Mork & Mindy: Mork the Prankster

Mork & Mindy: Mork the Prankster
ABC
December 4, 1980
Sitcom
DVD
B-

Wendy Kout teams up with George Zateslo, whose first of five Mork scripts this is.  At first it's pretty standard "Mork annoys Mindy, who forgives him" stuff, but it does have some surprises, including that Glenda Faye is trying to distract herself from her grief over her husband, and Mindy gives Mork a kiss of forgiveness that makes his leg "pop" enough to lift her Jeep (which he put in her living room as a prank but it crashed down into Mr. Bickley's).

The highlight of the episode though is the return of Bill Kirchenbauer, this time for the first of three appearances as Todd Norman Taylor.  Kirchenbauer manages to distill every stereotype of the '70s swinging single into one character, but he also does little touches like a mimey moment when he leans against "the wall" to hit on Mindy (see picture).  I found this funnier and fresher than anything Williams does in the episode, including the Julia Child routine.  (Dan Aykroyd had done that earlier and better, although Kirchenbauer's TNT is better than Aykroyd's "wild and crazy guy."

I think it's a nice touch to have Fred and Mr. Bickley bond and go fishing, since they're middle-aged men who can be grouchy at times, Fred less than Mr. B of course.  Amy Tenowich returns as Lola, while Stephanie Kayano makes her second of seven appearances as Stephanie.  (IMDB didn't list her for the season premiere, although the credit is on her page.)  But of course the most notable of Mork's daycare friends is Billy, played by nine-year-old Corey Feldman in his first of two Mork cameos.  Remo is absent, although Jean is in the first scene.

Note that Mork refers to "no one thinking an actor could become President," but it's not clear if this means the possibility or the actual election on November 4th.