Sure, life is great now, what with all our technological advances and hi-def televisions. You know what would certainly make things a truckload better, though? Having your own robot sidekick to help you on a day-to-day basis and add a little more excitement to your life. We’re not talking about the break-dancing, high-kicking bots that have been making their way into the public eye lately (and falling to the floor when they do). We mean the heroic and helpful ‘bots from yesteryear that some of television’s greatest sci-fi heroes had to back them up when things got tough. Or there was the regular alternative of them being a cowardly bucket of bolts and only there for comedic effect, as opposed to, well, you know, being a symbol for a brighter future.
With that, we’ve welded together a carefully made list of our favorite television robot sidekicks that have become icons in their own right. They might have been a supporting presence on whatever show they were a part of, but without them, that show might not have become the hit that it would eventually become. Is a battle between good and evil really worth having without a plucky little mechanical buddy to chime in at the right moment? Of course not, which is why we’ve ranked these five brilliant hard-wired heroes by just how great they are at being the best robot sidekicks on television, starting with the oldest and smallest of them all.
5. Twiki (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
Fans of science fiction were spoiled for choice after the genre exploded in the ’60s and ’70s. Thanks to “Star Trek” debuting in 1966 and “Star Wars” arriving eleven years later, the hunt was on for new movies and shows to cash in on alien encounters and battles with laser beams. They got some of it with “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century,” which unapologetically pulled from not only “Star Trek” but also “Star Wars,” with the titular hero having a robot friend as big as R2-D2 and as sassy as C-3PO.
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Twiki was played by Felix Silla and voiced by both Mel Blanc in season 1 and for part of season 2, with Bob Elyea filling in for two episodes. Originally designed to work in space mines, Twiki instead became Buck Rogers’ best bud, eventually gaining the kind of out-of-time sense of humor that the show’s hero had. Having a bit more of an attitude than the gold-plated bot of “Star Wars,” Twiki was a tough little fella that was never afraid to get in on the action, even if he made very little impact. While Buck was fighting the good fight, Twiki could often be heard threatening to “tweak” people, which basically involved pinching people with his clamp-like hands. Also, he hardly got a word in without saying “bidi-bidi-bidi-bidi,” which was never annoying. Not once.
4. Alpha 5 (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
When you’re a teenager with an attitude and fighting giant monsters regularly, it helps to have eyes on the ground. That even includes if those eyes are actually like the KITT’s LED strip from “Knight Rider,” and belong to a robot that is constantly expecting the worst. In “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” the color-coded heroes of Earth often jumped into action from the base managed by the floating head, Zordon (David J. Fielding), and his jittery ally, Alpha 5 (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz). Wielding a cylindrical head and a lightning bolt down his chest, Alpha was regularly on hand to help the Blue Ranger, Billy Cranston (David Yost), with whatever new dangers Rita Repulsa (Machiko Soga) was throwing at them.
Taking a leaf out of Twiki’s instruction manual, Alpha 5 adopted a catchphrase that made him infamous, regardless of how annoying it might have been. Often yelling “ai yi yi yi yi yi yi!” whenever danger was on the rise, or things looked bleak for our heroes, Alpha 5, more often than not, provided comic relief for the show (if you could call it that). As the “Power Rangers” franchise progressed, other Alpha models made an appearance, but just as the OG Power Rangers were always the favorites, the same could be said for their metal-shoe-shuffling pal, who was essentially Zordon’s high-powered personal assistant.
3. Bender (Futurama)
When Fry (Billy West) was welcomed into the world of tomorrow in “Futurama,” he got the bonus of having a robot pal to help him get the lay of the land. John DiMaggio took on the role of Bender in the show’s first episode back in 1999, becoming the poster bot for the show in the process. As a valued member of the Planet Express crew (to the audience, at least), Bender was a cigar-smoking, sticky-fingered robot who would be willing to step over his best friend’s body if it meant getting a big score. It’s what made him easily one of the highlights of the show, and a character we learned to love, particularly when he tapped into his emotional side.
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Bender might have regularly displayed a couldn’t-care-less attitude, but there were rare occasions when this bending unit showed his humanity. He’s looked after orphans, taken care of struggling robots and even jumped into lava to rescue his friend’s fossilized dog in what remains “Futurama’s” greatest episode, “Jurassic Bark.” Ultimately, if you want a robot sidekick with a decent amount of attitude and a sliver of heart, Bender would be a great choice. Also, if you disagree, well, you can bite his shiny metal a**.
2. Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
When “Star Trek” returned to our television screens, there was a push to have more non-human characters on the Enterprise crew as opposed to Leonard Nimoy’s standalone solo Vulcan, Mr. Spock. One way to address this was Brent Spiner’s consistently curious android, Data. The only android to ever be sworn into Starfleet, Lieutenant Commander Data was the Operations Manager for the Enterprise-E and a key member of Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) crew. Possessing highly advanced intelligence and superior strength compared to most of the crew on board, Data’s artificial intelligence left him hungry for a deeper understanding of humanity and, in turn, to attempt to become human himself.
While Spiner might’ve taken issue over the years with only being called out as Data, there’s no question that he became as iconic a character as Spock and was just as loved for it as well. Dedicated to his crew and an immense cat lover, he was an immense cat lover, and watching him battle with his own existence was a key part of the show. Appearing in the entire series of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” as well as the four films that spawned from it, Data was often a key part of some of the biggest stories in the franchise. Looking back, he also became a character we simply couldn’t be without.
1. Bumblebee (Transformers)
For many fans, the MVP of Transformers has been and always will be Optimus Prime. That’s a freedom that is the right of all sentient beings. But while the battle between the leader of the Autobots and Megatron raged on, one little bot who stood by Optimus’ side was the horn-headed Volkswagen Beetle, Bumblebee. Making his debut in the “More Than Meets The Eye” miniseries, along with the rest of the robots in disguise, Bee was one of the smallest of the alien robots, yet he still had enough fight in him to go up against the Decepticons. He was also one of the Autobots who formed the strongest bond with Spike Witwicky.
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The live-action movie version might’ve limited Bumblebee to a voice box full of famous sound bites, but the television iteration was far chattier and made him just as memorable a character as the rest of the shape-shifting heroes and villains. It’s why he remained a popular character in all of the iterations of the franchise and holds almost as much prominence as Optimus himself. He might still be the second Cybertronian fiddle to the big rig hero, but Bumblebee, as a television robot sidekick, had something none of the rest could deliver — this robot can turn into a freaking car and back again, and there really is nothing cooler.
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