Holmes und Yoyo

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.

Sometimes a show becomes a part of the fabric of American life - "I Love Lucy", "All In The Family", "Mary Tyler Moore". And sometimes not so much - "Pink Lady and Jeff", "The San Pedro Beach Bums", and sadly "Holmes and Yoyo". It's tragic that this program did not get a chance to endear itself to the American public as it inevitably would have if given the time to develop and grow. What if NBC had given up as early on "Hill Street Blues"? It might have known the same fate as "Cop Rock". Barring a revival, we will never know what "Holmes and Yoyo" might have been, and we're all just a bit poorer for that.

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!)

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.

... John Schuck was much better the same year opposite Sharon Gless in TURNABOUT ...

"Holmes & Yo-Yo" aired during the 1976-77 season; "Turnabout" was not the same year, it ran for seven weeks in early 1979.

I thought the chemistry between Richard B. Shull and John Schuck was something that was developing as the series progressed. The humor was a bit silly at times, but the same can be said for even the best two-man teams -- Laurel & Hardy, Gleason & Carney, etc. It was easily more entertaining than most other sitcoms of the 1976-77 season. If there had been a second season, we'd be seeing the series in syndication and on DVD.

Both sitcoms deserve to be remembered, and released on DVD so a new generations of fans can discover them!