Monster of the Day #512

Updated on July 9, 2012 By Ken Begg 20 Comments

A holdover from last week’s Repurposed Monsters theme.

Bonus: Here’s the same guy playing Professor X in that Columbo / X-Men crossover. The ’70s were a weird decade. Anyway, a more versatile actor than people gave him credit for.

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  • Flangepart

    “Ah, just one more thing, sir. Do your recconize this chip? I found it by the professors body.”

  • Ericb

    I’d imagine that many of us first encountered this fellow in the above Lost in Space episode rather than the movie he was originally featured in.

  • bgbear_rogerh

     I recall an episode of Addams Family as my early memory also I am sure I saw “The Invisible Boy” many years before seeing FP. 

  • GalaxyJane

    One or the other of them pops up in a Wonder Woman episode set at a “Logan’s Run” themed SF convention as well.  Man, the 70s really were weird.

  • Ken_Begg

     Forbidden Planet (1956)The Invisible Boy (1957)The Thin Man (1958) – season 1 episode “Robot Client”, original aired February 28, 1958The Gale Storm Show (1958) – season 3 episode “Robot from Inner Space”, first aired December 13, 1958The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959–1963)The Twilight Zone (1960s)
    Episode “Uncle Simon”Episode “The Brain Center at Whipple’s”Episode “One for the Angels” (as a tinplate battery operated toy)

    Hazel (1961–1966)- episode “Rosie’s Contract”The Addams Family in the episode “Lurch’s Little Helper” aired March 18, 1966The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966)Lost in Space (1966 and 1967) – in two episodes as two different characters (in “War of the Robots” as a robotoid[4])The Monkees (1966–1968) – one episodeThe Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968 and 1970 “The Coronation of Bakaar”) – recurring appearance as a maid named “Mildred the Robot”; does not have glass domeColumbo (1974) – episode “Mind Over Mayhem”Hollywood Boulevard (1976)Ark II (1976)Holmes and Yo-Yo (1976)Music Machine (1977)- a K-tel compilation LP, photographs featured on both the front and back of the coverProject UFO (1978)- season 1 episode “Sighting 4010: The Waterford Incident”Wonder Woman (1979) – season 3 episode “Spaced Out”, as the master of ceremonies at a science fiction conventionMork & Mindy (1979)Space Academy (1979) – episode “My Favorite Marcia”Charmin Television commercial (1981) – as an assistant to Mr. Whipple, named Squeezak, repeating the phrase “Don’t squeeze Charmin”.Night Stalker video game (1982) – featured in the print advertising for the Mattel video game for the IBM and Mac Night Stalker AdThe Love Boat – episode “Programmed for Love”[5]Gremlins (1984)Cherry 2000 (1987)Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)Stacked (2005) – as the Nightmare NASA RobotTelevision commercial for AT&T (2006) – with WOPR, KITT, and Rosie the Robot Maid

  • Beckoning Chasm

    Remember, he wasn’t a robot in the “Lost in Space” episode.  He was a robotoid.

  • SteveWD

     Wow, had he been in Boston Legal he could have given Shatner a run for his money.

  • He also did an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Even Bob Saget seemed impressed with Robby’s longevity.

    Was he on Banana Splits? I thought the robot in the Adventure Island segments was the one from Lost in Space, rather drastically redressed. Or was this another show where the two robots co-starred?

  • Ken_Begg

    Rock: See added photo above.

  • Ken_Begg

    And yet the episode was entitled “War of the Robots.”

  • Ah! Well, I never saw a whole lot of the show. I would have watched Adventure Island, but I couldn’t stand serials as a kid (I didn’t want to see a story if I couldn’t get the whole thing)!

  • JDub

    Columbo/X-Men crossover? How’d I miss that?

  • Ken_Begg

    I was joking, although I could easily see Fred Silverman changing Prof. X to a robot.

  • Gamera977

    Nice! Thought I find it a little hard seeing Robbie as a ‘monster’ since he was generally cast as a good guy- though I guess he could be a ‘good monster’. I had no idea how much stuff he’d been cast in though. Anyone know where the suit ended up in the end? Maybe Forry Ackerman’s garage???

  • bgbear_rogerh

     maybe the guy who makes replicas owns it. 

  • I think he does, or did. I know the original Robby was made largely of Bakelite, so I’d be tempted to say most of his later appearances were a fiberglass replica. That’s just a guess, though. Either way, I get a big kick out of seeing Robby still get work!

  • Ginchy1019

    I figured, but it was said so casually I thought (hoped?) it might actually exist. I have had a copy of the “Columbo investigates the Manson murders” book in my To Read stack for a couple years, so the X-Men would be tasteful in comparison.  The 70’s were, in fact, a weird decade.

  • Ken_Begg

    Is that by the same author who wrote the book where Sherlock Holmes investigates the JFK assassination?

  • Ginchy1019

    Its called Columbo –  The Helter Skelter Murders, by William Harrington.

     From the Amazon review:

    “In this novel, it is revealed that a young Columbo was one of the
    detectives who put Charles Manson behind bars. Now, he’s back
    investigating the murder of a cheating wife and her lover.”

    Charlie makes a small cameo

  • MrTongoRad

    Incredible list. No wonder Robby is seen as such an archetypical robot, he has become totally embedded in the tapestry of our culture. Of course, if his design wasn’t so awesome in the first place that might not be as true.

    Coincidentally, I was recently cleaning out my son’s room to get ready for a paint job when I came across an old puzzle game of his that I used to love playing. It’s called Lunar Lockout, and features little plastic robots that move about on a grid. Two of those little guys are shamelessly based on B9 and Robby, and it’s easy to tell even though they’re only an inch tall. It’s a worthwhile brainteaser, btw, with or without the robots; too bad it didn’t catch on (The game features puzzle cards with the solution on the back, and it only comes with 40 cards. It would be great to have more cards, alas).