Original photo by PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive/ Alamy Stock Photo
It wasn’t socially groundbreaking like All in the Family, nor a long-running audience favorite like M*A*S*H. Nevertheless, Mork & Mindy carved out its own place in the hearts of viewers with its endearing spin on the fish-out-of-water concept — and, of course, by introducing the world to the unparalleled talents of Robin Williams. Here are six fun facts about this standout sitcom from the late 1970s and early ’80s.
Mork Originated on “Happy Days”
Fans may remember that Mork from Ork initially appeared in Richie Cunningham’s dream during a February 1978 episode of Happy Days, a premise apparently conceived of by the 8-year-old son of series creator Garry Marshall. Although this seemed like a terrible idea to the writers, they quickly realized the potential of the situation when the little-known actor Robin Williams wowed during his audition and rehearsals. Mork then proved a hit after going toe-to-toe with the Fonz on screen, prompting Marshall and his cohorts to devise a spinoff series about the character in time for the fall 1978 TV season. Meanwhile, the “My Favorite Orkan” Happy Days episode was reedited for syndication to show that the alien encounter was real.
Co-Star Pam Dawber Never Auditioned for the Role of Mindy
While executives seized the chance to build a show around the comedic abilities of Williams, Pam Dawber had no idea she’d been tapped for the role of Mindy McConnell. With a resume that mainly consisted of modeling and commercial work up to that point, she was chosen for her “honest, all-American girl” performance in a rejected pilot called Sister Terri. Dawber initially wasn’t happy to learn she was starring in a “stupid” TV show about an alien, but she warmed to the idea after meeting with Marshall, and especially after watching Williams’ footage from Happy Days. “I was laughing out loud watching that show, and I remember going, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I am so lucky,'” she later revealed. “It was just like, ‘Where do I sign?'”
Mork’s Spacesuit Was Recycled From an Episode of “Star Trek”
Since Mork was first meant to be a one-off character, there wasn’t a whole lot of thought put into his appearance; someone simply grabbed a red spacesuit from the Paramount wardrobe collection, added a silver triangle, and the Ork uniform was born. It’s unknown whether anyone at the time caught the uncanny resemblance between Mork’s suit and the one worn by Colonel Green in the 1969 Star Trek episode “The Savage Curtain,” but we do know that Mork & Mindy dipped into the Star Trek archives at least one more time: The spaceman costume worn by Mindy’s father (Conrad Janis) in the “Mork Goes Public” episode of season 1 was comprised of a helmet and suit from two separate episodes of the sci-fi predecessor.
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Numerous Guest Stars Appeared on the Series
As with Williams’ early showing on Happy Days, several up-and-coming talents used Mork & Mindy as a springboard to greater fame. This included Morgan Fairchild, who enjoyed a recurring role as Mindy’s old rival on season 1, and young comedians David Letterman and Paul “Pee-Wee Herman” Reubens, who appeared in seasons 1 and 4, respectively. On the flip side, Raquel Welch was already an international movie star by the time of her two-episode run as Captain Nirvana in season 2, while William Shatner provided another connection to Star Trek with his appearance late in season 4.
Williams Became Disenchanted With Playing Mork
Although it was the role that skyrocketed him to stardom, Williams soon grew tired of the constraints of playing a naive space alien. Series director Howard Storm later recalled the difficulty of convincing Williams to deliver the audience-pleasing catchphrase “nanu nanu,” while one of the show’s writers remembered the star derisively calling his character “Morko the Pin-Headed Boy.” Fortunately, Williams received a jolt when his hero Jonathan Winters, who appeared as Mindy’s uncle in season 3, joined the regular cast in season 4 as baby Mearth. “Having him on the show was one of the main reasons I stayed with it,” noted Williams, per Dave Itzkoff’s biography, Robin. “For me, it was like the chance to play alongside Babe Ruth.”
The Ending Was Shuffled to Accommodate the Series Cancelation
With the novelty of the series long gone, Mork & Mindy was canceled near the end of its fourth season. This wound up catching producers off guard, as plans were already in place for a time-traveling fifth season that paired Mork and Mindy with historical characters like Abraham Lincoln. This would explain the somewhat confusing end to the show, which sees the leads transported to a prehistoric cave at the end of a three-episode arc. In an attempt to compensate, producers shifted “The Mork Report,” a flashback-infused episode about the Mork-Mindy relationship, from an earlier scheduled broadcast date to the series finale.
Tim Ott has written for sites including Biography.com, History.com, and MLB.com, and is known to delude himself into thinking he can craft a marketable screenplay.
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