Mork & Mindy: Mork in Wonderland

Mork & Mindy: Mork in Wonderland
ABC
September 16, 1979
Sitcom
DVD
C

The hour-long second-season opener felt weird even at the time.  Not only were Fred and Cora written out, but Mr. Bickley's dog had changed breeds.  Oh yeah, and cold medicine made Mork shrink until he ended up in a parallel universe on a planet with the same name, Mearth, he'd later give his son.  Even watching it now, it's odd to see a show make such a radical change.  And yet, I sort of like the sci-fi elements.  The special effects aren't great, but there is some imagination put into the creation of the other world, from the Wizard of Oz touch of characters having equivalents, to cows wearing pants and hats.  And the thoughts on death have an added poignancy now of course, with Williams gone.  Where the story by McRaven & Johnson falls down is that it's just not funny, ironic considering one of the messages is the importance of laughter.  The timing is off in the first half of the episode and then we get pathetic celebrity imitations, with Bob Faith (Ronnie Schell), Danny St. Tommy (Johnny Haymer, best known at the time as M*A*S*H's Sgt. Zale), and Jerry Looney (impressionist Jeremy Krispien, who at least has a recognizable imitation).  (The Steve Martin by an uncredited performer isn't bad, but everyone from Chrissy Snow to Little Earl had been doing Steve Martin imitations for a couple years by this point.)


And the thing is, it's not like this episode has much to do with not only the previous season but the rest of this season.  It just remains as a confusing mis-step, and combined with the move to Sundays, I was not the only fan at the time trying to get my bearings.