For those too young or whose memories are too cluttered with so called "useful information", "Small Wonder" had the premise of an "ordinary family" in which the father had created an android child to take on the role of daughter to the father and mother and little sister to the already extant son. I cannot recall the reasons why he did so.
If this strikes you as the premise of a sitcom, you would not be wrong. If this strikes you as the kind of low-budget, low effort, "family friendly", sitcom of only the safest jokes that one would find on the Disney Channel, then I must correct you. This aired before there was a Disney Channel.
That is exactly the kind of well-telegraphed joke that you would find on "Small Wonder".
It's easy to believe that the time for the Whacky Situation sitcom has come and gone. "My Favorite Martian", "The Munsters", and "Gilligan's Island" were all fun in their time. We've moved on. Now, we need more involved storylines, more complex characters, and more relatable emotions. I had similar thoughts when "Third Rock from the Sun" started.
Any premise can work. That's why I make all these cases. So can "Small Wonder". Even with the moving parts being the same. Mother, father, son, android daughter, aggressive neighbor girl with an unrequited crush on the son, neighbor father who is goofy and does not know how to properly discipline his daughter, all workable. It just needs more thought, more consideration, and more effort.
The first thing that would be needed is a reason for the existence and secrecy of the android that is both good and clear. I propose a pre-existing AI created by the same corporate or governmental entity that employs the father. The AI would be a true AI, experiencing human emotions such as happiness, fear, suffering, anger, empathy, etc. The AI would also be at risk.
This would give the father a reason to take and hide the AI in a guise that would be partially chosen by the AI and partially chosen for its capacity to hide the AI.
It would also allow for the existence of other AIs in other situations, depending on the setup.
The second necessity would be a clear instruction that the android will have no super-human or android super powers. That is, no super strength, no neck that extends, no total recall memory, and possessing of the need to sleep. This would cut off a number of the... I'll be nice and call them less-than-inspired gags.
Now, what we have is a storyline with something on the line, the potential freedom and survival of the AI, and the potential for exploring the human condition both by exploring it as an outsider and drawing distinctions without judgment.
That option to draw distinctions without judgment will be an important element of drama and comedy. I would advise keeping the android AI asexual and aromantic. The AI will feel neither desire nor need to form romantic attachments or engage in sex, but will still have the capacity to feel empathy and form deep friendships and familial bonds.
This would be a keystone conflict between societal expectations upon the android, the need to be oneself, and the need to hide the android self in order to avoid potential execution. Note: If this show would seek to establish asexual representation in television, a human character that is asexual will be required... and advised.
Still, I think this can work, and certainly work a lot better than its original attempt. What do you think?
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