.
The New York Times, reviewing the show in September, said it:
...very probably has the makings of a popular novelty hit... with Miss Newmar giving a light and amusing performance as the automated dish, the premise could work out... Bob Cummings, an old hand at chaperoning pretty girls, again is cast in his familiar assignment.[8]
Cummings' departure
Despite good reviews, early ratings were poor.[9] The show was initially scheduled opposite NBC's Bonanza on Sunday nights, but was shifted to Wednesdays in December in an attempt to improve ratings. This did not work, and in January, Cummings asked to be written out of the show after 21 episodes. CBS did not announce a replacement for him, indicating that they did not want to continue the series.[10][11]
At the time, reportedly Cummings and Newmar were not getting along during production,[12] with Newmar stating in a 1965 interview that Cummings had tried to teach her how to act, was unhappy that she appeared to be getting more press attention than he was, and was "trying too desperately to hold on to his long-gone youth".[13] However, this is denied by Newmar and show producer Howard Leeds[14] in The Living Doll Story, a featurette included in the 2012 DVD release.
Another report said that Cummings was unhappy with the size of his role in comparison to Newmar's.[15][16]
In later years, Newmar said the trouble was Cummings' addiction to methamphetamine. She says this contributed to his erratic behavior on set, as well as his increasing depression and insecurity. He demanded that the show focus more on his character. CBS refused and Cummings left.[17][18]
Cumming's last appearance was in "The Witness", the show's 21st episode, which aired on 10 February 1965. The following week's episode explained that his character had been transferred to Pakistan; the Peter character learns Rhoda's secret and takes over the position of watching over her.[19] This was the plot device for the last five episodes of the season, and the series was not renewed for a second season.
Opening credits
Two versions of the opening credits were created. The first version had Rhoda wearing short lingerie similar to a teddy; according to an interview with Newmar included on the DVD release, this version was rejected as being too risque, so a new version with Rhoda wearing a long dress (though a little suggestive of lingerie) was filmed.[20] This latter version is the one used on the versions of the episodes that were broadcast and released to DVD; however, the unofficial circulation of several episodes used the teddy version of the credits.[citation needed]
Episodes
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Boy Meets Girl?" | Lawrence Dobkin | Bill Kelsay & Al Martin | September 27, 1964 | 6255-01 |
When Space Agency psychiatrist Bob McDonald finds a top secret prototype female robot, her creator, Dr. Miller, asks Bob to take over her care and training when Miller is reassigned to Pakistan. | |||||
2 | "Rhoda's First Date" | Ezra Stone | Martin Ragaway | October 4, 1964 | 6255-02 |
Bob purchases some new clothes for Rhoda. While Bob's out, she accepts neighbour Peter's request to go out for dinner. At the restaurant, her OFF button accidentally gets pushed. Believing that she had fainted, she is taken to the hospital. | |||||
3 | "Uninvited Guest" | Ezra Stone | Roland Wolpert | October 11, 1964 | 6255-03 |
Having Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" read to her by a young girl has had a peculiar effect on poor Rhoda. She's afflicted with spells of vertigo, as well as difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality. The situation is complicated by an unexpected visit from Bob's boss, who isn't supposed to know about Rhoda. | |||||
4† | "Lesson in Love" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | October 18, 1964 | TBA |
Bob's sister Irene programs Rhoda to act as if she is in love, and Rhoda takes the information to her transistorized heart, causing much confusion. | |||||
5† | "Rhoda's Debut" "Rhoda and the V.I.P." | Ezra Stone | Howard Merrill & Al Schwartz | October 25, 1964 | 6255-05 |
Bob is escorting a general's daughter to a V.I.P. reception and gives strict orders that Rhoda is not to leave the apartment, but, of course, that doesn't happen. | |||||
6 | "Something Borrowed, Something Blew" | Ezra Stone | Bill Kelsay & Al Martin | November 1, 1964 | TBA |
Bob is chairman of a psychiatric clinic's fund-raising drive, and he and Rhoda call on the donor with the greatest potential: millionaire playboy Walter J. Armbruster; the playboy takes a great liking to her and decides he wishes to marry her. | |||||
7 | "The Love Machine" | Ezra Stone | Bernard Slade | November 8, 1964 | 6255-07 |
It would take a computer to find the right girl for Peter, and Bob has just the tool, Rhoda. He furnishes Rhoda with information on 250 girls working at the space lab, trying to find a match for Peter. | |||||
8 | "The Beauty Contest" | Ezra Stone | Tom Koch | November 15, 1964 | 6255-10 |
Irene sneaks Rhoda into a beauty contest for which Bob is a judge. | |||||
9† | "Leave 'Em Laughing" "Not So Comic, Comic" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | November 22, 1964 | TBA |
Bob's friend, Herbert, would rather be a comic than a pharmacist, but he's not a very good comedian, so Bob has been asked to persuade the young man to stick to filling prescriptions. | |||||
10 | "My Robot, The Warden" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | November 29, 1964 | 6255-09 |
Bob's working extremely hard on a magazine article, and he instructs Rhoda to make certain that he finishes on time. | |||||
11† | "The Rhoda Gamble" "Just Lucky, I Guess" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | December 6, 1964 | TBA |
Trying to cure a compulsive gambler, Bob gets Rhoda to use her mathematical skill to predict the fall of the dice. | |||||
12† | "The Language Barrier" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | December 13, 1964 | TBA |
Dr. McDonald's scheduled meeting with a colleague from the Far East is not going well. Rhoda goofed and instructed the interpreter not to show up. | |||||
13† | "Little White Lie" "The Doctor Is In" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | December 16, 1964 | TBA |
When Bob gets the opportunity to have lunch with an attractive lady therapist, he asks Rhoda to cancel his luncheon with the chief of police. | |||||
14 | "I'll Leave It to You" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | December 23, 1964 | TBA |
Meek millionaire Jonas Clay intends on leaving his fortune to a charity, and not his domineering sister & her son, but Clay needs Bob to certify that he's of sound mind and fit to control his own money. | |||||
15† | "Mechanical Perfection" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | December 30, 1964 | TBA |
After comparing herself to the flawless Rhoda, depressed and discouraged Irene feels very inadequate. | |||||
16 | "Pool Shark" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | January 6, 1965 | 6255-16 |
Peter owes a small fortune to a pool shark, but he very cleverly signed Bob's name to the IOU. They send in Rhoda to play the pool shark, and, with her abilities, she beats the shark and repays the debt. | |||||
17† | "Color Me Trouble" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | January 13, 1965 | 6255-18 |
Rhoda copies a Picasso so accurately that an art dealer believes it to be the real thing right down to the signature. Bob tries in vain to convince the dealer that the painting is a forgery. | |||||
18 | "The Kleptomaniac" | Ezra Stone | Russell Beggs | January 20, 1965 | 6255-19 |
Rhoda, unaware that department stores are places where people purchase things, helps herself to gems from a jewellery counter, as a gift for Bob's sister. | |||||
19† | "Sky Divers" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | January 27, 1965 | 6255-16 |
Peter follows Bob's advice about facing up to his fears by taking a giant step: Peter tells everyone that he's an accomplished sky diver. The only problem is that Peter has lied! | |||||
20† | "The Robotic Astronaut" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | February 3, 1965 | TBA |
Bob takes Rhoda along when he goes out of town to interview a group of women applying for the astronaut program, and Rhoda applies. | |||||
21 | "The Witness" | Ezra Stone | Howard Dimsdale | February 10, 1965 | 6255-21 |
Bob gets off to an inauspicious start as chairman of a road-safety committee when his car is crashed into by his neighbor's car, and then Rhoda testifies in court about the entire incident. Note: This episode features the final appearances of Bob Cummings and Doris Dowling. | |||||
22† | "Rhoda Meets Dr. Robinson" "Boy Gets Robot" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | February 17, 1965 | 6255-24 |
Bob has been called to Pakistan to assist Dr. Miller, and Rhoda's government supervisor, Dr. Foster, agrees to put her in the care of Bob's neighbor Peter, who is alarmed to find that the girl of his dreams is really a computer wonder. | |||||
23† | "Dancing Doll" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | February 24, 1965 | 6255-25 |
Peter and Rhoda perform in a ballet, after their escorting ballerina Angela Carruthers to a TV interview goes very wrong. | |||||
24† | "The Mannequin" "A Paris Original" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | March 3, 1965 | 6255-26 |
When a fashion photographer finds Rhoda's almost perfect ability to take commands in robotic perfection, this causes Peter no end of trouble as his date, who he was meeting at the fashion house, had the original assignment. | |||||
25† | "Murder, He Says" "Rhoda's Suntan" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | March 10, 1965 | 6255-27 |
Rhoda's day at the beach over-charges her solar batteries. Peter must place her in the apartment's closet wrapped in a carpet to prevent any more exposure. As a result, the apartment's handy man thinks Peter is hiding a body and calls in the cops. | |||||
26† | "Brother Harry" "Comic Interference" | Ezra Stone | Unknown | March 17, 1965 | 6255-28 |
Mrs. Moffit's brother, a failed nightclub comedian, causes problems when he moves into Peter's apartment. He tries to teach Rhoda the finer points of stand-up comedy and the right time to laugh. |
^† Episode is lost.
Home media
On March 20, 2012,
In popular culture
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.[23]
My Living Doll producer Howard Leeds went on to create Small Wonder, a 1980s sitcom featuring a young girl robot named Vicki. He also employed composer George Greeley, who wrote the music for My Living Doll.[citation needed]
Leeds, when in the employ of
In 2018, Jack Chertok Television Productions producer Peter Greenwood apparently had posts on his
It has been speculated that the Star Trek: Voyager character Seven of Nine's name is a homage to Rhoda's original designation as AF 709.[25]
References
- ^ Upperco, Jackson (December 30, 2020). "Well, That *Almost* Computes: A Look at MY LIVING DOLL". jacksonupperco.com.
- ProQuest 115585935.
- ProQuest 179681823.
- ProQuest 168645466.
- ^ "Television Comes to Space Park". TRW Space Technology Laboratories Sentinel (monthly newspaper for employees). Vol. VI, no. 10. August 3, 1964.
Desilu TV Studies [sic] visited STL recently to shoot a film segment starring Julie Newmar and Robert Cummings. ... Name of the series is "The Living Doll." It will begin 27 September immediately following "the Ed Sullivan Show," over CBS-TV.
- ^ Smith, C. (Sep 6, 1964). "Julie the robot: Wind her up--please". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Counts, Kyle (November 1989). "The Many Lives of Cat Woman". Starlog. No. 148. p. 26.
- ProQuest 115891337.
- ProQuest 179772012.
- ProQuest 116738337.
- ProQuest 116730163.
- Daily Variety, January 11, 1964
- ^ Bradford-Hunter, J (June 9, 1965). "My Living Doll On The Rocks". TV Times. 7 (49): 6.
- ^ "My Living Doll in MyLivingColor". Pop Colorture. 2018-11-02.
I think [Cummings] tried to make the show more in his image," remembers producer Howard Leeds, "but it was Julie's show.
- ProQuest 179697199.
- ProQuest 179805282.
- ^ Lertzman, Richard A; Birnes, William J (2013). Dr. Feelgood : the shocking story of the doctor who may have changed history by treating and drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and other prominent figures. Skyhorse Publishing. pp. 84–86.
- ISBN 9781626363359.
- ^ "Television Obscurities – My Living Doll". tvobscurities.com. 2009-05-28. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ "My Living Doll in MyLivingColor". Pop Colorture. 2018-11-02.
Below are the complete, unheard lyrics to My Living Doll ... [and] the colorized sequence ... [and] the alternate opening sequence ...
- ^ Lambert, David. "My Living Doll – Julie Newmar in 'The Official Collection, Vol. 1' Announced: Finalized Date, Box Art, More!". 2011-12-27. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ King, Susan (2012-04-04). "The 'Perfect' '60s Woman". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
- ^ Sheidlower, Jesse (2001-09-15). "Re: Does not compute". American Dialect Society. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2005-10-23.
- ^ a b Peter Greenwood LinkedIn account, retrieved (?) 2018-08-18
- ^ Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Seven of Nine|https://whatculture.com/film/star-trek-10-things-you-didnt-know-about-seven-of-nine?page=8
External links
- My Living Doll at IMDb
- My Living Doll at epguides.com
- My Living Doll at Television Obscurities
- My Living Doll in My Living Color at Pop Colorture