Difference between revisions of "Mork & Mindy"

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Mork & Mindy is an American sitcom that aired on ABC. It starred Robin Williams and Pam Dawber as the two title characters and was on the air for four television seasons, from 1978 to 1982.

The premise of the show is that Mork is an alien from the planet Ork who has been sent to observe humanity. Mindy is the first human being he meets, and she agrees to keep his alien identity a secret and let him live in her attic. Over the course of the series, they fall in love, marry and have a child. Episodes generally revolved around Mork's attempts to understand human behavior and culture. They usually ended with Mork making a report to his superior Orson back on Ork, which allowed the show (via Mork) to provide humorous commentary on '70s and '80s culture.

Mork & Mindy was written to take advantage of Robin Williams' skills in improvisational comedy and was very successful in its first season. Ratings declined after that, largely due to changes in the timeslot and supporting characters, and the show was cancelled after its fourth season. However, catchphrases from the show, such as the Orkan greeting "Nanu-nanu" and Orkan expletive "Shazbot!" quickly became integrated into popular culture and far outlasted the show's run. The show started out as a spin-off from Happy Days, in the episode "My Favorite Orkan". Mork & Mindy in turn was made into an animated version, which was part of the Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour. The program consisted of two separate series of segments, one series with Mork & Mindy characters and the other with characters from Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.

Mork & Mindy has been referred to several times in The Simpsons media.

References

Television episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 7 134 "Treehouse of Horror VI" When the advertising mascot of Lard Lad collapses and dies, his giant metal donut rolls away. Meanwhile, somewhere in the desert, Kang and Kodos are standing by the side of the road, posing as newlyweds and trying to hitch a ride to "Earth Capital". Lard Lad's donut appears on the scene and rolls right by them without stopping, prompting Kodos to say "Oh, shazbot" in disappointment. 8 168 "Homer's Phobia" One of the items that John has for sale in his shop is a copy of TV Guide that was owned by Jackie O. When John sees Marge looking at it, he says, "You should see the crossword puzzle. She thought that Mindy lived with Mark." 12 267 "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" In his hallucination, Comic Book Guy is cast as Spock and serving on board the Enterprise. Captain Kirk's command chair starts raising, lowering, and spinning on its own, shaking Kirk up rather badly. Comic Book Guy assesses the situation and says, "Shazbot! My captain is in peril." He then comes to the rescue by shooting green rays from his eyes and settling the chair down. 13 270 "Treehouse of Horror XII" Bart says "Shazbot!" when the dragon that Lisa was attempting to control is revealed to be Lord Montymort in disguise. 28 647 "The Caper Chase" Lisa gives Homer a DVD box set of movies with inspirational teachers, among them Dead Poets Society. Homer says that John Keating, played by Robin Williams, is like Patch Adams (whom Williams also played, in the film of the same title) minus Mork.

Comic stories

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Simpsons Comics #85 The Simpson Family Circus Bart and Homer watch a TV show called Celebrity Alien Autopsy. The subject of the current episode is Mork. Simpsons Comics #109 Now Museum, Now You Don't! In an effort to improve his public image, Mr. Burns opens a museum that showcases his family's contributions to the country. However, he gets drunk and starts telling all the dirty secrets of his family history, prompting all of the museumgoers to walk out in disgust. Burns pleads with them to return, but Comic Book Guy says to him, "You sicken me like the last season of Mork & Mindy!", referencing the show's decline in quality after its first season. Chief Wiggum's Felonious Funnies 1 Future Cop! In his dream of being a cop in the future, Chief Wiggum exclaims "Shazbot!" in dismay when he's called to respond to a domestic dispute.

Video games

Picture Game Reference The Simpsons Game In the eighth level, Shadow of the Colossal Donut, after Bart and Homer defeat the Lard Lad Donuts mascot statue and Homer starts punching the fallen statue in the crotch, Kang says, "Shazbot! How could Lard Lad lose to that guy?"

Common cast and crew

Cast

Picture Name Role on Mork & Mindy Role on The Simpsons Morgan Fairchild Played Susan Taylor in three episodes. Voiced Vivienne St. Charmaine in "Podcast News" Helen Hunt Provided additional voices for one episode of the animated series. Voiced Renee in the Season 9 episode "Dumbbell Indemnity". David Letterman Guest-starred in the episode "Mork Goes Erk" as a motivational speaker. Voiced himself in the Season 23 episode "The D'oh-cial Network". Garry Marshall Creator of the series. Voiced Larry Kidkill in the Season 11 episode "Eight Misbehavin'" and Sheldon Leavitt in the Season 22 episode "Homer the Father". Penny Marshall Appeared as her Laverne & Shirley character Laverne DeFazio in the pilot episode. Voiced Lucille Botzcowski in the Season 1 episode "Some Enchanted Evening". Tom Poston Played Mr. Bickley, Mindy's downstairs neighbor. Voiced the Capital City Goofball in the Season 2 episode "Dancin' Homer". Maggie Roswell Guest-starred as Donna Hammond in the episode "Three the Hard Way". Voice of Helen Lovejoy, Elizabeth Hoover, Luann Van Houten, Maude Flanders, and other characters. Frank Welker Voiced Mork's Orkan pet, a dog-like creature named Doing (pronounced "Doyng"), in the animated series. Provided the voices of many animal characters, most notably Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II. Paul Willson Had guest roles on two episodes (playing two different characters). Voiced Howard the florist in the Season 1 episode "Some Enchanted Evening". Henry Winkler Appeared as his Happy Days character Fonzie in the pilot episode. Voiced Ramrod in the Season 11 episode "Take My Wife, Sleaze".

Crew

Picture Name Role on Mork & Mindy Role on The Simpsons Cullen Blaine Story director for the animated series. Animator for five episodes during Season 1. John Kricfalusi Layout artist for the animated series. Designed the John K. couch gag (seen in "Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts"); animated the couch gag for "Treehouse of Horror XXVI".

External links

• Mork & Mindy at Wikipedia