My Living Doll

I was only seven years old when I saw this show and I STILL remember it!

Ahhhhhh, Julie Newmar :] (dreamy gaze) I was amazed by her beauty and that siren voice. She was a stunner. This was a funny show that I recall. Too bad it didn't catch on. I know that I looked forward to watching it with my Dad who liked her too. I think I know why it got sacked. The wives of America MADE their husbands change the channel!!

Why isn't this show on TV LAND??

As mentioned in the info provided at IBDm that the theme of this show was that Julie Newmar portrayed a mechanical 'Doll' of a beautiful woman. Newmar's character kept getting Cummings into much the same kind of trouble 'Jeanie' (Barbara Eden) got 'Tony'(Larry Hagman) into in their series on NBC later. Not the 'magical' or 'genie' stuff, but 'mechanical woman problems'! Was a great series and the only thing I can figure for why it didn't make it was that the world wasn't ready for that 'concept' just yet. When presented by NBC with the 'Jeanie' and 'astronaut' tie-in, it worked...some 3 years later! Nonetheless, Newmar went on to be Catwoman on Batman (and a great one) and Cummings went home to fly his plane, enjoy retirement until he passed on.

I was very young when the series appeared on Television, however even as a boy I remember thinking about how beautiful Julie Newmar was at the time. I have a great memory about my child hood days. I hope that someone, somewhere still has all the episodes from the show. If they do, I would like to see it re-mastered into a complete DVD collection. I for one would happily buy the complete set, and I am sure that their are others, who like me would do likewise. The show was funny, and the risqué aspects totally eluded my understanding as a child, but somehow means a lot more to me as an adult, when I recall what the show was about. The show had a certain sixties innocence, and charm that I tend to appreciate about Classic Television. Something long gone now unfortunately, in the world of Television programs of today. Well there you have it, my comments relating to one of my all time favorite Television shows.

Sincerely I remain, Howard Daniel Rollins III

I remember this series from it's original run during the 1964-65 season. It fit right in there with other similar fantasy comedies which were successful and not so successful during the mid sixties. Seen today, the show is most comparable to I Dream Of Jeannie, which came along the year after this did. Swinging bachelor lives secretly with a gorgeous female who is compliant to practically every wish. The show comes off as humorous, with good scripts and performances, but it just dosn't quite hit the button the way Jeannie did. This is probably because of the extraordinary chemistry between Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, which is not quite matched between Bob Cummings and Julie Newmar here. This show lasted but one season, and was marred by the departure of Cummings toward the end of the season, effectively scotching any chance the show may have made it to a second season. The DVD producers have salvaged 11 of the original 26 shows, and hope to secure more for a future release. While this series remains a "cute" show, it is really no more remarkable than The Baileys Of Balboa or The Cara Williams Show from around the same time.

There was one other person besides Bob (and later Peter) who was privy to Rhoda's true identity. That would be Dr. Carl Miller, played by Henry Beckman, perhaps best known as the salty Captain Clancey on Here Come The Brides. Miller was the actual catalyst, having created the robot, but was only seen in two other episodes besides the pilot. Bob told everyone that Rhoda was Carl's niece, which accounts for the last name. I personally wish Beckman had put in more appearances because he seemed like an interesting character. I mean, anyone who can create such a gorgeous robot...In the pilot, he's called away to Pakistan, leaving the robot in Bob's care and creating all kinds of pandemonium for the psychiatrist. A side note--the parallel with I Dream Of Jeannie is very interesting. IMHO, Bill Daily as Roger was a rather cheap carbon copy of Jack Mullaney's interesting portrayal as Peter Robinson.

-Roy