The Bizarre ‘Mork & Mindy’ Season That Never Aired — And the Strange Story Behind It

Dan Clarendon September 14, 2:51 pm

Pam Dawber and Robin Williams in the 1978-82 sitcom Mork & Mindy — Courtesy Everett Collection

The Happy Days spinoff Mork & Mindy is remembered today as the show that made Robin Williams a household name — but despite the presence of one of the great comedic talents of the era, it didn’t remain a hit. The sitcom premiered to big numbers but sank lower and lower in the ratings until ABC called it a day after four seasons — cancelling a planned fifth season that would have focused on time travel. “I found out the show was canceled by reading it in Variety,” Williams told People in 2009. “In Hollywood, that’s like reading your own obituary: ‘You’re dead, good luck!’”

But by that point, Mork & Mindy — in which Williams’ alien character meets and falls for the Pam Dawber’s human Mindy — wasn’t the same show the actor had signed up for.

“It got to the point where the show was fading and the network was desperately trying to save it,” he explained to USA Weekend in 1986. “It became Hitler in the Bunker, where they’ll try anything: Mork marries Mindy. Mork wants children with Mindy. Mork is Mindy. Anything! He was no longer the creature we all loved.”

At least Mork & Mindy sent its title couple off the airwaves with a romantic final episode. Here’s how it played out…

MORK AND MINDY, Pam Dawber, Robin Williams, Robert Donner, 'The Wedding', (Season 4, aired Oct. 15, 1981), 1978-82

What happened in Mork & Mindy’s final episodes?

The original plan was for Mork & Mindy’s fourth season to end with the three-episode “Gotta Run” storyline, per SlashFilm. But when word came down that the show was canceled, producers made “The Mork Report” the season finale — and series finale — instead.

In that episode, which Williams directed, Mork angles for a promotion by presenting a thesis to his superior, Orson on planet Ork (voiced by Ralph James): the keys to a successful marriage. To Mork, those keys are honesty, respect, romance, and compatibility; flashbacks elucidate each point.

First up is honesty: Mindy finally comes clean and tells Mork she doesn’t like the orange vinyl dress he got for her as a gift (and he tells her she’s wearing it backward). Then comes respect: Mindy thinks the Orkans’ Foliage Festival rituals are ridiculous, but she’s respectful enough to contain her laughter until she’s alone.

Then you’ve got romance: Mindy entices Mork into a romantic dance in the middle of his dinner preparations. And finally, compatibility: As they argue about their pet peeves for one another, Mindy goes to flush Mork’s prized nightcap down the toilet, but they’re compatible enough that Mindy knows not to actually put the cap down the drain.

As Mork concludes his presentation, Orson tells him he has earned his stripes. And all of a sudden, a zebra pops up next to Mork.

What would have happened in the 5th season of Mork & Mindy?

Brian Levant, executive producer of Mork & Mindy’s final season, gave fans a sense of what Season 5 would have entailed in a 2015 oral history for Gizmodo, sharing how the “Gotta Run” three-parter teed it up.

“So here was the scenario: [Kalnik, played by Joe Regalbuto], another alien, became Mork’s buddy, and then [Mork] finds out he’s there to kill Mork for some reason. And so, to fend off this threat, they revealed themselves to the public [as an alien and his wife], and ultimately, they had to run away through time to hide from [Kalnik].”

And Season 5, Levant said, was “going to be a semi-educational show,” in which Mork and Mindy traveled through time and met with historical figures.

Did Mork & Mindy have an unaired season?

No episodes of the time-travel season were shot. But there is some record of the planned fifth season. “We actually did a photo shoot for that, of [Mork and Mindy] standing with Abe Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin,” Levant added.

The show wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Garry Marshall’s son

As fans of classic TV know, Mork & Mindy was a spinoff of the Happy Days episode “My Favorite Orkan,” in which Mork travels to the 1950s and meets Ron Howard’s Richie Cunningham. And that episode, it turns out, was inspired by co-creator Garry Marshall’s son, Scott.

“My son stopped watching Happy Days. He was 7,” Marshall recalled in a Television Academy interview in 2000. “I said, ‘Why don’t you watch?’ He said, ‘There’s no space people. I like aliens. I like space.’”

Levant was working on Happy Days at the time and told Gizmodo what happened next. “Garry Marshall walked in one morning, all peppy, and he goes, ‘Scotty had a great idea! … Let’s put a spaceman on Happy Days!’ He walked out of the room. And we looked at each other like, ‘God, that’s the most horrible idea I’ve ever heard.’ But he wants to do it, what do you do? So we drew straws to see who drew the short straw and had to write the script.”

Good thing someone drew that short straw!