| Focus on Gadget | |
|---|---|
| Season 2, Episode 13 | |
| |
| Air date | September 25, 1985 (production) December 7, 1985 (TV) |
| Written by | Eleanor Burian-Mohr Glen Egbert |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Bad Dreams Are Made of This" |
Next "M.A.D. in the Moon" |
"Focus on Gadget" is the 13th episode of the second season of Inspector Gadget.
Synopsis[]
Gadget is ordered into space to find out why the space station orbiting Earth has been so quiet lately. With Capeman unable to help him in the assignment because of a cold with a fever of 101, Gadget allows Penny and Brain to tag along after Penny tells him that she'd like to study the "Voice Responsive" computer on board. All three board a space shuttle and are rocketed into space and they soon arrive at their destination, despite Gadget trying to override the shuttle's autopilot functions.
Once in the space station, they are introduced to H.A.R.O.L.D., a soft-spoken, omnipresent, HAL 9000-like computer who monitors the entire orbiting station. Penny soon realizes that while H.A.R.O.L.D. is friendly, he is being controlled by Dr. Claw's minions — two short twin men who look like characters out of a Tintin comic — named Dr. Null and Dr. Void, and is forced to do as they tell him. Their plan is to focus the sun's rays through a large lens on the roof of the space station and systematically evaporate all of Earth's water supplies. Upon meeting a couple of service droids on the satellite, one cuts off one of his Gadget-hands in an attempt to harm him, clueless, he mirrors it back. Later, he continues to mimic this behavior with Null and Void, thinking every injury he sustains is some sort of space custom — and returns each "gesture" in kind.
Meanwhile, Penny manages to enable H.A.R.O.L.D.'s "free will" circuit which allows the friendly computer to do the right thing: Destroy the lens and free the three scientists who had been locked up. However, Null and Void escape by managing to jettison off in part of the station, and they're immediately picked up by Dr. Claw in his one-man space cruiser.
Starring[]
- Don Adams - Inspector Gadget
- Maurice LaMarche - Chief Quimby
- Holly Berger - Penny
- Townsend Coleman - Corporal Capeman
- Andy Goldberg - Dr. Null
Uncredited[]
- Frank Welker - Brain, Dr. Claw, M.A.D. Cat, Dr. Void, Mayor, Harold
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The episode references the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.