This week on Roy’s Tie-Dye Sci-Fi Corner, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the robot in science fiction. The word “robot” was coined for Karel Čapek’s play “R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots),” first performed on January 25, 1921.
“Robot” derives from the Slavic word “robota,” meaning literally “serf labor,” and figuratively “drudgery” or “hard work.” But we all know from “The Golem” and “Frankenstein” that man-made “men” don’t always develop as planned. Clearly Čapek’s robots didn’t read Asimov’s Three Laws.
Join us as we meander through the history of the robot in film and television, from “Metropolis” to Marvel’s Vision. Along the way, we’ll marvel at Lew Place’s life-size replicas of Robby the Robot and B-9 from “Lost in Space.”
Try not to blow a circuit. It’s 100 years since the first robot uprising! CRUSH… KILL… DESTROY! Or enjoy an oil-bath with C-3PO. Leave your comments and observations, as we live-stream on Facebook, this Friday evening at 7:00 EST.