Mindy didn't matter

Sorry.. Played well off Robin Williams

Agreed... She added a lot to the show, and is pretty easy on the eyes.

Every great comedian needs a "straight man," even if that man is a woman.

And you're right, Pam Dawber was gorgeous, and sexy as heck! Still is!


I intend to live forever.
So far, so good.

Actually, Pam did a good job of playing a grounding straight man figure.

And her presence actually brought out a lot of Robin's best dramatic moments (which actually stick out to me even on this sitcom as much as the madcap ones). Mindy brings out the sweet, comforting, emotionally intelligent side in Mork and gives something more for Robin to play off of because Mindy isn't just a similarly silly character.

Mindy missing her mother gives Mork something to relate to, as he doesn't have one. His first tear (Robin having sad eyes is often tear-inducing and one of his strengths in dramatic roles) is over the fact that his presence is the reason men have stopped asking Mindy out on dates. He's likewise teary-eyed when he's happily hugging Mindy after Mandy has just died in the other dimension. When Mindy is reliving her mother's death as a child while dreaming, Mork's comforting of her is one of the most endearing scenes. His emotional vulnerability when he confesses how he feels while talking to Mindy's dead mother in the season 3 finale is one of Mork's best scenes. Mork's less-than-platonic feelings for Mindy often challenge him to grow up in ways he's scared of (he tries to use the alien card to avoid admitting his feelings, but we see this is a lie very early on). Even semi-silly scenes concerning his awkwardness with human intimacy end up being incredibly endearing because it was established early on that he has not experienced a lot of familial warmth or close connections. "It's cold out there." is one of Mork's best lines and a very serious one that establishes what Mindy means to him. Even his constant use of the word "soft" to describe hugging Mindy and his giddy reactions to each kiss, besides the turn-on factor, is connected to his seemingly comfortless childhood and not fitting in on his own planet.

Pam could be quite silly herself (there's a hilarious outtake where Pam breaks character to answer one of Robin's improv jokes with a slightly off-color answer and it's funnier because it's so unexpected), but Mindy was there to help us see Mork's "humanity".

Mork would just be a silly character without Mindy to make him more human or challenge him on how different his alienness he pretends sometimes really is--and those are usually the parts I love most. The dramatic side of Mork wouldn't exist without Mindy and the show would lose a lot from that. And the show really didn't need to be stuffed with just silly characters. Having Mindy being a fairly realistic, grounded character and most of the friends/family (with the exception of Exidor) also being played fairly straight, kept Mork's antics from becoming overwhelming and also let Robin have non-comedic material once in a while. Because some subjects Mork learns lessons about are quite serious, it's important that the other characters show Mork appropriate and meaningful human responses.

She had a sweetness that made her a good foil and protector for Mork's antics.