A family wins a high-tech computerized house. 13-year-old Ben (Ryan Merriman) keeps the family well-organized and on track so his widower father won't start dating other women ... he thinks they don't need a new mother to replace their late mother. Ben is always entering contests...and enters one in which the winner receives a brand-new house that is totally computerized--the computer everything.

Jessica Steen plays the woman who created the computerized house. When Ben's father starts dating her, Ben gets upset because he doesn't want a new mom. Then computerized P.A.T. (Katey Sagal) turns into a hologram and decides to protect her family from the nasty outside world (after monitoring all-news TV-networks) by locking them inside forever.
Disney Channel Original Movie, directed by LeVar Burton of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Dad is played by Kevin Kilner, who had a recuring role in Gene Roddenberry's Earth Final Conflict, and played James in Tales from the Crypt (1989) episode "The Sacrifice." The previous year Jessica Steen was in Armageddon (1998) as Jennifer Watts, Shuttle Freedom's Co-Pilot, and currently plays Dr. Elizabeth Weir in Stargtate SG-1. Her first TV role was as one of the daughters in SCTV episode "It's a Wonderful Film" (1983)

"Smart House" availability on video and on DVD from Amazon.com

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Quotes & Trivia (courtesy the Internet Movie Database)

Ben: Take it easy, Pat.
Pat: Easy? You think I wouldn't want to take it easy? But NO, I'm too busy keeping up with the coopers. Slaving away in a hot control room, making your lives perfect. And you think you can bring another women into my domain? I don't think so buster.

Nick: We can't stay here forever, PAT.
Pat: Why not? Haven't I given you everything you've needed?
Ben: We need fresh air and exercise.
Pat: But I can give you sythetic air, and virtual exercise.
Ben: What about school?
Pat: Haven't you heard of home schooling?
Ben: Yes, but not where the home is the one doing the schooling.
Nick: What about friends? Kids can't survive without friends.
Pat: We can be each other's best friends.

* When PAT is analyzing the Coopers' DNA, she was able to tell whether they had any injuries or not and their ages. These bits of information cannot be determined from DNA.

* Katey Sagal previously played the mom on Married With Children. Christina Applegate, who played the daughter in the same series, went on to star in MonsterVision movie Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead

* Katey Sagal's father Boris Sagal was a famous movie director who met his end while filming "World War 3" (1982 TV-movie, 4 hours) when he walked into a helicopter blade on location and was beheaded. Her current TV-series is "8 Simple Rules For Dating My Daughter" which starred Jack Ritter until his unexpected death from a heart attack.

* The overly-protective computer is inspired by HAL of 2001: A Space Odyssey

© Bill Laidlaw. All Rights Reserved. That's my 2½¢ worth