I, Robot

The current logo for I, Robot, used since season 1, part 2.

I, Robot is an American telenovela-formatted children's series, which premiered on tvpublic and syndicated stations across the U.S. on March 23rd, 2022. The first season was split into two parts, both containing 20 episodes, and new episodes premiered every weekday at 3 P.M. EST/EDT, with both two-parter season one finales premiering on Saturdays at the same air time as regular episodes. Season 2 is set to premiere in March of 2023, with an estimated series premiere date of March 13th.

## Plot

After escaping a vicious attack from the anti-robot organization Ax4, Malakai Bolton, a fully-robotic teenage girl, and her co-creator and mother, Nathalie, move back to their home city of Minneapolis, where they are reunited with their family, composed of full-robots, half-robots, and humans. Malakai reconciles with her father and creator, Stevon, or "Steff" Bolton, full-robotic younger brother Bodie, full-robotic eldest sister Flavia, and her newly unexpected "big-brother-in-law", wrestler Orange Cassidy. Malakai also meets brand new friends, and makes new enemies, as she conceals her identity to the public, to protect herself, her family and friends, and Minneapolis from deadly forces.

## Main cast

* Imogen Ware as Malakai Bolton
* Beau Sutton as Maison Weekes
* Caitlyn Swanson as Kourtney Weekes
* Layla Baker as Bennett "Bennie" Clark
* Kira Maldonado as Faith Patel
* Reuben Wallace as Augustine Marshall
* Talia Jimenez as Flavia Moreira
* Noah Baxter as Bodie Bolton
* Charlize Rodgers as Nathalie Bolton
* Daniel Smith as Steff Bolton
* Eva Trevino as Katalina Clark
* Gabriel Stevens as Alexander Clark
* Orange Cassidy as himself
* Jaime Lee as Atlas Solis

## Recurring cast

* James Hussain as Mr. Dillon
* Lucas Hartman as Ax4 Guard
* Aniya Conner as Ax4 Guard
* Jackie Barker as Ax4 Guard
* Reggie Ruiz as Ax4 Guard
* Ashton Becker as Ax4 Guard
* The Best Friends (excluding Wheeler Yuta and Jay Lethal (S1P2-)) as themselves
* Chase Creek as Jordan
* Ashton Webb as Simeuna

## Conception

After the success of Izabelle Campbell's Feelside (2015) reboot, and the spin-off film Alex and the Souls, Danni Cherry, a writer and director, believed it was time for her to write and produce her first original series for FOXIS. In January of 2020, Danni pitched the series The Robot (a.k.a Malakai) to fellow members on the FOXIS creative team. Before writing and revisions were underway, the series was originally going to be a sitcom, following Malakai Bolton through daily life as a robot, but friend Savannah Larson had other plans for Danni's series.

> *"The Robot was a good idea, I thought that FOXIS could use a successful sci-fi series. But Danni's idea needed some tweaking. I didn't think a sitcom revolving around Malakai was right. We wanted more action than what she was marketing, more drama, more suspense, since that's what helps shows from FOXIS gain traction. I suggested that Danni tweaked her show to be in a soap opera/telenovela format, and she obliged, along with the rest of our creative team. She thanks me every morning for saving her show, not gonna lie."* - Savannah at NYCC 2022
>
>

Writing, preparation, and prop-building for season one of the series spanned from late January of 2020, and concluded in February of 2021. The cast was selected through March and April of 2021, and filming for season one began in May.

## Filming

For season one, it took 2-4 days for a single, 45-minute episode to be filmed. The cast spent time off and on set memorizing lines and rehearsing for fight scenes and other scenes which required major physical movements. Details for filming of season two have not been revealed yet.

## Controversy surrounding AI

In 2023, as use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) went on the rise, some have accused the premise of I, Robot as being a "suck-up show" to artificial intelligence use, especially now that AI can be used for creating art, music, or essays. Danni Cherry stated multiple times that the show was for kids, and that it was in no way supportive of AI and robotics for "unethical" purposes.

> I feel like people forgot that "I, Robot" teaches us, especially young viewers, to be accepting of other people's differences, standing up to injustices, advocating for change, and that violence and genocide don't fix anything in this world. This show is so important, especially today when corrupt politicians want to erase history and eradicate the existence of marginalized folks. This show isn't a "suck-up" to AI. It never was. This show is an allegory for real-world issues, it's in no way telling viewers to support unethical use of robots and AI.
>
> Danni Cherry