THE UNAUTHORIZED STORY OF 'MORK & MINDY'

Now if I said to you "nah-noo nah-noo", whilst I was signalling the Vulcan sign for 'I have a rabbit' with one hand; what would you think I was doing? (1) Resting against an invisible wall? (2) Defining the circumference of pie in Greek? Or (3) Insinuating that I'm going to tell you about a film Directed by Neill Fearnley; and Starring Chris Diamantopoulos, Erinn Hayes, plus Tyler Labine. It was made in 2005 and lasts for a whole 90 minutes. Give or take.


Mork and Mindy : The Story - The Show

THE STORY:

Now it's pretty safe to say that life wasn't always so hectic for animated buffoon, Robin Williams (Chris Diamantopoulos). Once upon a time this bodacious seventies comedian, just tried his best to keep his wife, Valerie (Michelle Harrison), happy, by doing his stick on the streets, in the clubs, and by partaking in the now defunct Richard Pryor show.

However, one day, all of that turned around when Robin met two televisions bods -- Garry Marshall and Harvey Severson (Daniel Roebuck and David Richmond-Peck) -- who introduced him to the wonderful world of 'Mork and Minky'.

Heyyyyyy!

OK, in retrospect, this 'event' was both a joyous and strained experience for Robin to be apart of. On the one hand, he got to work with some great writers, directors, and such beautiful people as Pam Dawber (Erinn Hayes) for instance. Whilst, on the other hand, Robin started to feel confined by the television ratings system, the censorship guide, plus a certain celebrity who inadvertently steered him down a dark and dismal path of no return.

No. Not Raquel Welsh (Ona Grauer). Mores the pity. John Belushi (Tyler Labine). The coke-head comic of 'Saturday Night Live', who shows Robin an outlet to temper his new-found trappings of fame - drugs. 

Shazbot!

Oh! And if you think that's bad, due to this fledgling drug-habit, Robin grows estranged with his wife, Valerie, his dependency affects the show, and on top of that, sh*t happens too!

Well, when I say 'sh*t', what I mean by this is that what next transpires is a task that not even Orson is able resolve. As films come a calling - shows start a falling - relationships begin to fly - plus a friend and a sit-com eventually die.

  

THE REVIEW:

Now like many of you who are the same age as I am (five-hundred and seven), I'm sure that you were first introduced to Robin Williams by watching him on the 'Mork and Mindy' television show. Heck, I can remember it as if it were yesterday. Channel Four. Six O'clock. Just after some program about asparagus. Bang! 'Nah-noo, nah-noo' became the buzz-word for the next half an hour or so, within a sit-com that was jam packed with colorful characters that made me laugh from start to finish.

And do you know what? Since then, I have become a very big Robin Williams fan. No. Let me re-phrase that statement. A BIIIIIIIIGGGGGGG Robin Williams fan. Here, check out some of these filmic facts for a myopic illustration of this. (1) Mork & Mindy ran from 1978 to 1982, and was distributed by the NBC television network. (2) Morks first appearance came in the fifth season of the hit sit-com 'Happy Days', in an episode called 'My Favorite Orkan'. (3) In the movie, the Harvey Severson character is based on the real-life series director, Howard Storm. Whilst the Lila Milford character was based on the real-life series writer, April Kelly. (4) Most of the story-lines in this sit-com were centered on Mork trying to understand the fundamental truth behind human behavior aided and abetted by my poor pretty Mindy. (5) Robin Williams used to improvise so much on set, that gaps were inserted into the script so he could 'riff' off a routine. (6) The actor playing Jay Leno in this flick actually won this small role on a contest held by 'The Tonight Show'. (7) Pam Dawber once stated that she had to bite her own lip so she would not ruin a take whilst acting with Robin. (8) Mork & Mindy became so popular that it even outranked the program that spawned it, 'Happy Days', as well as 'The Waltons' and ' Battlestar Galactica'. (9) A number of recurring characters were left out of this television movie. Such as: Nelson Flavor [Jim Staahl], Exidor [Robert Donner], Mr. Bickley [Tom Poston], Cathy McConnell [Shelley Fabares], and Glenda Faye Comstock [Crissy Wilzak Comstock]. (10) In 1987 Pam Dawber married the actor who plays Gibbs in NCIS, Mark Harmon. They have two sons together. (11) Robin Williams has been married three times. Firstly to Valerie Velardi; who gave him a son, Zak, whilst he gave her herpes. No joke. Secondly, to Marsha Garces Williams; who gave him two children, Zelda and Cody, whilst he gave her irreconcilable differences. Still no joke. And thirdly to Susan Schneider. So far so good.

OK, so now my own fandom is out of the way with (except if you click here that is), how good is 'The Unauthorized Story of Mork and Mindy', huh? Is it a Shazbot? Or is it a Hardy-Har-Har?

Well, a bit of both I suppose. Because I wasn't too keen on three things within this piece. Firstly, I did not like the way that the 'John Belushi' character seemed to act as a dark pariah for the 'Robin Williams' character. Almost insinuating that John was the chap to lead Robin astray. Secondly, I felt that this overall narrative told more than it showed. Not really illustrating visually the 'dark side' of Robin Williams, just giving you related exposition after the fact. And thirdly, considering that this film was meant to be about 'Mork and Mindy', there was not that much of 'Mindy' in it. Which is a shame, huh?

Apart from that though, I have to say that I really did enjoy watching this true-life dramatization an awful lot. I thought that all the actors -- especially the main core group, Daniel David, Chris, and Erinn -- really did pull off imitating their respective roles very well indeed. Not once did I think to myself 'Whose that supposed to be?' or 'That's not right!'; because they all captured the essence of the characters that they were supposed to portray. Moreover, the underling 'message' that this movie is trying to convey -- one relating to knowing what you want to do, rather than presuming that you know what you want to do -- is a very valid message to express.

Granted, 'The Unauthorised Story of Mork and Mindy' isn't the best film I have ever seen. However, in the same breath, it is far from being the worst either. I personally like to think of it as a film well worth watching if you are a fan of Robin, bio-pics, seventies television, and jovial narratives. Wouldn't you agree pre-selected YouTube clip?

Ha! What a clown.

THE RATING: A