# Help me name this 80s show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749 "2005-02-01T07:44:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![2\_click\_twiddle\_flare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/82dd89/32.png) [@2\_click\_twiddle\_flare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_click_twiddle_flare)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/1 "2005-02-01T07:44:27Z")
Hi all, I have been trying to remember a certain show that was on TV in the late 80s, but no one i know rembmbers it. Basically there was a dwarf, who was an incredibly talented inventor, who made all of these really cool contraptions, like a minature robot with incredible strength that could lift cars etc. I dont remember what the story lines were, but it was your typical “some bad guys are doing something and, and the dwarf inventor can foil them with his inventions” type scenario. Anyone remember? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/2 "2005-02-01T08:06:21Z")
Sounds like [The Wizard](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090547/) . ---
**Author:** ![2\_click\_twiddle\_flare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/82dd89/32.png) [@2\_click\_twiddle\_flare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_click_twiddle_flare)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/3 "2005-02-01T08:28:24Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Sounds like [The Wizard](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090547/) . Thats it! Cheers 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/4 "2005-02-01T14:54:12Z")
Sounds like _Rio_ by Duran Duran. I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/5 "2005-02-01T16:24:00Z")
Hey, I’ve wanted to post this same question for a while, but never got around to it. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/6 "2005-02-01T16:41:59Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Sounds like [The Wizard](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090547/) . I watched this show once. For twenty minutes. Care to guess when? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/7 "2005-02-01T17:34:10Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > I watched this show once. For twenty minutes. Care to guess when? According to IMDB it was 1986. Or were you going for something else? ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/8 "2005-02-01T17:54:42Z")
Didn’t they pull the series when the actor who played the main character killed himself? Or am I thinking of something else? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/9 "2005-02-01T17:57:50Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > Didn’t they pull the series when the actor who played the main character killed himself? Or am I thinking of something else? That’s the one. David Rappaport, suicide by gunshot, 1990. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/10 "2005-02-01T18:01:43Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > That’s the one. David Rappaport, suicide by gunshot, 1990. However, the show itself was cancelled long before Mr. Rappaport’s untimely demise. He was, in fact, preparing to appear in a Star Trek: TNG episode when he died. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/11 "2005-02-01T19:20:43Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > That’s the one. David Rappaport, suicide by gunshot, 1990. Ahhh, the ol’ 1990’s style death shot. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/12 "2005-02-01T23:29:16Z")
I loved The Wizard. “Look, Tilly, perpetual motion!” CRASH “I’ll call the perpetual window replacers.” “Lick the suction cup.” “Dumb is silent, and I’m never that.” “Watch out! This baby’s loaded!” (said just before using an ugly doll to spray the bad guys with an immobilizing foam) (Upon unveiling an RC plane prototype) “The Golden Fleece, built to fulfill everybody’s ancient dream.” ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/13 "2005-02-01T23:33:11Z")
I remember watching this when I was younger and thinking his ultra-modern workshop was the coolest thing ever. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/14 "2005-02-01T23:35:47Z")
I saw this in 1977! ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/15 "2005-02-02T00:14:15Z")
> [@slortar](#): > > Didn’t they pull the series when the actor who played the main character killed himself? Or am I thinking of something else? You might be think of Jon-Erik Hexum, he of the prop gun with a blank to the head infamy. However, looking at IMDB, the series that he was filming at the time, “Cover-Up”, survived his death, at least for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/16 "2005-02-02T00:39:38Z")
Michael Rappaport did indeed kill himself. Not only was he one of the only well-known little people working as an actor, he was quite talented. He was great as Jimmy Smits’ sometime nemesis on _L.A. Law_, and as the leader of the Time Bandits in, well, _Time Bandits_. ---
**Author:** ![Kaspar\_Hauser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@Kaspar\_Hauser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaspar_Hauser)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/17 "2005-02-02T00:43:27Z")
I meant **David** Rappaport! David David! Dick Ritchie still lives, as fas as I know. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-name-this-80s-show/287749/18 "2005-02-02T15:54:00Z")
Ah. That clears things up. Shame the show got cancelled–I remember liking it a lot. Didn’t occur to me that DR was also in Time Bandits–great movie. Might have to watch that again sometime soon, in fact.