Mann & Machine
Created by Dick Wolf and Robert De Laurentis, the series starred Yancy Butler as Sgt. Eve Edison, a beautiful police officer who is also a sophisticated gynoid robot capable of learning and emotion. She is partnered with Det. Bobby Mann (David Andrews), a human officer who holds disdain for robots. Rounding out the regular cast was S. Epatha Merkerson as Capt. Claghorn, Mann and Edison's superior officer.
The series focused on Mann and Edison's criminal investigations in a Los Angeles of the "near future"—sometime around the beginning of the 21st century though the exact year is never stated. An ongoing subplot of the series focused on Eve's continuing education about what makes humans tick, and her ever-growing capacity for emotion, highlighted by the penultimate episode "Billion Dollar Baby" in which Eve is placed in charge of caring for an infant, activating unexpected maternal feelings.
Although Butler received good reviews for her performance in one of her first major roles, the series was criticized heavily, with many comparing it to a failed 1970s comedy series with a similar premise, Holmes & Yo-Yo. The series was pulled from NBC's schedule after only four episodes. The remaining five were aired in a burnoff as summertime filler.
sci-fi