Mork and Mindy
In the late 70s and early 80s, aliens were forever visiting small-town America. That's why Richard Dreyfuss built mashed potato sculpture from his dinner prior to having a close encounter of the third kind, why 10-year-old Elliot found a cute extraterrestrial in his garden shed, why alien David Bowie tumbled into New Mexico, and why one night in 1978 two oversized eggs landed on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado.
One contained the late Robin Williams's Mork, just arrived from planet Ork in silver boots, matching gloves and jumpsuit – he looked not so much cosmic refugee as reject from a Glitter Band audition. Mork had been dispatched to Earth ostensibly to get the scoop on the denizens of this backward planet, but really because his Orkan overlords (the peculiarly named Orson especially) wanted to get rid of this little twerp who kept making jokes contrary to the Orkan prohibition on humour.
And the second egg? That contained Mork's suitcase. He was going to be on our planet for some time. (Sadly it wasn't nearly long enough)
Mork first appeared on TV in an episode of Happy Days, a 70s TV show that nostalgically recalled that 50s America of cold war and hot rock'n'roll. For reasons too complicated to get into right now, Mork had a contest with Happy Days' cool ruler, the Fonz, culminating in him battling using Orkan finger against Fonzian thumb. The episode was so funny that ABC commissioned a spin-off entitled Mork & Mindy.
Storylines usually center on Mork's attempts to understand human behavior and American culture as Mindy helps him to adjust to life on Earth. It usually ends up frustrating Mindy, as Mork can only do things according to Orkan customs. For example, lying to someone or not informing them it will rain, is considered a practical joke (called "splinking") on Ork. At the end of each episode, Mork reports back to Orson on what he has learned about Earth. These end-of-show summaries allow Mork to humorously comment on social norms.
Mork's greeting is "Na-Nu Na-Nu" along with a hand gesture similar to Mr. Spock's Vulcan salute from Star Trek combined with a handshake. It became a popular catchphrase at the time, as did "Shazbot", an Orkan profanity that Mork uses. Mork says "KO" in place of "OK".
This series is Robin Williams's first major acting role and became famous for Williams's use of his manic improvisational comedic talent. Williams would make up so many jokes during filming, eventually scripts had specific gaps where Williams was allowed to freely perform. In many scenes, Dawber had to bite her lip to avoid laughing and ruining the take.
In the fourth season, Mork and Mindy were married. Jonathan Winters, one of Williams's idols, was brought in as their child, Mearth. Because of the different Orkan physiology, Mork laid an egg, which grew and hatched into the much older Winters. Winters had previously appeared in a season 3 episode as Dave McConnell (Mindy's uncle and Fred's brother).[5] It had been previously explained that Orkans aged "backwards", thus explaining Mearth's appearance and that of his teacher, Miss Geezba (portrayed by then-11-year-old actress Louanne Sirota). The show began to include special guest stars.
The show ended at 60th place. After four seasons and 95 episodes, Mork & Mindy was canceled.
I decided to take this stroll with you today to bring us back to where it all started and to inform those too young to remember how this great actor got his start.
Until we meet again...
Na-Nu Na-Nu
