TV SERIES · 1978– · USA
Mork & Mindy
21 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (21)
- #001
Most of the jokes seen on the series were improvised on the spot by Robin Williams and later by Williams and Jonathan Winters. The improvisations were so effective and popular that the show's writers soon began including specific sections in the scripts where Williams was allowed to perform freely, marked "Robin goes off here." If you watch Pam Dawber, you can often see her struggling not to laugh at the improvisations.
- #002
Jay Leno auditioned for the role of Remo DaVinci. According to Leno, an ABC executive told him his face would "frighten little children."
- #003
The series found immediate ratings success, finishing its first season third in the overall rankings. For the second season, ABC moved the show's time slot to Sunday in an attempt to counter-program CBS's Sunday comedy lineup, particularly Archie Bunker's Place (1979). Ratings dropped sharply almost immediately, and even after the series returned to its original Thursday night slot midway through the second season, they never fully recovered.
- #004
In an effort to boost ratings, the second half of the final episode was shot in 3D. Because ABC had cancelled the series, the network chose to air it in 2D and to broadcast a different episode as the series finale.
- #005
Orkans evolved from chickens.
- #006
It was one of three Happy Days (1974) spin-offs set in the then-present day (the late 1970s). The other two were Blansky's Beauties (1977) and Out of the Blue (1979).
- #007
Fred (Conrad Janis) and Cora (Elizabeth Kerr) were written out at the start of the second season because they were thought not to appeal much to the series' young demographic. Their absence was explained by saying they had gone on tour with an orchestra. The move was not very popular with viewers, and Fred and Cora were brought back in the third season, though Cora appeared only sparingly.
- #008
Robin Williams said he began using cocaine on set because he did not know what to say between takes to all the people on set and the celebrities watching the production. It snowballed into a cocaine addiction that would trouble him for much of his life.
- #009
Garry Marshall initially proposed Mork from Ork as the title, but network executives did not like it. They also disliked The Mork Chronicles (after Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles), because they did not think most viewers would even know what a chronicle was. In the end Marshall suggested Mork and Mindy, and the ABC network executives went for it.
- #010
Because Robin Williams constantly improvised his scenes, the writers deliberately left gaps in the show's scripts.
- #011
Producer Garry Marshall is said to have come up with the idea for the series after his eight-year-old son watched Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) and was inspired to suggest a show about an alien. The creation of Mork's character and personality was actually taken from Happy Days (1974). Director Jerry Paris (also known as Petrie's friend and neighbour Jerry Helper) took the idea directly from the film The Nutty Professor (1963). That guest actor was Danny Thomas, playing an alien in Rob Petrie's science-fiction dream.
- #012
Mork, who first appeared in the episode "My Favorite Orkan" (1978), is meaner and less friendly than in this series. It is also suggested that he was part of a big dream Richie Cunningham had.
- #013
Robin Williams was dating comedian Elayne Boosler while this series was in production.
- #014
Mork's furry alien pet, Bebo, was credited as himself in the titles.
- #015
Exidor is the son of Exeter, who appeared in the film This Island Earth (1955).
- #016
The series bears more than a passing resemblance to the play and film Visit to a Small Planet (1960), about an eccentric alien with superhuman powers and his comical interactions with humans. These include his relationship with a young Earth woman and his reporting back to his alien superior.
- #017
Mork's "space helmet" is a slightly modified version of the battle helmet Michael Ansara wore in Soldier (1964).
- #018
Mindy's middle name is Beth.
- #019
With Conrad Janis's death on March 1, 2022, Pam Dawber is the only surviving member of the original cast, apart from the recurring players Gina Hecht, Jim Staahl and Crissy Wilzak.
- #020
Mork and Mindy's downstairs neighbor, Mr. Bickley, wrote greeting cards to make a living.
- #021
The shoes Mork wore in the early episodes were a pair of Spanish Boreal rock climbing shoes. Since Robin Williams was not a climber, they were probably an impulse purchase at one of Boulder's various mountaineering stores.
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