My Living Doll


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, due to the success of Chertok's previous series, My Favorite Martian.

Series background

The series starred Bob Cummings as Dr. Bob McDonald, a psychiatrist who is given care of Rhoda Miller, a lifelike android 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 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 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 does not explore whether these are truly learned behaviors or the result of programming, or if 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 , and the android leads in Holmes & Yo-Yo, Mann & Machine, and Future Cop.
Other regular cast members included:
The show was created by Jack Chertok based on the Pygmalion–Galatea myth. CBS had been looking for a vehicle for Julie Newmar for two years and this was felt to be ideal. The show was announced in April 1964.
Filming started July 1964.
Julie Newmar later said CBS:
Were looking for a series for Bob Cummings, but Doll wasn't the proper vehicle, as it turned out. It needed a different type of actor. They originally wanted Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. It was not a flip part — it needed a straight actor who could play opposite this bizarre creature so the comedy would come off. That quality was lost when they hired Bob. The show could have been wonderful. I think it would have run for many seasons had they hired Efrem because he had the right qualities.

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.

Cummings' departure

Despite good reviews, early ratings were poor. 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.
At the time, reportedly Cummings and Newmar were not getting along during production, 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". However, this is denied by Newmar and show producer Howard Leeds 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.
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.
Writers reassigned Cummings' character to Pakistan, and in episode 22, Peter learns Rhoda's secret and takes over the position of watching over her. Only five more episodes of the series were made.

Reception

Although My Living Doll was somewhat popular during its short run, it did not rank in the top 30, as it was scheduled against highly rated shows such as Bonanza, The Virginian, and The Patty Duke Show. As a result, it did not deliver the ratings for which network executives had hoped and was cancelled. The cancellation freed Newmar to appear as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman TV series.

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 was filmed. 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.

Episodes

Episode is missing.

Home media

On March 20, 2012, MPI Home Video released My Living Doll—The Official Collection, Volume 1 on DVD in Region 1. The 2-disc set features 11 episodes of the series. The episodes featured on the DVD collection were created from 16mm prints of the show held by collectors, as one known set of original 35mm negatives were destroyed in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The rest of the series can be released on DVD if and when possible missing segments that may be with film collectors can be scanned and remastered for preservation.

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.
My Living Doll producer Howard Leeds would go on to create Small Wonder, a 1980s sitcom that featured a young girl robot named Vicki. He also employed composer George Greeley, who had composed the music for My Living Doll.
Leeds, when in the employ of Reg Grundy Productions Australia producing Chopper Squad, proposed and produced a new My Living Doll presentation pilot titled "Billion Dollar Baby" using an all-Australian cast.
In , the character Seven of Nine is named after Rhoda—Robot AF709.
According to IMDB, the Gilligan's Island episode title "Gilligan's Living Doll" is a reference to this series because the creator who was previously the story editor for My Favorite Martian was offered a stake in Doll to remain with Martian, he turned this down to begin work on Gilligan. .
Chertok producer Peter Greenwood has begun active development of a new "My Living Doll" limited series based on posts found on his LinkedIn account which also featured a bound set of the original series scripts as part of that same post.
He has stated that this show would be more in tune with present-day morals and would change a great deal of the format to highlight the character, based on the current need for positive, intelligent and meaningful female role models.