Robin Williams was a comedic genius, and his role as Mork in ‘Mork and Mindy’ remains iconic. I’m hooked on the series, but Mork and Mindy is certainly more than just Robin Williams.
And when you watch reruns today, you may notice a lot of things I didn’t know back then – the show has its own secrets and details that you may have missed on first viewing.
Let’s take a look at the hidden stories and little details that make ‘Mork and Mindy’ even more fascinating than we might have thought.
If there was a true list of television legends, ‘Mork and Mindy’ would undoubtedly be on it, along with ‘MASH “* and ”Happy Days.’ These shows weren’t just hits – they became cultural milestones.
For those who don’t know or are too young to remember, ‘Mork and Mindy’ was a quirky American sitcom that aired from 1978 to 1982. In it, Robin Williams played the role of Mork, an eccentric alien from the planet Ork sent to Earth to observe human behaviour.
Robin Williams and Pam Dawber / Getty Images
He’s taken in by Mindy (Pam Dawber), a kind-hearted woman who becomes his guide to all things human. The classic TV sitcom combined science fiction and comedy and became an instant hit thanks to Williams’ hilarious improvisational style.
It’s a mixture of slapstick humour, heartwarming moments and a look at what makes us human through the eyes of an alien trying to fit into society.
The only alien who auditioned for the show
The film ‘Mork and Mindy’ was a spin-off of the popular Happy Days episode ‘My Beloved Orcan,’ in which the then-unknown Robin Williams got his big break. And the story of how Robin got the role of Mork is pretty funny.
Producer Garry Marshall was told by his sister about Robin Williams, who she saw while performing at a comedy club. She was so impressed with his alien performance that she said: ‘You’ve got to see this guy – his alien act is amazing!’.
According to Pam Dawber, that’s when they decided to invite him.
During the audition, when Williams was asked to sit down, he plopped into the chair… upside down. Producer Garry Marshall chose him because, in his words, ‘he was the only alien in the audition.’
It was later revealed that the role was offered to Dom DeLuise and Roger Rees, but they turned it down. Richard Lewis and Jeff Altman were also considered for the role.
Pam Dawber: No audition, no problem
If Robin Williams’ auditions for the roles of Mork and Mindy were forgettable, Pam Dawber’s path to the role of Mindy was a bit more unusual. She didn’t audition for the role!
To pitch the show to the network, producer Garry Marshall cleverly edited clips from Dawber’s previous failed series, Sister Terry (1978), with footage from Williams’ guest role on Happy Days as Mork.
ABC loved it and the series was picked up, and Dawber found out about being cast in the role… from Variety.
The real-life setting of the series ‘Mork and Mindy.
Mork and Mindy is set in Boulder, Colorado in the late 1970s and early 1980s, unlike Happy Days, which is set in Milwaukee in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Producer Garry Marshall came up with the basic concept for ‘Mork and Mindy’ during a phone conversation with an ABC executive. He decided to film the series in Boulder after his friend’s child attended the University of Colorado. And the idea for the alien character came from Marshall’s eight-year-old son, who had seen ‘Star Wars’ (1977) and suggested making a TV show about aliens.
The exterior filming of Mindy’s house took place at 1619 Pine Street, near downtown Boulder. Interestingly, Mindy’s father’s music shop was actually filmed in a bookstore located on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder.
Robin Williams did ‘the nastiest things’ on set
Pam Dawber, Robin Williams’ colleague on “Mork and Mindy,” said Williams often did “the nastiest things” on set, including groping and gaslighting.
But she never took offence, saying, ‘The nastiest things were done to me – to him… I was groped, groped, groped, groped, groped. I think he probably did it to a lot of people … but it was so much fun.’
Dawber explained that Williams had a unique ‘magic’ that made his behaviour seem playful rather than malicious. As director Howard Storm said, ‘It was just Robin being Robin, and he thought it would be funny. He could get away with murder.’
Totally naked on set
Another sign of Robin Williams’ magic? Because of his constant improvisation, the writers of ‘Mork and Mindy’ purposely left gaps in the scripts. This gave Williams the freedom to add his own creative twists, making each scene even more unpredictable and hilarious.
However, many of Robin Williams’ improvisations had to be replaced with pre-written “ad libs” from the big team, because his spontaneous lines were often too edgy for the mainstream television audience.