MovieChat Forums > Mork & Mindy (1978) Discussion > If they gave the show a reboot...

If they gave the show a reboot...


Anna Kendrick should definitely try out for the part of Mindy. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0447695/

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I was thinking the other day if anybody in Hollywood is considering doing a reboot. On the one hand, you'd think they'd never dare because RW was so inconic in the role. On the other hand, they could take another approach and not even TRY to make it like RW's version, and just take the basic concepts and go from there. They could still have the friendly, goofy alien and the Earth girl who teaches him about our crazy world, and I suppose they'd keep Orson.

I wonder if they'd try to make it a sitcom or take a more comedy-drama approach, without the live studio audience, etc.?

It's be interesting to see what would happen without the network meddling and bizarre fourth season stuff.

It's unlikely to ever happen, but it's interesting to think about. I'm sure somebody at the networks has at least mulled it over. Maybe if the fourth season DVD sells particularly well...

As far as Anna Kendrick goes, good choice but they'd probably just find someone like her rather than going to the expense of hiring her.

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Make it a proper sci-fi show, I wan't to see Ork in all it's glory, interstellar travels in egg-ships, all those wonderful red spacesuits and Orson presented as we know him from this series. I liked when M&M went a bit sci-fi'ish and absurd (❤ Jonathan Winters). It seemed like the series was going towards a more sic-fi oriented direction anyway with the honeymoon on Ork (City of Domes), the teleportation and the time-travel. Makes me wish even more there was a fifth season (but with time for RW to do Life According to Garp. I like that movie).

I have no idea who could play Mork though.

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Yeah, casting Mork would be the toughest part. The best thing to do would be to not even TRY to replicate RW's Mork - he was way too unique of a performer. They'd be better off to reimagine the character as still sweet, goofy and lovable, but he wouldn't have to be just like RW's Mork. If the writing was good I think the show could still work even if they didn't go in the zany direction the original did. It would probably be more about the story and characters and less about how funny Mork was and standing back to just watch him shoot off jokes.

As for the fifth season, at the end of the fourth season Mork had admitted that he was an alien to the world, and he was about to get his own TV show. My guess is a fifth season would have been about Mork starring in a TV show and dealing with the fact that everyone knew he was an alien. They'd destroyed Mindy's apartment so they couldn't use that set any more, so the characters would have had to move. They might have done more sci-fi stuff, too - maybe one of the writers will eventually tell us what they were thinking of doing for the fifth season.

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I agree with you about the casting. The only actors that I can think of who are able to talk with the same speed as RW are british, David Tennant and Matt Smith but they are mostly intangible to my ears and I find them so cold and at worst annoying. Are there any american actors in the right age group today who are not handsome boring hunks or gross comedians? Also the ad-libbing is a talent that few actors have, I guess the best would be someone from the stand-up scene to do that, so, maybe best to just remove the whole impro/stand-up segments out of the show.

Ah, I forgot the whole tv-show plot. Couldn't they have fixed her apartment and give her an excuse to update her furniture? I can't remember how wrecked her apartment was but it did survive the jeep-incident and that left a huge hole in the floor.
Some extra material on the dvd-set telling what the plan for the cliffhanger episode was and the season would be welcomed. 😊

It seemed to me that the writers really needed a vacation when they wrote the "Gotta Run" episodes. There were scenes and ideas I liked but the story is so all over the place, they really needed to edit out ideas to make the story more focused and shorter.

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A Doctor playing Mork? Thats strange :)

I cant think of anyone, American or otherwise, who could play Mork. If a reboot is in the works i suggest finding a second Mork the way they found the first. Have stand ups audition.

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Have you people seen the Behind the Camera documentary on Mork and Mindy? The guy who played Mork in that was bang on with the voice, look, mannerisms, and everything else that made Mork Mork.

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I have. He could do play Mork again i guess.

I couldnt see him as Robin Williams in that movie but thats just me.

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I've only watched a little bit of it on youtube but the picture quality is so bad that my eyes started to hurt. Chris Diamantopoulos doesn't look like Robin, he did however sound very convincing. I did find his appearance distracting though, they should have given him the right layered haircut (has RW ever sported a mullet?).

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Honestly, I don't think Mork needs to be played by a stand-up comedian. Since they could never duplicate RW's brilliance, they'd be better off to not even try. An actor who can be funny and endearing would work just as well, I think.

Mork went off on improvised riffs a lot, but that's because RW was so great at it. If they did try a reboot they might take a more scripted approach. To put a new actor in that position and then say, "Be as brilliant and funny as Robin Williams!" would be hugely unfair.

I think they came to rely a bit too much on RW's improv skills, honestly, and it hurt the show in the long run. The first season leaned very heavily on stuff from RW's stand-up act - things like the little kid voice and the old man routine. The trouble was they could really only do those jokes once, and when they went into the second season they found themselves out of RW material they could use. So they came up with other characters and more plot-heavy episodes that weren't quite as fresh and funny.

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It's been a while since I watched season 2 but I remember thinking after watching most of the season that Mork had quiet down a bit and his alien qualities was not so apparent as in other seasons. The first two episodes of season 3 seemed to indicate that the writers had become aware of that, hence the eggsorkism of Mork storyline.

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I watched a YouTube video where Robin was interviewed in Australia in 2009. The interviewer asked about Robins cocaine use and Robin said he did cocaine because it basically calmed him down let him 'not' talk.

He said almost the same thing on Craig Ferguson, that cocaine turned him into an introvert.

Sometimes i see that in Mork. Its more common in the later seasons though.

I'M SO GLAD WE COULD FINISH THIS WITHOUT FURTHER VIOLENCE-Rainbow Randolph right before he's knocked out.

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<<<Are there any american actors in the right age group

There was a local guy here on a local talk interview show who when I saw it though would be perfect as Mork as long as he continues being himself like he was on that show instead of trying to imitate Robin Williams.

However, the way he acted and talked as himself was like watching Robin Williams. Also the things he said.

Only he doesn't look like him facial-feature wise.

But I forget his name.

Too bad. He would have been perfect as Mork.



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<<<Make it a proper sci-fi show,

Actually, there's alreasy one!!! And it predates Mork & Mindy!!!! I saw it after seeing Mork & Mindy but while watching it, it's so much like Mork & Mindy that I thought Mork & Mindy must have been based on this theatrical movie.

Watch "Visit to a Small Planet" (1960) starring Jerry Lewis.

Although different character names/different characters, this is basically a theatrical version of Mork & Mindy before Mork & Mindy ever debuted!!!

The plotline and events was sooooooo similar. Like Mork & Mindy ripped off their whole plotline and characters from this movie!!!!









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I really don't think they could pull this off. The guy on the 'tv movie' movie kinda did. But they also would have to nail down people like Exidor---another hurdle in the 21st century.

Back then, yes he was considered a knowledgeable free sprit. Mork has him deliver Mearth...etc. Now it would not be considered remotely entertaining on any network. Exidor is the guy on the street corner who is not getting medication because the State cut mental health funding.

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Only guy I can think of who could be Mork today would be Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings' Gollum, Star Wars' Snoake).

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Hopefully not.

I am tired of all the remakes they are making these days and with the exception of a few a lot of them haven't been very successful and the recent remake of Charlie's Angels was so horrible it was cancelled after only a few episodes. I don't think anybody could replace Robin Williams either 'cause he was one of the main reasons Mork was so funny.

_____________________________

It don't matter if it's raining
Nothing can phase me
I make my own sunshine
And if you think you can break me
Baby, you're crazy
I make my own sunshine

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The ONLY path to remaking this show is the more dramatic direction (which is in the show). What wouldn't work is trying to have an actor copying Robin Williams' improv standup act, forgetting he was also a capable dramatic actor that could make you cry with his sad eyes. Obviously, Robin was behind some of the Morkisms (sitting on his head being one) that obviously can't be removed. "Nanu nanu" and "shazbot" obviously aren't going anywhere.

Mork is more or less an American version of the Doctor (Patrick Troughton, Tom Baker, David Tennant and Matt Smith particularly all come to mind as having similar elements) if you take out the Robin-ness and that might be a place to start when looking at actors who could play the part. Whenever Whovians ask who could have been an American version of the Doctor, Robin Williams and Gene Wilder are always the first names brought up! In other words, while you're looking for an actor who can do eccentric, you're not necessarily looking for just a goofy, lighthearted comedian who does lots of silly, but is unlikely to play dramatic or romantic parts. You'd be looking for an unconventional leading man (as much as Robin poked fun at himself for being short, furry and funny, he was a leading man for almost four decades) who can even play the part of a romantic lead. He certainly played lots of dads and mentors, but Robin also had a few romantic roles like Mork and Andrew.

Mork and Mindy's chemistry is a love story as much as it is a friendship; and it's blatant from the start that the feelings are more than platonic, despite reluctance to admit and act on it. This is KEY to Mork and Mindy's relationship. That Mork is completely smitten is blatant even in some of those early season 1 hugs and kisses, as well as his guilt that Mindy isn't getting dates because guys get the wrong idea about Mork living with her. And she approaches him wanting their relationship to be more in a very mature, serious way; he's an alien and there are potential consequences to her future with that. Mindy treats such things completely seriously and Mork isn't always joking either.

Occasionally, you even see Mork when he's really not joking. In his first Happy Days appearance (where he was an antagonistic villain who threatened to collapse the diner with everyone inside) and the times when Mork gets so angry that he actually starts destroying things (the racists' headquarters) or is trying to genuinely scare someone (the kitchen appliances), we realize that Mork is very nearly omnipotent in his powers and is dangerous enough to do real damage if he weren't such a sweet guy who wants to find his own little place in the universe, wants to be loved, wants a family and has no desire to conquer anything. This is an often overlooked element to Mork and just how powerful he is. And his powers aren't always used for silly things. His ability to speak to the dead was used in both a spooky and a heartwarmingly sad manner.

The Julliard-trained serious actor wasn't just a comedian. The laugh track goes away and the sentimental music starts playing whenever there is romance, comfort or sadness on screen.

The Doctor Who similarity, but with the domestic Earth setting is probably the starting point you'd have to use when it comes to establishing a tone that might have to focus a little more strongly on the dramatic and sci-fi elements while also having eccentric humor to offset the fact that no other actor is going to ever duplicate Robin's brand of comedy (and shouldn't). And I'd rather pick a dramatic actor that can be funny over a comedian who doesn't know the value of emotion or won't be able to make the romantic chemistry appealing.

As censor-infuriatingly raunchy as Robin's own humor was, he also came off like such a warm, cozy, sentimental sweetheart with a noticeable inner sadness that it never felt wrong that generations of kids felt like he was their dad. He could say something absolutely filthy (and yet, he's often viewed as a fairly asexual cinematic presence) or even something highly politically incorrect (some of his ethnic jokes could easily have gotten him in trouble if it were anyone but him), but he was so warm that it just looked adorable. He also knew how to disarm by looking sheepish or childlike in outtakes when he's said something naughty in the presence of Elizabeth Kerr or children and looks mock shocked when Pam Dawber dishes it back to him. This quality went a long way to make Robin too sweet and good-natured to actually offend anyone. His comedy was never mean-spirited. This childlike sweetness and naivety, no matter what he's said or done, is a very key part of Mork. There's a reason Robin made part of his career out of his ability to believably inhabit the mind of a child (it's the reason he was hired for films like Hook and Jack) and was a fairly unique performer for that. Mork takes a lot from his sitcom predecessor Jeannie where all is forgiven because, despite also being all-powerful, she's also so sincere in her naivety and misunderstandings. And Mork, for a performer as prone to sexual innuendo as Robin, was far more naive on the subject of how to go about a human relationship, where he often projected a lot of the character's endearing insecurity.

And Mork was one of his few roles before the "dad" stage hit. He was a young man here. Mork is a guy you want to date, not be your dad. It's hard to believe now, but Robin was 26 when he was cast in Happy Days and 27-30 during the show. Pam was the same age, but playing a college student at the start. That's a major part of the casting right there to get actors probably in their late 20s (possibly younger for Mindy). As easy as it is to think of Robin as forever middle-aged circa his 40s stuck somewhere in the '90s (it's hard to disassociate my childhood image of him stuck there and his appearance was pretty static for a long time), this was baby Robin. Granted, the sheer amount of body hair tended to make him look older than he was even then. But despite his unconventional looks and personality, Mork was most certainly the romantic leading man in the traditional sense and not just comic relief.

Mork & Mindy often dealt with lessons that were pretty serious and not played for a laugh, Mork never fit in anywhere (including Ork) until he met Mindy and often felt sad about feeling like a screw up and making Mindy's life harder and Mindy was a young girl who missed her dead mother. Those are some of the emotional things the new show would have to latch onto, even if it remains funny and wacky. The love story is one of the reasons the show works and it's not treated like a joke at all. Some of the topics the show brings up aren't treated as a joke. The characters' insecurities aren't treated as a joke. Cora feeling lonely and vulnerable because of her age are turned into heartwarming episodes, not funny ones, despite being blatant examples of Robin's old man character standup being written into the show along with all of his other standup characters (his child and Russian characters were also mainstays in his act).

There's a part of me that desperately wants to rewrite season 4 to lose Mearth (the concept was flawed and unpalatable--and dreadfully unfair to Mindy for the sake of being weird) and perhaps the sci-fi direction it seemed to be headed in might have opened up the show a bit. This would certainly differentiate a remake if it eventually dealt with Mork being exposed as an alien. The intended season 4 ending was exactly that. But the scarier thing is the potential remake ending up more vapid and corny than the original. When they remake sitcoms (the awful Bewitched movie comes immediately to mind), one of the first things that disappears seems to be the emotional heart. And in the case of the Goosebumps movie, they took what was a horror anthology that used to aim for real scares for kids (ditto Are You Afraid of the Dark? having a similar tone) and made it into a corny comedy that didn't take the original concept seriously. Dark Shadows likewise became a parody of the original show because the material was seen as a joke to be made fun of more than honored. In both of the Bewitched and Goosebumps films, the first sign of disaster was hiring a comedian with no intention of giving them any moments where they play it straight. Pretty much the only successful remakes are the ones that honor the material by playing it straight and fully inhabit it as if it were completely real, rather than just winking at it in a meta way.

I can't help but think of all the comedians being hired for the Jumanji sequel (despite the Rock saying they want to honor Robin) and a seemingly cartoonish, lightweight take on what was actually a movie with scary/sad elements and filled with actors quite capable of dramatic acting and giving weight to the seriousness of the life and death consequences of the game by projecting fear of what is coming out of it. There was a time for silly and times to act scared or comforting. The heart was a boy needing to learn how to stand up to bullies and a sad father/son story. Roger Ebert (who hated it) called the beginning of the film too scary for kids. And that's no doubt what the sequel will manage to forget. As silly and funny as Robin Williams' comedy was, he was also the same guy who did Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting, Awakenings, The Fisher King, Bicentennial Man, What Dreams May Come, One Hour Photo, etc... As silly as it was to watch him in drag as Mrs. Doubtfire, that movie too had a father breaking down at the thought of losing his children and a husband dealing with his marriage collapsing--and it wasn't just the funny act of a "talented actor", as pointed out in the courtroom scene. Robin's best comedies and even kids' movies have moments where "the value of silence" and the serious Oscar-winning actor come out.

Mork actually had a lot of moments of depth where he could be deeply caring, comforting, sad, crying, romantic, etc... and regularly spouted words of wisdom at the end of most episodes, some of which are unnervingly haunting (especially in retrospect, some of it is downright tear-inducing). Mork Meets Robin Williams wasn't a mere split screen joke for humor. It's a sad f-ing episode with a real man spilling his psychological issues out to the world (his description of feeling lonely as a child when he was making up his characters and "Maybe that's the last thing I want." is his response to being told he could have more time to himself if he says no and is taken advantage of less) and listing all the people who didn't survive their fame (done right after Lennon's shooting, but Robin would also soon be one of the last people to see Belushi alive, which helped wake him up about his drug problem along with the birth of his son--and of course, the haunting fact that he's now on it, himself).

Remember, Mork often had lines like "I don't know how much value I have in this universe, but I do know that I made a few people happier than they would have been without me."

I recently found a clip of Garry Marshall saying how the wacky situation comedy only brought in a third of the audience to one of his shows. Another third watched for the heart and emotional content (the love story is most certainly for them--no doubt a lot of the female audience). Another third could be gotten by the concept stuff (in Mork & Mindy's case, that's the sci-fi elements). When I look around for the people taking any interest in Mork & Mindy, it's mainly women who are seeing the forgotten emotional parts of the show (including the surprisingly sad episodes) and noticing everything the audience of the time weren't because they were too focused on Robin's crazy antics. Robin essentially had people coming to his standup asking for Mork (as he comments in his 1978 Roxy special, he does Mork 5 days a week and this is his time off from it).

So, basically, making it an hour-long drama (comedic elements, but not the whole point) instead of a sitcom might be the only way to take the concept of the show, but not make it a wannabe copy or a parody of it and avoid the elephant in the room that is not having Robin Williams.

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Mearth was horrible....this was the end of the 1970's along with Lennon dying etc....

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Hey, Nile, “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

Try not to be witless.

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Seth McFarland kind of looks like Mindys dad if he were bald lol...or maybe he could be Mork with all the voices he does!

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It would be just one more sign of the apocalypse

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Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore would my call. The chemistry they've shown in the past would be perfect.

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Please no, especially now. Could you imagine all the PC ranting? Just like everything else.

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