a spin off of Happy Days?!?!?!?!??!!! - Mork & Mindy (1978) Discussion

[–] danafranklin 18 years ago

Well, technically it was.

When ABC was ready to lauch M&M, they wrote an episode of Happy Days in which Robin Williams guest starred as Mork. They used that to get Happy Days' large audience to watch M&M, and it worked!

"What Is Past Is Prologue"

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[–] adamk-2 18 years ago

I remember seeing this episode. Remember, the 50s were besotted with flying saucers, so it wasn't much of a leap to have one appear. Well, not much. One gag had Robin Williams, as Mork, sitting watching "The Andy Griffith Show" on TV and saying, "Oh, I love that Opie kid" (Opie being played by a verrry young Ron Howard). In the end, Mork attempts to abduct Fonzie back to his planet, and at this point, it's all revealed to be a dream. I think the idea was that Richie had fallen asleep in front of the tv and...well, the rest is history. I also remember Mork using the phrase "Shazbat" for the first time in this episode.

I remember a lot of useless things...

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] adamk-2 18 years ago

Well, I didn't even mention the anal probe...

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[–] sirclancelot 18 years ago

Wow, that's cool!

That must have been one episode I never managed to see.

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[–] davidmsc 18 years ago

TV History: Fonzie's thumb versus Mork's finger in Al's diner!

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[–] kristle316 18 years ago

huh. i always assumed it was a crossover episode

--------
Look Brian, theres a message in my alphabits, it says oooooooo
Peter those are cheerios

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[–] drizztdourden_380 17 years ago

"Mork froze Fonzy.
But that didn't hurt him...cause he was already cool...right?"

Random quotes for the win.

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[–] ActionScaleHero 17 years ago

"Mork froze Fonzy.
But that didn't hurt him...cause he was already cool...right?"

That's a "friends" quote, isn't it?

JLT

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[–] mathieu-21 17 years ago

"That's a "friends" quote, isn't it?"

Yes it is.

Season 5, episode 3
The One Hundredth

Dr. Harad: Hi! Phoebe, I'm Dr. Harad, I'm going to be delivering your
babies. I want you to know, you're gonna be in good hands. I've been doing
this for a long time. I'll be back in a minute to do your internal, in the
meantime, just relax because everything here looks great. And also, I love
Fonzie. (Exits)
Chandler: Did he just say, he loves Fonzie?
Monica: That's what it sounded like.
Chandler: All right...

Dr. Harad: (entering) Okay!
Phoebe: Hey.
Dr. Harad: Let's see what we got here. Ohh, y'know, Fonzie dated triplets.
Chandler: This-this Fonzie person you keep referring too, is that uh, is
that another doctor?
Dr. Harad: Oh no-no-no. Fonzie is the nickname of Arthur Fonzerelli. The
Fonz.
Chandler: All right.
(Dr. Harad exits.)
Frank: It's not that weird, is it?
Phoebe: It's very weird! I don't want some guy down there telling me, I'm
y'know, dilatedamundo!
Ross: To be fair, he doesn't seem to be impersonating Fonzie...
Phoebe: (interrupting) What are you doing?!! Why are you defending him?!
Just get me another doctor! One who is not crazy and who is not Fonzie!
Ross: Again, it's not that he...
(Phoebe fakes pain to get Ross looking for another doctor.)

Dr. Harad: All right, you're getting there. Oh, and y'know, these babies
are very, very lucky.
Phoebe: They are. Why?
Dr. Harad: They have the honor of being born on The Fonz's half-birthday.
Phoebe: Happy birthday!
Dr. Harad: Just-just to clarify, I'm not Fonzie. (Phoebe nods in agreement
as he leaves.)

Dr. Harad: (laughing) Oh Fonzie.
Rachel: Y'know who I always liked? Mork.
(Dr. Harad drops what he's doing and stares at her.)
Phoebe: Undo it. Undo it. Undo it.
Dr. Harad: Fonzie met Mork. Mork froze Fonzie.
Rachel: Yeah, but umm... Yes, but, Fonzie was already cool, so he wasn't
hurt, right?
Dr. Harad: Yeah, that's right.

Dr. Harad: All right, I need a clamp, sterile towel, and channel 31.
Phoebe: What is that?
(Dan turns on the TV and the Happy Days theme song comes on.)
Phoebe: Oh my God!
Dr. Harad: Oh, no-no-no, it's a good one! Fonzie plays the bongos. All
right, are you ready? It's time to start pushing.

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[–] baran_erik 8 years ago

I, too, am a font of useless information, but it comes in handy on trivia night at the bar. So, considering the stuff we've won, it's not useless!

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[–] agentmaxsmart 17 years ago

There was even an episode of Happy Days where Mork went back & told Richie that he was living in the future, the 70s, with a woman.

Happy Days had a few spin-offs.
Mork & Mindy
Laverne & Shirley
Joanie Loves Chachi

Happy Days itself is a spin-off of Love American style.
----------------------
Those who think they are always right are annoying to those of us who are.

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[–] jon_jedi1990 17 years ago

You can see some clips of Mork on happy days on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5cA0ArLnis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcS06AeraCE

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[–] andy-todd-1 17 years ago

Happy Day is a spinoff of Love American Style?
I always thought happy Days was a spinioff of American Grafitti (where Ron Howard had a similar role).
Was American Grafitti, then, a spinoff of Love American Style?

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[–] richard.fuller1 10 years ago

the Love American Style episode had Ron Howard, Marion Ross and Anson Williams in it.

Harold Gould was Howard Cunningham. Can't recall if Erin Moran was shown or not.

I think it's up on youtube.

Whatever was going on in the early seventies, it was a fifties nostalgia craze and Ron Howard seemed to be at the center of all of it; Happy Days, American Graffiti, etc.

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[–] cluvonj 10 years ago

I have not seen it in a while but the Joanie character was in it but not played by Erin Moran. It was a red haired girl who I remember doing stuff back then but cannot think of her name. It also had his older brother Chuck in it I think. Also I believe that the Potsie character was not dumb acting like he was in the series.

I went to look it up. Susan Neher played Joanie and Ric Carrott played Chuck. In the series another actor played Chuck for a

I looked to find the link just now on youtube. Here is part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhFDkatc-e4

Here is part 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYBHDv6YtPM

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[–] rycki1138 10 years ago

Happy Day is a spinoff of Love American Style?
I always thought happy Days was a spinioff of American Grafitti (where Ron Howard had a similar role).
Was American Grafitti, then, a spinoff of Love American Style?

Gary Marshall made a pilot about a 50s family that was rejected by the network and ended up as a segment of Love, American Style. Love, American Style used a lot of unaired and rejected pilots as segments on the show.

Then American Graffiti came out and was a big hit and brought a wave of 50s nostalgia, so the network decided to go ahead with the show Happy Days even though it had been rejected earlier.

But Happy Days had no connection with American Graffiti and American Graffiti had no connection with Love, American style except for the coincidence that Ron Howard was the star of AG and HD and that Cindy Williams was a co-star on AG and would later guest on Happy Days and spin off into her own show Laverne & Shirley.

(knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny (knock,knock,knock) Penny

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[–] jefgg 10 years ago

Producer Garry Marshall was the king of spin offs. He had two more "Happy Days" spin offs.

"Out of the Blue" is a spin off of "Happy Days", though a scheduling error had the series airing prior to the main character's introduction on "Happy Days".

"Blansky's Beauties" starred Nancy Walker as former Las Vegas showgirl Nancy Blansky. One week before the show's premiere, the Blansky character appeared on Happy Days as a cousin of Howard Cunningham. Scott Baio and Lynda Goodfriend co-starred before joining Happy Days the following fall, and Pat Morita reprised his role of Arnold. Similarly, Eddie Mekka of "Laverne & Shirley" played the cousin of his Carmine character, while pulling double duty as a regular in both shows.

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[–] tommyboy221 17 years ago

i agree.

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[–] PhineasAppleby 10 years ago

I never considered it a true spin off because Mork was never a recurring Happy Days character.

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[–] PhineasAppleby 10 years ago

I never considered it a true spin off because Mork was never a recurring Happy Days character.

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[–] xsabresx 10 years ago

It's not a spinoff. I would be more of a "backdoor pilot"

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[–] Harry_Bottom 10 years ago

Is that like a backdoor pirate?

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[–] ActionScaleHero 9 years ago

Is that like a backdoor pirate?

Only in China.

I'm straight up lovable, son.

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[–] happipuppi13 9 years ago

Okay ,follow along in order. 

1. American Grafitti - Movie from 1972 that (as mentioned) happened to star Ron Howard and Cindy Williams (Cindy later of Laverne & Shirley). The movie is set in 1962 ,but we still hear 1950s music and early 60s (before 1964.)

2. ABC's "Love American Style" episode-segment "Love And The Happy Days" with Ron Howard ,Anson Williams Marion Ross. Harold Gould as 'Howard Cunningham' & other actors playing Joanie & Chuck. February 25th,1972 (Season 3, Episode 22).
One of 2 stories. : An American family of the 1950s gets their first television. The teenage son Ritchie and his friend Potsie assume it can be used as a chick magnet. (Part of it used as a flashback in an episode of 'Happy Days'.)

3. Happy Days - Based on (not 'spun off from') the above episode of "L.A.S."
Ran Jan. 1974 to July 1984. A spin-off means it's related too an 'entire" TV series.

4. Laverne & Shirley - Made appearance on Happy Days as 2 girls from the 'otehr side' of Miluakee that Fonize knew and sets up as dates for he and Richie. Their show debuted Jan. 1976 and ran until May 1983.

5. Mork & Mindy - Mork appears first in a Feb. 1978 ep. of Happy Days :My Favorite Orkan". Richie dreams(?) about this after thining he saw a flying saucer (As UFO's were called then). Mork returns to Happy Days world 2 more times. Once on Mork & Mindy (With guest Penny Marshall whom Fonzie sets up with Mork. Then again on Happy days in 1979. "Mork & Mindy" runs from Sept. 1978 to May 1982.

6. OUT OF THE BLUE - A show that had already debuted on ABC's schedule in Sept. 1979 but "Brandon the Angel" ,does a crossover episode of Happy Days ,where Chachi (again a dream) sells his soul to the nephew of the devil to become 'loved by all." 'O.O.T.B.' does not last very long and is cancelled by early 1980.

7. JOANIE LOVES CHACHI - Debuts March 1982 & returns in the fall but nothing can make this 'one spin-off of Happys Days too many' work. So J. & C. naturally return to Happy Days.
Before the end of this show's first season ,it's all over for Mork & Mindy.
\L & S go one more season. ...and Happy Days ends over 1 year later.

(Sept. 1985) - All of the 'greatest' sitcoms of the 1970s are now over.

Leaving only 'Diff'rent Strokes (1978-1986) & 'The Facts Of Life' (1979-1988).

Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13 🐕 *arf,man!*

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[–] trollomatic 9 years ago

<<<It's not a spinoff. I would be more of a "backdoor pilot"

no, it was definitely a spinoff. Because it was never originally intended as a pilot.

Anyone who watched the original network broadcasts first run and rerun that same season can easily tell this by the way they changed the ending of the episode on the original network rerun.

On the network first-run episode, the episode had it turn out to be Richie's dream. It was not a pilot for "Mork & Mindy.

The episode was VERY VERY popular. So, they decided to make it a series and

On the network rerun, it ended with Mork being real (not a dream) and Mork talking to Orson about Mork going to or about to be sent to the future 1970's earth. This was NOT on the original first-run network airing.

And was intended to get viewers to tune into the new tv series "Mork & Mindy" that fall when the new season began.

The part about it being Richie's dream was edited out of this network rerun and replaced with the above ending.

I see the latter ending in the syndicated reruns.

But it was NOT originally there during the original network first-run episode.

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[–] goofyball 10 years ago

some here have suggested that mork and mindy was a planned show and ABC used happy days to test/launch the character... but since robin williams death i read from henry winler that robin wasn't cast until late in that week of shooting... like on thursday and they shot friday... and that he was so overwhelmingly good that the network decided to spin off the character...

so i don't think it was planned like a back door pilot

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[–] cluvonj 10 years ago

I was just thinking that same thing as I read this and I also just watched that movie done in 2005 about the story of MOrk & Mindy, link below, where it basically said that they had the idea for the alien for a one episode thing for Happy Days and Robin auditioned, Gary liked him and cast him. It wasn't until the reaction to him that they thought of doing the spinoff show like you said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc48xKMsJas

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[–] happipuppi13 9 years ago

Well heck ,just listen to the audience's reaction to
Robin/Mork's jokes and antics in gthe "My Favorite Orkan" episode.

I can tell ,they are not being prompted by a 'laugh' & 'applause' sign.

Only natural ,they'd sign him up for a series basded on Mork.

Two moments stand out ,when he sat upside down (I know 'nobody' had ever done 'that' on TV before. ) ..and when Fonzie asks him if he wants to 'rumble' (Fight) and Mork goes "Ah ,Rumble!" "Da-da-dah-dah-da" (& dances the 'Rhumba'. 

I saw the Tv movie about M & M too ,the guy who
played him actually cracked me up ,doing Robin's humor.

He should have gotten an Emmy for that. 

Go for it or just be a gopher!
(MR.) happipuppi13 🐕 *arf,man!*

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[–] mikemck 8 years ago

You think that's funny, there was a spinoff of Happy Days called Out of the Blue, that featured a guy who was killed and came back as an angel undercover as a science teacher renting a room from a suburban family. Hijinks would usually ensure either from his trying to keep his identity a secret or from the chaos caused by his inability to master magical powers that he had for some reason.

The Happy Days episode, Chachi Sells His Soul[/I[ served as what is known as a "back door pilot" for the show.

It was pretty awful.

Don't feel bad if you don't remember it. It was only on for a few episodes and may have been the worst show since [i]Pink Lady and Jeff.

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[–] pioneergrrrl (2390) 2 years ago

if he was dead, how could he legally rent a room? just wondering. Show already sounds horrible.

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[–] Mustang (5254) 2 years ago

Mork appeared on an ep in Happy Days first it was not a very good ep either! I think Laverne and Shirley also made an appearance in the same episode unless I am mistaken.

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