Mork & Mindy: Little Orphan Morkie

Mork & Mindy: Little Orphan Morkie
ABC
February 7, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

I'd like to have given this Kalish & Taylor story a B, since it picks up a hanging thread from the previous season (about Mork's citizenship) and it is one of the funnier episodes of this season.  (Though Williams probably deserves credit for the President Jerry Brown solar-powered electric chair joke.)  However, I feel that the Exidor material this season is weak, and obviously I'd rather have had them have Mork & Mindy consider marriage for more than a moment rather than try to figure out who could adopt Mork.  I am pleased by two of the cameos: Judge Baker played by Charles Lane, less than a year after he was a judge on Soap; and Priscilla Morrill as Miss Kalinowski at the adoption agency.

I don't know if the kid Jud was intended to be a successor to Eugene, or if they just wanted to give Noah Hathaway work after his role as Boxey on Battlestar Galactica, but I never saw him in anything except this episode.  (It is worth noting he plays Harry Potter, Jr. in the 1986 movie Troll.)

Soap: Episode 26

Soap: Episode 26
ABC
September 14, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B-

This is another one-hour season premiere that doesn't quite work but is nonetheless interesting.  Some of the plot threads:

• Chester attempts to commit suicide but instead, thanks to Burt's accidental interference, partially regains his memory.  After an indeterminate amount of time has passed, he confesses to Peter's murder right after Jessica's sentencing to 50 years in jail.  (The judge says this is what she would've received if she were poor and black.)  Jessica is understandably upset, but she decides she still loves Chester.  He goes to jail and meets tough killer Dutch Leitner (Donnelly Rhodes, who would turn out to be a series regular to the end).  Dutch plans to break out of jail and use Chester as a shield.
• Mallu is happy that Chester is going to jail and Jessica is free, so she tells him off and he leaves for over a year.
• Thanks to Jessica's suggestion, Mary thinks Burt is cheating on her, but he convinces her otherwise.
• Thanks to Jodie's advice, Danny tries to convince Elaine he's impotent, but she (offscreen) convinces him otherwise.
• Corinne meets Tim's mother, who tries to choke her and curses both of them.
• Corinne forgets that she's not Chester's biological daughter and worries she may've inherited murderous tendencies.
• Jodie moves in with Carol but starts seeing Dennis again.  I have no idea how much further time has passed (certainly the three weeks till Danny & Elaine's wedding must've come and gone), but it's enough time for Carol to know she's pregnant by Jodie.

Rene Levant would return in the role of the Guard.

Note that Soap had moved over to Thursdays.  Once the one-hour premieres were out of the way, What's Happening!! and Barney Miller would be on between Mork & Mindy and Soap on ABC.

Soap: Episode 25

Soap: Episode 25
ABC
March 28, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B+

Carol asks Jodie to live with her, shortly before Dennis shows up.  His wife has left him and he's realized he still loves Jodie.  Father Tim tells Corinne he's leaving the priesthood and wants to marry her.  (Eunice has to leave the room because she's laughing too much.)  And Mr. Lefkowitz wants Danny to marry Elaine in three weeks' time, or else he'll kill Danny's family.  Mallu confesses his love to Jessica, who pretends to be teaching Mallu the Hustle when Chester walks in.  And the jury finds Jessica guilty, although Rod Roddy, in one of the best cliffhangers ever on TV, tells us that Jessica Tate did not kill Peter Campbell, but one of these five people did: Benson, Burt, Chester, Corinne, or Jodie.

I got chills watching and hearing that in '82, but at least I didn't have to wait months to find out the answer.  (I think it was just the weekend, since Soap aired every weekday in syndication.)  Assuming you already know, I won't put spoiler space as I talk about the plausibility of each:

• Benson could've possibly killed Peter because he is fond of Jessica and to a lesser extent Corinne, and he might've done this out of protection.  Still, I just can't see Benson committing murder.  Going over and beating up Peter, or at least devastating him with a put-down, sure.  If he had been guilty, then his scene where he promises, with few words, to take care of the family if Jessica is jailed, is less touching and more Machiavellian.
• Would Burt kill his own son?  Yes, he killed Johnny Dallas, but that was in self-defense.  Burt was thrilled to have both his sons in town after not seeing them in years.  Also, we saw Burt discover the body and he was devastated by grief for weeks.  Furthermore, that was the night that he finally made love to Mary again and he celebrated the next morning by making pancakes.  Not exactly the behavior of a murderer.
• Chester seems not to have known that Peter was having an affair with Jessica, although he could've been pretending that he didn't find out until after Peter's death.  Would he have been upset enough about Peter shacking up with Corinne that he'd have killed Peter to defend the honor of his far from virginal daughter?  Unlikely, but possible.
• Corinne did threaten Peter and she certainly had motive enough.  Of the five, she's the one I probably would've put my money on, although she likely didn't expect her mother to be sentenced for the murder.
• Eunice said of Jodie, "Please, the man couldn't even kill himself."  I suppose it's possible that Jodie used the date with Nurse Nancy as a cover to kill Peter, but then why would he admit skipping the date?  And what's his motive?  Hypothetically, he could've been dating or wanting to date Peter (there's no proof one way or the other that Peter wasn't bi and he would fit the stereotype of an "anything that moves" bisexual, which was particularly strong in that era), but it's hard to imagine that going on at the same time that Jodie was planning to get a sex change as a way to hold onto Dennis.  Of the five, Jodie is the least likely suspect after Burt, although I may be influenced by how sweet and likable Crystal is in the role.

Tim Rossovich again plays the Bodyguard and, without any lines, manages to have a funny moment with Jodie.

Well, I enjoyed the first season much more than I expected.  Perhaps enough time had passed, or maybe seeing it in context with other shows of its era helped.  Also, I know that the last season is weaker, so maybe I'd forgotten how good Soap could get in the early days.  In any case, except for the misstep of the "Elaine rapes Danny" episode, I gave out mostly Bs, in a B- to B+ range.  It's one thing for Three's Company to average a B in its six-episode first season, but this is really impressive.  I don't recall if Season Two is this good, but I recall some threads and moments I liked.

Soap: Episode 24

Soap: Episode 24
ABC
March 21, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

There's more fun with the trial, although the Major's attempt to "rescue" Jessica goes on a bit too long, like a lot of his material.  Burt and Mary decide to work things out, despite him killing Johnny.  (Danny puts in a good word for Burt, showing they've come a long way from the first episode, where they "hated" each other.)  Chester is arrested for SEC violations although able to post bail in time to go to court to support Jessica.  Corinne returns home and refuses to return to Ingrid, who swears revenge on the Tates.

And Jodie sleeps with Carol.  It's interesting to see how this is handled, in light of the times and in light of what would happen between them later.  We're of course not shown anything of the sex, but he's angry and confused the next morning.  They say that they love each other, platonically in his case, which seems awfully quick, considering they met so recently.  But Crystal and Balding have enough chemistry and are good enough performers that they make it convincing.  Jodie still identifies as gay (Crystal does a funny bit about his hormones), and she claims she's not just after his body.  The irony is that, if she weren't so manipulative, they'd have a sweeter relationship than the one he had with Dennis.  And, while it may seem like a cop-out to have the gay character sleep with a woman, I appreciate that it's not shown as a "cure" for his homosexuality.  I'll get back to this when he again becomes involved with women (more than with men), but for now I'll say that this plot twist has actually aged better than the one about him planning on becoming female just to keep his boyfriend.

Soap: Episode 23

Soap: Episode 23
ABC
March 14, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B+

This episode is better than usual, helped along by the guest cast and some resolution for some plot threads, as well as two laugh-out-loud moments: Bob moving his lips when he reads, and Jessica defending herself for stepping on ants.

Mrs. McCallam threatens to ruin her husband's career if he doesn't end things with Eunice, so he ends things with Eunice.  Burt confesses to Mary about murdering Johnny.  Ingrid sleeps with the Judge to sway Jessica's trial, and Corinne realizes that her birth mother hates the Tates more than she loves her, so she leaves.  Father Tim tells his mother, Flo Flotsky (Doris Roberts, then 52 and of course playing this sort of role for the next thirty-some years), that he's in love with a woman and leaving the priesthood.  And Franklin's surprise witness turns out to be Mrs. Fine (Nita Talbot, as marvelous as ever).  Note that she had already left Peter's apartment when Jessica made her threat to Peter, but perhaps she was listening at the door.

Luis Avalos plays the Doctor and would return as Gen. Sandia.  Note that it's more plausible that Eunice and Walter are meeting at Nino's, Ann Marie and Donald Hollinger's favorite restaurant in New York, than that Greg Brady and Phil Packer took their dates there.

Soap: Episode 22

From the "judge's chambers" episode

Soap: Episode 22
ABC
February 28, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B-

Carol fails to see why Jodie being gay means he won't sleep with her, but he does agree to go away with her for the weekend, as friends.  Mary commits Burt.  Danny tells Mary why he's marrying Elaine.  Billy briefly runs away because he got a bad report card and doesn't want to add to the family's woes.  And Jessica's trial continues, with Mr. Franklin promising a surprise witness.

Milt Oberman, who was the man whose hotel room Eunice climbed into, here plays Harold Bronfman.  Fred Iwasaki would return a couple more times as the Chef at the Japanese restaurant.  Corinne, Chuck, and Bob are absent.

Soap: Episode 21

Rebecca Balding

Soap: Episode 21
ABC
February 21, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

Corinne continues to stalk Tim, this time to his remote mountain retreat, although he does admit he can't get over her.  And the even more dysfunctional relationship of Danny and Elaine moves to the next level when he takes her home, hoping that meeting his family will scare her off.  The best scene here is the trial scene, from Mallu's assistant Carol finding "suicidal homosexual" Jodie adorable to Jessica's entrance and subsequent behavior.  Unlike nurse Nancy, Carol would be around awhile (Rebecca Balding would return eighteen times) and definitely impact the course of the show.

Ian Wolfe, who previously was the Monsignor, makes his first of two appearances as Father Juniper.  Tim Rossovich makes his first of three appearances as Elaine's Bodyguard.

Soap: Episode 20

Charles Lane as the Judge in a later episode

Soap: Episode 20
ABC
February 14, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B

Eunice makes it back inside the hotel, is mistaken (by Milt Oberman, who would return in a different role) for a call girl, meets up with Walter, plans a future in Aruba, and then is left in the mail room when he gets the incriminating photos back from the Messenger (Martin Braverman again).  Then there are a bunch of "Campbell" scenes, the best of the lot definitely being the scene where Jodie hides Bob in the refrigerator in an attempt to talk to Chuck.  Danny tries to break up with Elaine but instead finds out he has to marry her, or be killed.  And Burt finds out that Mary wants him committed.  The last scene is set in the judge's chambers (which Jessica has a wacky interpretation of) and the judge turns out to be veteran character actor Charles Lane, then 73 but still with many roles ahead of him, including as another judge on Mork & Mindy.  Also, Hesseman returns as Mr. Franklin's twin brother, the prosecutor.

Corinne, Billy, and the Major are absent.