Premise and initial success[edit]
Mork first appears in the Happy Days season five episode "My Favorite Orkan", which aired in February 1978 and is a take on the 1960s sitcom My Favorite Martian. The show wanted to feature a spaceman in order to capitalize on the popularity of the recently released Star Wars film.[1] Williams' character, Mork, attempts to take Richie Cunningham back to his planet of Ork as a specimen but is foiled by Fonzie. In the initial broadcast, it turned out to be a dream of Richie's. But when Mork proved popular, the syndicated version was re-edited to show Mork erasing the experience from everyone's minds.[2][3]
The character of Mork was played by the then-unknown Robin Williams, who impressed producer Garry Marshall with his quirky comedic ability as soon as they met. Dom DeLuise and Roger Rees were offered the role but both passed.[4][5] Richard Lewis and Jeff Altman were considered.[6] When Williams was asked to take a seat at the audition, he sat on his head and Marshall cast him on the spot, later wryly commenting that Williams was the only alien who auditioned.[7]
Mork & Mindy is set in Boulder, Colorado, in the then present-day late 1970s and early 1980s (as opposed to the Happy Days setting of Milwaukee in the late 1950s). Mork explains to Richie that he is from the "future": the 1970s.
Mork arrives on Earth in an egg-shaped spacecraft. He has been assigned to observe human behavior by Orson, his mostly unseen and long-suffering superior (voiced by Ralph James). Orson has sent Mork to get him off Ork, where humor is not permitted. Attempting to fit in, Mork dresses in an Earth suit, but wears it backwards. Landing in Boulder, Colorado, he encounters 21-year-old Mindy (Pam Dawber), who is upset after an argument with her boyfriend, and offers assistance. Because of his odd garb, she mistakes him for a priest and is taken in by his willingness to listen (in fact, simply observing her behavior). When Mindy notices his backward suit and unconventional behavior, she asks who he really is, and he innocently tells her the truth. She promises to keep his identity a secret and allows him to move into her attic. Mindy's father Fred (Conrad Janis) objects to his daughter living with a man (particularly one as bizarre as Mork), but Fred's mother-in-law Cora (Elizabeth Kerr) approves of Mork and the living arrangement. Mindy and Cora work at Fred's music store, where Cora gives violin lessons to Eugene (Jeffrey Jacquet), a 10-year-old boy who becomes Mork's friend. Also seen occasionally are Mindy's snooty old high school friend Susan (Morgan Fairchild) and the possibly insane Exidor (Robert Donner).
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" (pronounced /ˈnɑːnuː ˈnɑːnuː/) 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" (/ˈʃæzbɒt/), an Orkan interjection that Mork uses. Mork says "KO" in place of "OK".
This series was Robin Williams' first major acting role. Scripts were shorter than on Happy Days, with notes specifying "Robin will do something here" to let Williams improvise.[8] However, often his improvisations, due to unsuitability for a general television audience, had to be replaced with seeming ad libs that were actually scripted by a large team.[9]
The series was extremely popular in its first season. The Nielsen ratings were very high, ranking at 3, behind Laverne & Shirley (at 1) and Three's Company (at 2), both on ABC, which was the highest-rated network in the U.S. in 1978. The show gained higher ratings than the Happy Days series that had spawned it, at 4.
