Alas, dear readers, I’m honestly not been able to locate that much information on The Electric Grandmother, a Science Fiction and Fantasy telefilm that first aired on this day (in the United States) back in 1982. Wikipedia.org indicates that it originally aired on NBC as part of something dubbed the ‘Peacock Project’ (never heard of that before), and then IMDB.com indicates that being the only release/broadcast of record. Scanning the web, I do see some artwork claiming to be DVD and/or VHS artwork for subsequent home video releases; and yet I’m not seeing anything that looks entirely “official,” if you catch my drift.
In any event, IMDB.com does indicate that this particular Grandmother is based on The Twilight Zone episode “I Sing The Body Electric” from 1962 that was penned by the legendary Ray Bradbury. It looks like this modern retelling was crafted by Bradbury himself along with Jeffrey Kindley. (A glance at Kindley’s IMDB.com profile shows a fair amount of children’s programming to his record, so that definitely seems legit.) It was directed by Noel Black, a veteran of many television productions.
As for the starring line-up?
E.T.’s Robert MacNaughton looks to be the central kiddie along with supporting players Tara Kennedy and Charles Fields. Edward Herrmann starred as the trio’s dear ol’ dad, and the late Maureen Stapleton filled in the central role as the electric elder herself.
Here’s the movie’s premise as provided by the good people at IMDB.com:
“Three children and their father get a very special robot grandmother to assist them.”
Though there’s not a great amount of information regarding the project on the Information Superhighway, I do see that the project garnered a bit of love on the awards circuit. In 1982, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the category of ‘Outstanding Children’s Program,’ though it lost out to 1981’s “The Wave,” a decidedly darker program dealing with the threat of socialism in schools. Still, scribe Bradbury and Highgate Pictures were awarded the 1982 Peabody Award (along with several other entries) by that august organization. Lastly, at the 1983 Young Artists Award, emerging starlet Tara Kennedy was nominated in the category of ‘Best Young Actress In A Movie Made For Television’ for her work in the project.
In any event, IMDB.com does indicate that this particular Grandmother is based on The Twilight Zone episode “I Sing The Body Electric” from 1962 that was penned by the legendary Ray Bradbury. It looks like this modern retelling was crafted by Bradbury himself along with Jeffrey Kindley. (A glance at Kindley’s IMDB.com profile shows a fair amount of children’s programming to his record, so that definitely seems legit.) It was directed by Noel Black, a veteran of many television productions.
As for the starring line-up?
E.T.’s Robert MacNaughton looks to be the central kiddie along with supporting players Tara Kennedy and Charles Fields. Edward Herrmann starred as the trio’s dear ol’ dad, and the late Maureen Stapleton filled in the central role as the electric elder herself.
Here’s the movie’s premise as provided by the good people at IMDB.com:
“Three children and their father get a very special robot grandmother to assist them.”
Though there’s not a great amount of information regarding the project on the Information Superhighway, I do see that the project garnered a bit of love on the awards circuit. In 1982, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy in the category of ‘Outstanding Children’s Program,’ though it lost out to 1981’s “The Wave,” a decidedly darker program dealing with the threat of socialism in schools. Still, scribe Bradbury and Highgate Pictures were awarded the 1982 Peabody Award (along with several other entries) by that august organization. Lastly, at the 1983 Young Artists Award, emerging starlet Tara Kennedy was nominated in the category of ‘Best Young Actress In A Movie Made For Television’ for her work in the project.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
-- EZ
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