Holmes & Yoyo

An attempt from the producers of GET SMART to repackage a gimmick from that TV show, namely a robotic crime fighter (Yo-Yo) who literally does what he is told by his partner (Holmes...get it?). Sample joke: Holmes/Smart: "Hop to it." Yo-Yo/Hymie: (starts hopping). In GET SMART it made for a nice diversion but in Holmes and Yo-Yo it was the entire show and way too much of a good thing. GET SMART's Richard Gautier was a perfect mime as Hymie the Robot and had Don Adams as a straight man, whereas Richard B. Shull as Det. Holmes and John Schuck as Yo-Yo just never nailed their roles. Also the jokes were stale sitcom jokes, not the sharp satire of the producer's previous effort. John Schuck was much better the same year opposite Sharon Gless in TURNABOUT, a TV sitcom about a husband and wife who magical find themselves in each other's bodies (a concept that would be used many times again in theatrical films but never as perfectly cast as TURNABOUT). Holmes and Yo-Yo had the talent, it's just that no one tried to make a good show.

Yes, this was a rehash of Get Smart, but YoYo, the robot character had a great gag in several of the episodes - he'd blink his eyes (a camera) and a Polaroid photo would pop out of his shirt pocket. I loved it! (Okay, so I was only 13 at the time, but it was still fun!)

This is not so much of a review as it is a "thank you" to a previous reviewer (soulexpress) for submitting his review. Here's how it came about: I was watching a 2022 Lifetime Christmas movie. The opening credits were listing some of the people in the movie. One of them was John Schuck. I thought "hey...I remember him...the bunco squad guy". I googled something like "john schuck bunco squad" and found soulexpress' review of "Holmes and Yoyo" show on IMDB. I'd forgotten the name of the show. I just remember Schuck saying "the bunco squad...the bunco squad". I love it when ilttle things like that happen; when something so insignificant, from almost 50 years ago now, sparks my memory. But I'm not really sure...was it Schuck, did he say that, and then BOOM, I find it. So I was right, he DID say it. So, thank you soulexpress for your review, and mentioning the bunco squad.

I recall a major gag of the first episode was that someone was pressing a remote garage door opener and it caused Yoyo to spin head-to-toe in mid-air. Another time, he couldn't enter a building because the sensor of an automatic door caused him to turn and walk in the opposite direction.

The show received quite a bit of public attention (or at least its catchy name did) but was obviously quickly forgotten. On an episode of the TV series "Maude", a game show host (Conrad Janis) complained that he barely missed getting the lead role in "Holmes and Yoyo".

The following year, ABC attempted "Future Cop" - a dramatic series about a cop (Ernest Borgnine) with a robot partner.

I've been trying for several years to find this show on DVD. The only sites I've found only list the episodes, but give no indication of having it on DVD.

I remember watching this when it was first on TV, and thinking that it was cut short before it had a chance to get a good start.

I wonder when the networks will figure out that shows like "cop rock" or "pink lady and jeff" should never have been created and shows like this should at least be given a chance.

I will never understand why shows like "crusade", "firefly" and "surface" and, yes," holmes and yoyo" are allowed to disappear when they have potential to be decent shows.