History RidiculouslyHumanRobots / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy had to deal with the robotic kidnapper, Ted, and the two {{Sexbot}}s built by Warren Mears: April, and the [=BuffyBot=]. Ted is particularly impressive considering he was built in the '50s. April and the Buffybot were both studies in the UncannyValley; in fact, April was set up to be a MonsterOfTheWeek, but turns out to just be tragic. Buffy stays with her while she shuts down. They don't try to fix her, though, since her whole AI is devoted to Warren and he doesn't want her anymore. And the [=BuffyBot=] was milked for all kinds of humor even after they took out the sexbot programming, but her 'death' was carefully designed to have an emotional kick--on the other hand, Buffy's friends treated her ''terribly'' when they thought she was the 'bot. WordOfGod states that the only reason the androids work is because of the Hellmouth's power: they are all {{Magitek}}. So they aren't just machines.

** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E7TheLonely The Lonely]]", Captain Allenby gives James A. Corry, who is serving in solitary confinement on an asteroid, a RobotGirl named Alicia in order to combat his loneliness. At first, Corry rejects her as JustAMachine who was sent to mock him but realizes that AndroidsArePeopleToo when Alicia begins to cry, indicating that she is capable of the same feelings as any human.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E20Elegy Elegy]]", Jeremy Wickwire, the robot caretaker of the cemetery asteroid Happy Glades, has the appearance and manner of a kindly, grandfatherly old man. Captain James Webber, Professor Kurt Meyers and Peter Kirby don't suspect that he is anything other than human until he tells them that he is a robot.
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E44TheLatenessOfTheHour The Lateness of the Hour]]", Dr. William Loren created five robots to perform various domestic duties around the house for himself and his wife. Their daughter Jana objects to their presence as she feels that her parents have become increasingly dependent on them for everything. The robots are completely human in appearance and possess emotions. They even appear to have the will to survive as the robot butler Robert initially objects to Dr. Loren's plan to dismantle them. [[spoiler:It turns out that Jana herself is a robot who was programmed to believe that she was the Lorens' daughter.]]
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E100ISingTheBodyElectric I Sing the Body Electric]]", the robot grandmother that Mr. Rogers bought for his children Tom, Karen and Anne has a great capacity for warmth, compassion and empathy. When the time comes for her to leave, she is saddened but says that the children brought her great joy.
** {{Invoked|Trope}} in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E103InHisImage In His Image]]". The miserable genius Walter Ryder, Jr. creates the android lookalike Alan Talbot specifically as an improved version of himself, with a nervous system that will function just like a human one. The chief glitch is Talbot's [[MurderousMalfunctioningMachine uncontrollable urge to kill]].

** PlayedForDrama: In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E1Robot Robot]]", the K-1 is intended as an experimental machine to do work too dangerous to humans, such as working in radioactive areas or down mines. Yet it also clearly has emotions, displaying love, pain (both physical and emotional), fear, what the Doctor calls an "OedipusComplex", etcetera. No-one besides Sarah Jane (and by extension the Doctor) notices or respects this, and it leads to the poor thing being [[BreakTheCutie driven mad]].

* The holographic Doctor on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was unnecessarily human for a medical expert system. Bedside manner is vital to a doctor, but his was ''terrible'', wiping out that excuse. (The real reason is the the engineer who created the Doctor program was a raging egomaniac; also, the person in charge of testing his interpersonal relations was Reg Barclay, for whom the description "poor social skills" would be a kind understatement.) In an early episode, which was a combination of a holodeck malfunction and a CuckooNest plot, he wonders why it was that he worried about the meaning of his existence. A character responds that it's natural to do so, but the Doctor counters that as a medical program he knows exactly what his purpose is and why he was created.

** The "ridiculous" part is mostly averted with Data, as Soong's entire goal was to create an android that was as human as possible, complete with the ability to have sex, should the need arise. Dr. Soong have also equipped him with a slew of traits that imitates those of biological lifeforms. Many of these serve both a practical purpose in maintaining his body, but also make him appear more life-like in an aesthetic sense, very likely in an attempt to steer him away from the Uncanny Valley. Data has to occasionally eat a semi-organic nutrient to lubricate his bio-functions, and he breathes (as a way of regulating the temperature of his inner systems) and has a pulse (as a way of transporting biochemical lubricants around his body). He also has a built-in system dedicated to make him blink and make it appear somewhat random, as well as an ageing program designed to simulate the external effects of ageing in his physical appearance.
** Data created his own daughter, Lal, in an attempt to improve upon his own design. Looking flawlessly human, she developed actual emotions which rapidly overwhelmed her positronic brain, eventually destroying her.
** Continuing the trend, Data's creator Dr. Soong created an android to transfer the mind of his wife Juliana into, after her true body was mortally wounded as a result of the Crystalline Entity's attack. Her android body was so perfect that even ''she'' still believed she was human, and no-one knew the truth until years later, when she and Data met, and an accident damaged her (rendering her unconscious). Data discovered a holographic interface chip inside her brain, and after installing it in the holodeck, was able to speak to Soong, who explained the full story, pleading with Data to keep it a secret and let her have her humanity. Knowing that [[BecomeARealBoy this was his own greatest desire]], Data chose to honor that request, telling her only, "My father told me that he had only one great love in his life. And that he regretted never telling her how much he cared for her. I am certain he was referring to you."

* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963'' episode "Demon With a Glass Hand" is Trent, the last man on Earth after all other humans disappear during an alien invasion. He has escaped back in time to our present and [[spoiler: it turns out he is a robot created to carry the human race (in digital form) inside him until the aliens are destroyed by a virus released in his own time. He was programmed to think that he was human.]]

** "Mary 25" also follows this trope with the cybernetic nanny (played by Sofia Shinas) who ends up an unwilling SexBot.
** In "Rule of Law", Miranda is a simulated human (SIM).

** Continuing the trend, Data's creator Dr. Soong created an android to transfer the mind of his wife Juliana into, after her true body was mortally wounded as a result of the Crystalline Entity's attack. Her android body was so perfect that even ''she'' still believed she was human, and no-one knew the truth until years later, when she and Data met, and an accident damaged her (rendering her unconscious). Data discovered a holographic interface chip inside her brain, and after installing it in the holodeck, was able to speak to Soong, who explained the full story, pleading with Data to keep it a secret and let her have her humanity. Knowing that [[PinocchioSyndrome this was his own greatest desire]], Data chose to honor that request, telling her only, "My father told me that he had only one great love in his life. And that he regretted never telling her how much he cared for her. I am certain he was referring to you."

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* The {{Toku}} genre had robots like this as allies often. To this day you have situations like Navi from ''Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger'' (temperamental, emotional, in ways that make getting information out of him/her harder). More robots than not show emotions that you wouldn't expect to have been included, or are acted upon in a way that inhibits doing their job (any time one gets annoyed and storms off, or Peebo from ''Series/ChoudenshiBioman'' being so terrified of Bio Hunter Silver she could hardly do anything). Anri in ''Series/KyojuuTokusouJuspion'' takes it to "you ''sure'' that's supposed to be a robot?" level, looking and acting completely human in every way at almost all times, to the point that you wonder why the writers chose to ''call'' her a robot. (However, on one occasion, an evil computer takes her over and makes her attack Juspion.)
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* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy had to deal with the robotic kidnapper, Ted, and the two sexbots built by Warren Mears: April, and the [=BuffyBot=]. Ted is particularly impressive considering he was built in the '50s. April and the Buffybot were both studies in the UncannyValley; in fact, April was set up to be a MonsterOfTheWeek, but turns out to just be tragic. Buffy stays with her while she shuts down. They don't try to fix her, though, since her whole AI is devoted to Warren and he doesn't want her anymore. And the [=BuffyBot=] was milked for all kinds of humor even after they took out the sexbot programming, but her 'death' was carefully designed to have an emotional kick--on the other hand, Buffy's friends treated her ''terribly'' when they thought she was the 'bot. WordOfGod states that the only reason the androids work is because of the Hellmouth's power: they are all {{Magitek}}. So they aren't just machines.

** The "ridiculous" part is mostly averted with Data, as Soong's entire goal was to create an android that was as human as possible, complete with the ability to have sex, should the need arise.

*** Then there are the group of Replicators from the previous episode "This Mortal Coil" who are so human-like that they actively try to figure out how to ascend, a process that only living things can undergo. They even go as far as to break away from the Replicator homeworld and create [[{{ArtificialHuman}} humans of their own]] so that they could study what a soul is. They only thing distinguishing these Replicators from humans is the fact that they don't show up on Life Signs Detectors.

* The holographic Doctor on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' was unnecessarily human for a medical expert system. Bedside manner is vital to a doctor, but his was ''terrible'', wiping out that excuse (the real reason is the engineer who created the Doctor program was a raging egomaniac; also, the person in charge of testing his interpersonal relations was Reg Barclay, for whom the description "poor social skills" would be a kind understatement). In an early episode, which was a combination of a holodeck malfunction and a CuckooNest plot, he wonders why it was that he worried about the meaning of his existence. A character responds that it's natural to do so, but the Doctor counters that as a medical program he knows exactly what his purpose is and why he was created.

** The Robot's emotions seem to be an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn, as they only become significant once the first season is well underway. Earlier in the first season, the robot borders on LawfulStupid, with Dr. Smith and the children both able to cancel the previous commands of others or even overwrite basic parts of his programming, just by issuing new commands.