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| - The series was a spinoff of the sitcom Happy Days. The character of Mork (Robin Williams) first appeared in the Season 5 episode, "My Favorite Orkan," where he threatened to take Richie Cunningham back to Ork as an example of a human, but his plan is foiled by Fonzie. The character proved to be popular enough with the audience to rate a starring role in a series, though in the series Mork would reside in Boulder Colorado, and in the (then) current day of 1978 as opposed to Happy Days' 1950s Milwaukee Wisconsin. Mork's egg-shaped spacecraft lands on Earth, with his mission to observe human activity, assigned by Orson, his mostly-unseen and long-suffering superior (voiced by Ralph James), who has sent Mork to Earth to get Mork off Ork. To fit in, Mork dresses in a suit - but with the tie, shirt, and coat all on backwards. He befriends Mindy (Pam Dawber) after witnessing her and her boyfriend getting into an argument and him driving off in her vehicle, leaving her stranded. Mork offers assistance, and Mindy, not seeing his back or the on-backwards suit, assumes he's a priest judging simply by looking at him from the front, mistaking his wardrobe gaffe for a priest's collar. Mindy is taken in by Mork's willingness to listen (unknown to her, he's simply observing her behavior as part of his mission), and the two become friends. The two walk back to her apartment, when Mindy sees his backwards suit and Mork's rather unconventional behavior for a priest. She asks him who he really is, and the innocent Mork, having not learned how to lie, tells her the truth. After discovering Mork is an alien, Mindy promises to keep his true identity a secret and allows him to move into her attic. Complicating factors include Mindy's father, Fred (Conrad Janis), who expresses outrage that his daughter is living with a man. Fred's mother-in-law, Cora (Elizabeth Kerr), presents a much less conservative view, and approves of Mork and the living arrangement. Mindy and Cora also worked at Fred's record store with Cora giving music lessons to a black pre-teenager, Eugene (Jeffrey Jacquet) when both are introduced—Cora's role in the series was limited to comic counter-points never carrying much plot development. Eugene, played an occasional plot role as a Mork confidant who gave views or advice which then created the conflict-resolution of the episode. Storylines usually centered on Mork's attempts to understand human behavior and American culture as Mindy helps him to adjust to life on Earth. At the end of each episode, Mork must report back to Orson on what he has learned about Earth. These end-of-show summaries allow Mork to comment humorously on social norms. Mork's greeting was "Nanu nanu" (pronounced "nah-noo nah-noo", sometimes spelt Nanoo Nanoo) 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" (SHOZZ-bot), an Orkan curse word that Mork used. Mork also said "kay-o" in place of okay. This series was Robin Williams' first major acting break. It became famous for Williams' use of his manic improvisational comedic talent. Williams would make up so many jokes during filming that the scripts eventually had specific gaps where Williams was allowed to perform freely. In many scenes, Pam Dawber had to bite her lip to avoid laughing and ruining the filming. The series was hugely popular in its first season. The Nielsen ratings were very high, ranking at #3 behind Laverne & Shirley (#1) and Three's Company (#2). The show even garnered higher ratings than the show that spawned it, Happy Days (#4). However, the network management sought to "improve" the show in several ways. This was done in conjunction with what is known in the industry as counterprogramming, a technique in which a successful show is moved opposite a ratings hit on another network. The show was moved from Thursdays, where it out rated CBS' The Waltons, to Sundays, replacing Battlestar Galactica. The show now aired against two highly-rated shows: NBC's anthology series The Sunday Big Event and CBS' Archie Bunker's Place, the revamped continuation of All in the Family.
- 'Na-no, Na-no!' Mork And Mindy was a spin-off from the popular American 'Happy Days' series. Introduced in the episode 'My Favourite Orkan' (a play on 'My Favourite Martian', a 1960s sitcom which 'Mork & Mindy' is almost a reworking of) in early 1978, Mork (Robin Williams) arrives on 1950's Earth to abduct Richie Cunningham (Ron Howard, now a famous director) but he is saved by The Fonz (Henry Winkler). The character of Mork was an instant success, and the new series debuted on ABC in the autumn that same year. Updated to the present day, Mork finds a home with Mindy McConnell in 1970s Colorado, and continues to explore our world in his own zany and inimitable way. As with most US TV series, it took time for it to arrive in the UK, airing from mid-1979 in most regions and warranting a couple of covers and poster features in 'Look-In'. The strip appeared from issue 12, dated 15 March 1980, replacing Mind Your Language and inheriting the same team of writer Angus Allan and artist Bill Titcombe. In many ways, the format is an evolution from its 'Look-In' predecessor, with alien Mork often in adventures owing to him misunderstanding our language or customs - in much the same way as the foreign characters did - and earthlings at odds with his child-like view, but to this reviewer, whereas the Mind Your Language strip strongly resembled its television originator, Mork And Mindy was possibly one of the weaker comedy entries to run in the magazine. Why should this be? Was the writer bezurb? Well, possibly... Is the artist was a nimnul? Doubtful... Did someone on 'Look-In' really Earth it up? No, The failing had nothing to do with any of them, and could be summed up in bez (that's Orkan for two) words, and those are... Robin Williams. As a fan of the series and Williams himself, it has to be said no written tie-in for the series, from the American adaptations by Ralph Church and Steven Seabrook, to the British Stafford Pemberton annuals, come close to capturing the star's style of ad-libbing and physical presence. This is not to say any of the strips and stories are particularly bad - they're not - but without Williams' own unique interpretation of Mork, all seem on a hiding to nothing. Shazbot! And while artist Bill Titcombe did well with Pam Dawber's likeness, he only managed a passable effort of capturing Robin Williams almost caricatured features, and had problems with the exaggerated mannerisms. Probably because of the changing format and line-up between seasons, the 'Look-In' strip (which made its debut towards the end of the second US season) never featured any of the series' secondary characters such as Mindy's staid father Fred (Conrad Janis), or his mother-in-law Cora (Elizabeth Kerr), whose barbed exchanges were a highlight and might have added a much needed edge. Also absent were Mork's reports to Orson, his oversized leader on Ork, who does make a brief cameo in one strip. Admittedly, 'Look-In' probably wasn't the place for the satirical observations these reports often included, but it was another step away from what made the series popular. These admittedly personal issues aside, the strip was popular enough to run for a full year in 'Look-In', finishing about the same time as the third season in the USA came to an end, in March 1981. (Article by Shaqui Le Vesconte)
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