A short-lived (pardon the pun) action-adventure series about a little person with really big ideas.
Simon McKay (David Rappaport) is a genius inventor with dwarfism who eschews violence and works as a toymaker. But Simon's rare mind and apparent physical weakness make him a target for a wide range of not-so-nice interests, so the government assigns agent Alex Jagger (Douglas Barr) to be his bodyguard.
Together with Simon's housekeeper Tillie Russell (Fran Ryan), Simon and Alex get into scrape after scrape, to be rescued with Simon's bizarre and improbable devices and potions.
This show, which has been encapsulated as "MacGyver as a Dwarf", aired on CBS for a single (1986–87) season.
Tropes featured include:
- All Just a Dream: The episode "Daydream Believer" uses this constantly. Simon helps a boy who daydreams frequently, and the episode keeps shifting back and forth between his daydreams and the adventure proper. In the end, we learn that the entire episode is actually Simon's dream.
- Dropped After the Pilot: The aired pilot introduces us to Simon's housekeeper Darcy Stafford, and "occasional assistant" Jack Brooks, a teenager who tries to make his own toys, but always ends up failing spectacularly. Episode 2 explains that Darcy was transferred to Alex's old job, and Simon's old friend Tillie takes her place. As for Jack, he's simply never mentioned again.
- Head Desk: In one episode, Simon mentions "trying to punch a hole through the wall with [his] head" to a robot he built. This leads to the robot lasering a hole out of said wall a few inches from his head.
- Last Episode, New Character: H.E.N.R.I., the robot introduced in the finale, was clearly intended to be a new recurring character. The final segment has him talking about how excited he is to work for Simon and Alex, and two unused scripts have him prominently featured.
- MacGyvering: Par for the course for Simon.
- Pendulum of Death: An episode had Simon, Tillie and a Guest-Star Party Member explore a Temple of Doom to return a cursed dagger. At some point the guest star is caught in such a trap, and is rescued seconds before the pendulum reaches where his neck was.
