The Girl Inside V.I.C.I.

Winsome and sweet and a spoiler to the notion that pageant contestants are airheads, Tiffany Brissette was doted among Small Wonder's crew and staff and the writers especially, who saw her charm and talent confined in a rigid role.

First on the set early mornings because of her more extensive hairdo and makeup and costuming, Tiffany presented the poise of a well-mannered, cheerful, spiritually devout and rather private young lady. Unlike Christie who was rather cavalier and prankish, or Pennington who was demure and detached, or Supiran who was into impish quips, or Schulman with her restless perkiness, Tiffany most reflected the quiet low-key seriousness of the producers. As echoed in her grades by her studio teacher, Tiffany was a perfectionist and a lefty who hid that inclination without a hint, and while very amicable and able to field jokes back as well as the next person during script run-throughs (or table readings), she also had a no-nonsense streak when it came to winding a scene in one take and was visibly irritated whenever someone had a flippant attitude when blowing a line or fudging a cue. Her concern was understandable in the context that Small Wonder was "her show," even though ironically her character's input was minimal in most every storyline.

That she was conscious of her petiteness by mentions on stage and in school, especially in the last year of the show, seemed to force her to mature beyond her years so as not to seem "like a little kid." It was no vanity concern, especially in Hollywood where one could imagine the producers at Beverly Hills 90210's audition telling her, "You're cute, but we can't have our jocks looking like they're hitting on junior high kids." Over time, fame and sometimes not so friendly jealous receptions at school made Tiffany a little more wary and aloof meeting people at later appearances, but fortunately not defensively so. Also, her most refreshing aspect was being sharp and knowledgeable without appearing precocious unlike most child actors, which likely contributed to her early success in commercials.

It's quite likely any girl picked to play Vicki would've had and needed Tiffany's traits, because from the get-go Vicki was a very difficult role, different from any on TV. One cannot imagine Blossom, Punky Brewster or even Moesha taking a back seat to the supporting players on her own show, something Tiffany routinely did. The frustration of being a "wallflower lead" must've weighed heavily on Tiffany and her thoughts of a career beyond Small Wonder, though she never outright blew up about it (in fact never beefed aloud at all unlike some), though few could blame her if she did. Very few young ingenues and probably no veteran child player would've accepted, much less endured, the difficult stoic role that she was given without a grumble while watching her fellow players receiving awards for work on the same show. Tiffany's mother was a most devout and animated woman and you could see where Tiffany got her sense of humor, politeness and stamina.

Beyond "standard" bright, Tiffany was very intelligent in the technical sense of comprehending and accepting the limits of her robot role, and between curiosity and fan mail she became "techie-wise" about robotics and computers in general. One memorable occasion where she showcased this was during the children's variety show Putting on the Kids, where on impulse she improvised in Vicki's monotone a technical remark about computers. That was a neat surprise and displayed the sort of trouper she was, especially when there were not a few recognizable peers in the industry quipping asides: "I couldn't play a dummy like that!" Tiffany also kind of mocks herself in this vein as Vanessa brow-beating Vicki in "The Bad Seedling" and "Hooray for Hollyweird."

For the most part the writers, especially strings and freelancers, felt for Tiffany's confined role and her pines for more lines and tried accommodating her within the restrictions imposed by Howard Leeds and the show's unnecessarily juvenile format. One solution was Vanessa, though Tiffany and the cast in general were largely kept in the dark about the greater (and unfulfilled) intent of Vanessa's role, especially of any ideas that strayed outside the show's sitcom format. Even self-possessed Tiffany would've jumped up and down swearing had she caught wind of the maturer sci-fi type scripts with Vicki in Vanessa mode that were regularly tossed in Leeds' "out" basket, but writers toyed with other, even more fascinating, concepts. My favorite, debated over pizza one night, is best labeled "Flavors of Tiffany," in which the mythical fifth season assumes that Ted has created several incarnations of Vicki and has dispersed them around the world to friends for beta-testing. You'd have a Japanese Vicki, a German, an East Indian, an Argentine, a Kenyan version and so forth -- all played by Brissette in shows that are actually vignettes. Imagine "I Dream of Vicki" and "Geisha Vicki" back-to-back and you'd have an idea what it would've been like. It would've been expensive in terms of sets and wardrobe and a cosmetic tour-de-force for Tiffany, especially for the African and Indian characters, but it would've made quite a variety show and fun watching Tiffany carrying on so, though I'd elected that, rather than Vicki, Vanessa were used, which would've afforded Brissette a lot more stretch and natural human relations leverage to the roles.

There were many mature sociological, philosophical and even theological concepts left untouched by Small Wonder which have never been dealt with or could be in any other shows. The rarity of robot-lead TV shows (perhaps of all concepts on TV) attests to this uniqueness and difficulty, which is what still makes a revival possible and viable. Though I'd love to share a few with you I'm not about to kill my own possible script sale prospects by giving lurking rivals ideas, but suffice it to say a Family Ties-grade Small Wonder could easily be done since Leeds had presided over similar projects, such as Diff'rent Strokes. Naturally, the series revival question pops up: Would Tiffany play Vicki again or would she even be interested?

The whirlwind popularity in which child actors are submerged is a difficult environment for outsiders to imagine. During production and even hiatus, the stars are obliged to appearances all over the country from telethons and hospitals to mall and amusement park openings. The crushing adoration of shouting people reaching out for your hand and autograph is a heady thrill at knowing you're recognized and wanted and remembered in so many hearts, so when the series wraps, the shock and comedown is kind of like going cold turkey. Even being offered fifth-banana roles in a new series seldom pumps up that old high-flying self-esteem again. Some child actors try by sinking into unseemly adolescent roles (Tiffany's faith and self-esteem would have balked at cast offerings such as Long Island Lolita) and some never get over it in the worst way, and most all never make that bridge to adult roles. Small Wonder's production wrapped under a cloud of stunned and bittersweet feelings relating to several internal factors and conflicts, both personal and creative, so a lot of things would have to change for a successful Small Wonder revival. Most all actors are always looking for work; it's the quality of the offering that decides their interest. I believe if former non-staff SW writers and story and tech consultants (like moi) sat down with prospective producers and laid out the "ideal format," Tiffany would be interested indeed in being involved in the new version of the role she created. It would offer her a return to performing that few child actors ever receive or achieve.

I doubt it -- and wouldn't have her return as Vicki or Vanessa; some other talented little girl deserves a chance to strut her stuff in that revamped characterization. As for an adult Vicki, I doubt it would fly like Vicki's market-research-backed concept would, particularly when the role would be given to all kinds of risqué situations and teases; it'd just sink into an update of Julie Newmar's My Living Doll. Though she was as shocked as the other cast members (except Supiran) were at hearing the fifth season being dropped, I doubt playing an android again would pique Tiffany's interest (a role that typecast her out of a career), though that doesn't necessarily toss her out of the picture, especially if she were re-cast as Vicki's new creator or in the role of Joan, which has been under-exercised as a dramatic pivot in Vicki's catalytic role in the Lawson family. Another possibility is Tiffany playing a cyberneticist "single parent" beta-testing the "new" Vicki/Vanessa, with many social interplay possibilities among her and human and robot characters. If one still longs to see Tiffany in an android role, the only situation I can imagine would be her playing it in another realm, perhaps in a remake of The Questor Tapes (The Tiffany Disks?) as an advanced gynoid -- a female android -- quietly helping the world while learning what the human world is like. This would have lots of action-drama potential, which actors like. A hint of why I think she'd go for this type of role is that at the beginning, Tiffany entered acting expecting to play a normal little girl, but ended up playing a very different, non-run-of-the-mill character, and I think her having played unique unconventional roles that are most remembered would move her to continue such over commoner characters. Even people who hated Small Wonder in its first years are prone to recalling the show and likely even Vicki's name; I doubt they'd recall some episodes, much less the names of the characters in other shows during that time period.

Of course, Tiffany needs the chance and quality concepts to try, and above all a show of demand to get in the running in the first place, and only fan input to magazines and Hollywood shows can do that.

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