Mork & Mindy: The Second Season

After an out of this world first season that unleashed Robin Williams, as extraterrestrial Mork from Ork, on an unsuspecting universe, Mork & Mindy fell to Earth. Williams remains a cosmic comic force, but the 24 episodes compiled in this four-disc 1979-80 second season set are not nearly as fresh or inspired. Unfortunately, there was nothing wrong with Mork & Mindy that a little network tampering couldn't wreck, beginning with a disco-fied version of the show's theme song. Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr, who portrayed Mork's Earthling friend Mindy's (Pam Dawber) uptight father and more far-out grandmother, are out (although Janis does return for a couple of episodes, one of which is the inevitable clip show). Jay Thomas and Gina Hecht are in as the sibling owners of the New York Delicatessen. Also joining the cast is Jim Staahl as Mindy's preppy cousin Nelson, a city councilman candidate, prompting many Mork potshots at politicians. Tom Poston, as grumpy Mr. Bickley and Robert Donner as addled cult leader Exidor enjoy expanded roles. But it remains Williams' world (we just laugh in it). If nothing else, Mork & Mindy was more ambitious in its second season, with hour-long episodes that veered from allegory (in the season opener, a shrunken Mork finds himself in a parallel universe where he joins a revolution against the Glums, who have outlawed humor) and high camp (Raquel Welch as Captain Nirvana—‘nuff said—in “Mork vs. the Necrotons”). The better episodes are those in which extraterrestrial Mork is confounded by human behavior and curious customs. In “Stark Raving Mork,” he picks a fight with Mindy thinking that it will add excitement to their relationship. In “Mork Learns to See,” he befriends Mr. Bickley's blind son to experience life as he does. While the show's pop culture references and topical gags are stuck in the ‘70s (Mork manages a pun on Menachem Begin's name), Williams' physical shtick is timeless, and Mork's exuberance and innocent wonder as he tries to find his place in our world may still resonate with a (na)new, (na)new generation. A strong optional purchase. (D. Liebenson)