Three Laws of Robotics - Other Occurrences in Media

Other Occurrences in Media

Asimov himself believed that his Three Laws became the basis for a new view of robots which moved beyond the "Frankenstein complex". His view that robots are more than mechanical monsters eventually spread throughout science fiction. Stories written by other authors have depicted robots as if they obeyed the Three Laws but tradition dictates that only Asimov could quote the Laws explicitly. Asimov believed the Three Laws helped foster the rise of stories in which robots are "lovable" – Star Wars being his favorite example. Where the laws are quoted verbatim, such as in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Shgoratchx!", it is not uncommon for Asimov to be mentioned in the same dialogue as can also be seen in the Aaron Stone pilot where an android states that it functions under Asimov's Three Laws. However, the 1960s German TV series Raumpatrouille – Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion (Space Patrol – the Fantastic Adventures of Space Ship Orion) bases episode three titled "Hüter des Gesetzes" ("Guardians of the Law") on Asimov's Three Laws without mentioning the source.

References to the Three Laws have appeared in popular music ("Robot" from Hawkwind's 1979 album PXR5), cinema (Repo Man, Aliens, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence), cartoon series (The Simpsons), and webcomics (Piled Higher and Deeper and Freefall). There is a brief mention of the laws, made by the computer voice, in the PC and PlayStation 3 video game Portal 2. These laws have also been mentioned once in The Big Bang Theory concerning the character Sheldon Cooper. Several of these allusions involve the invention of "Fourth Laws" of various kinds and some are made for humorous effect. For a representative list of these appearances see References to the Three Laws of Robotics.

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