Mork & Mindy
American television series
Mork & Mindy is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of Happy Days, "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth from the planet Ork, and Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell, his human friend, roommate, and eventual love interest.
History and episodes
Premise and initial success
Mork first appears in the Happy Days season five episode "My Favorite Orkan", which aired in February 1978, and is a take on the 1960s sitcom My Favorite Martian. The producers wanted to feature a spaceman to capitalize on the popularity of the recently released Star Wars film. Williams's character, Mork, attempts to take Richie Cunningham to his planet of Ork as a specimen, but he is foiled by Fonzie. In the initial broadcast, it turned out to be a dream of Richie's. However, when Mork proved popular, the syndicated version was re-edited with a scene filmed showing Mork erasing the experience from everyone's minds.
The character of Mork was played by then-unknown Robin Williams, who impressed producer Garry Marshall with his quirky comic ability as soon as they met. Dom DeLuise and Roger Rees were offered the role, but both passed. Richard Lewis and Jeff Altman were considered.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mork & Mindy” as american television series. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as american television series. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q988037. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978 and 1982.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Mork & Mindy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Mork & Mindy primary sources, Mork & Mindy archive and Mork research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mork & Mindy”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Mork & Mindy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.