Like every other kid at the time, I watched M&M pretty regularly - back then, Williams' hyper-paced comic style seemed fresh, original and constantly surprising. But when I caught reruns years later, I found his schtick more tiresome than amusing, and found myself much more impressed by Dawber's steady, grounded, more subtle comedy and her upbeat attitude and genuine warmth. And, damn, she was cute.
Dawber was born in 1951 near Detroit. As a young woman, she was a model and singer. Aside from her star-making role on Mork & Mindy, the talented actress has guest-starred in many other television series and starred in various theatrical productions.
I loved this show as a kid, but have not seen it since then. So I have no idea if it's stood the test of time or not.
ReplyDeleteI loved this show when it first came out but then it seemed like it changed premises every season and I lost interest. I do think that Pam's character is what kept me into the show as long as I did (I liked how Mork's city was the city from "Logan's Run" also.)
DeleteThis show went severely downhill after Season 1. I kept watching - mainly because I had a geeky teenage crush on Pam Dawber - but the brilliance of the early episodes simply could not be sustained. Not to say there weren't some good episodes in Years 2-4 - one of my favorites was the one where Mork meets Robin Williams, mainly because of the touching commentary in Mork's report to Orson at the end of that episode - but by the end of Year 3 the show was a pale shadow of what it had been.
ReplyDeleteGreat choice. It's a shame the network tried fixing Mork & Mindy when it wasn't broken. All those unnecessary changes during the second year caused the show to lose much of its original charm (and audience). Even adding Jonathan Winters the final season failed to recapture the magic of the first year. That said, I totally agree about Mork's touching report to Orson in the episode where he "met" Robin Williams--definitely a highlight. Williams' performance was also very affecting when his robot pal (Robby the Robot) "died."
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am remembering it to be better than what it actually was, but I still hope that "The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything" makes it to DVD, Blu-ray or iTunes some day.
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