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"The Greatest Shmo on Earth"
Season 1, Episode #2
(#2) in series (26 episodes)
Mork & Mindy The Animated Series 02 The Greatest Shmo On Earth
"The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour" episode
Guest Star(s): Shavar Ross
Frank Welker
Ralph James
Network: ABC-TV
Production code: 1x2
Writer(s)
Director
Original airdate September 25, 1982
IMDB IMDb logo The Greatest Shmo on Earth
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"Who's Minding the Brat"
(Series pilot)
"To Ork or Not to Ork"
List of Mork & Mindy seasons/episodes

The Greatest Shmo on Earth was the second Mork and Mindy episode from the ABC-TV The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour animated series, the second episode of the series.

Summary[]

When Mork, Mindy and Eugene go to the circus, the evil ringmaster takes notice of Doing's unique abilities and decides to make him part of the sideshow. When Mork protests, the trio are kicked out of the circus and have to sneak back into the bigtop disguised as clowns to mount a rescue.

Plot[]

At the Malt Shop across from Mt. Mount High, Mork's Grimbel Pazetti is parked outside with the other student's cars and bikes. Inside, Mork and Mindy, with Doing snoozing under the table, are sitting happily together with their malts, until Milk starts drinking his with his finger. Acting quickly Mindy tells him to stop in case someone sees him and throws a straw into his glass for him to use, only for him to use his finger to drink through the straw instead, commenting on how clever Earth inventions are. As he's doing so, Eugene walks over to them, and shows them he has three free tickets for the circus. Excited, Mork gets up and heads straight out with them.

However, once there, Mork is less than impressed with acts like Elephants balancing on their forelegs and heads, claiming he sits like that all the time, and without a big nose to balance him. In the center ring, the Ring Master announces the greatest Dog act on earth. Two toy pink poodles doing a series of balancing tricks. When Mindy comments that she thinks they're terrific, Mork declares them a bunch of nimnuls, and tells her on Ork a baby Hibijonee can do better tricks that that. Doing agreeing. Confused Eugene asks what a 'Hib-bin-jonee' is, Mindy covering quickly telling him it's just Mork's funny way of talking. But Mork is determined to prove his point and tells Doing they're going to show them what a full grown Hibijonee can do.

Heading out into the Center Ring, Doing promptly climbs up to where the poodles are, picks them and starts juggling them, to the audiences great enjoyment. And that of the Ring Master, who immediately sees opportunity (and dollar signs) in Doings abilities. Going to his Circus strongman, the Ring Master gives him instructions, and he climbs up to the trapeze above. As Mork proudly stands by with Mindy and Eugene watching Doing, Mindy alerts him to what's going on above, the acrobat swinging down towards them on the trapeze. Mistaking the trapeze for an Orkan bed, Mork laughs the guy off for sleeping on the job, until Mindy points out that she thinks he's actually up to dog-napping. The strongman grabbing Doing, and the audience thinking it's part of the act. As they watch horrified, the acrobat tosses Doing to the Ring Master who catches him in a net, and makes off with him. Mork, Mindy and Eugene giving chase.

At the rear of the circus tent, hiding behind the elephant, the trio hears the Ringmaster saying they're going to head out tonight with the greatest act in all circus history. Doing locked in one of the travelling cars for the railway. Outraged, Mork breaks cover and confronts the Ringmaster, calling him a nimnul and saying Doing his ease, even if he is an alien, and looks like a crimlock he still has a license and has all his Finkel shots. Joining him with Eugene, Mindy tells him to cut to the chase and get him to let Doing out of the cage. Telling the Ringmaster his 'Little Mama' is correct, Mork checks his anklewatch and puts the Ringmaster on a timer to let Doing out of the cage or face the consequences. But the Ringmaster tells the strong man to get rid of the three nuts. Grabbing them and despite Mindy and Mork's protests them he turfs them out of the circus grounds. Outside Eugene figures they're in a real fix, with no way they can get back in the same way. Figuring he's right, Mindy wonders what they can do, Mork wondering the same until he catches sight of a clown, and tells them he has it. Has what, Mindy wonders. Mork taking hold of her hand and pulling her after him telling her they have to dress up as those 'bezerb' circus persons.

The three of them sneak past a clown working on his make up and into the Wardrobe tent, emerging back out dressed as clowns and making for the tent door the Circus Strongman is guarding. As they pass him, Mork, putting on a mock Italian accent tells him to be on the look out for the three 'Looney Birds' who tried to sneak in, before Mindy yanks him away. As they make their way through the Center Ring, they are intercepted first by the announcement of the Coo-Coo Crazy Clowns, and then by the rest of the clowns arriving and shoving them into the Clown Car with them. After they are extricated by a small elephant, Mork concludes that show business is no business for him. But as Mindy sees the Ringmaster coming towards them her instruction to Mork to act like a clown, results in him lifting both her and a startled Eugene up with his finger. The Ringmaster thinks its just some crummy trick however, and tells Mork to come up with something better than that or they're fired. Taking him literally, Mork takes both Mindy and Eugene on his shoulders and levitates them all up into the air. When Mindy tells him to get them down, confused at the mixed signals, Mork dumps them all in the Seal tank. Which actually impresses the Ring Master, telling Mork that act will get him a raise.

As they move on through the tent Mork spots the entrance that leads to Doing's cage, but Eugene spots the Ring Master again. Feeling the need to hide, Mork points to a funnel pointing through a tent door and tells his 'Little Mama and Little Munchkin' to climb in. Unsure, Mindy tells him she thinks it looks like a...but Mork cuts her off saying there's no time for chit chat and getting her to follow him into it. Exactly like Mindy feared the funnel is a cannon, the Ring Master announcing the Great Cannonball Carny, who climbs in after them Mork still insisting there's a way out. Before all of them are fired out of the cannon. As they fly through the air, Mindy hears the Ringmaster yell 'Hey Rube!' on seeing them, essentially calling the circus cavalry to try and catch them. Landing outside the tent on a pile of hay, the trio make for Doing's cage, Mork tries to use his finger to burn through the lock on the cage door but finds it out of energy, right as Mindy shouts the alarm that the Ringmaster and his cavalry are coming.

When Eugene says they better split, Mork gets an idea and tells Doing to 'split', the Hibijonee segmenting himself. Though still unable to get through the bars until Mindy tells him to turn sideways. Sliding out he reforms himself and all of them make a run for it, only to end up back in the Center Ring with the Ringmaster and Strongman behind them, and the Lion Tamer and his Lions in front of them. With little option, Mork gets them to follow him up to the trapeze apparatus, the strongman climbing after them, confident of his ability to catch them with his expertise. Hanging off the trapeze, holding Mindy and Eugene by either hand, with Doing clinging to him, Mork swings out on the trapeze, the strong man following on a second one. As their momentum starts to bring them back towards him, Mindy calls for Mork to use his finger on him. Agreeing with his 'Little Mama' he uses his finger to snap the ropes on the trapeze sending the strongman falling, yelling his way down into the seal tank below. Eugene, his eyes covered wants to know when they're down, Mindy wanting to know how they plan to get down.

Mork replies that's simplicity itself, and just lets go, all of them falling into the acrobat's net below. Bouncing off it, Mork careens into the Ringmaster sending him flying back into a Toffee puller at the concessions stand. Stuck to it, Mork 'helps him out', by firing him out of it, sending him right into a hay bale, where an elephant grabs the toffee and hay covered Ring Master hoisting him intent on eating him. The audience thinking it's all 'a bit' applaud wildly. Running up to him, Eugene asks what happened, Mindy proudly telling him that Mork just 'taffy-ed and feathered' the bad guy, becoming the hit of the show. Blushing, Mork tells her, to Eugene's complete confusion, that it wasn't anything, just a flying fribble and a zap from his finger giving the bad guy the gorgles.

Back in his attic room, Mork makes his report to Orson, about the bezerb show called a Circus where giant animals balance on their noses and they shoot men out of cannons. And, they sleep on the job, hanging on bars just like Orkans, only swinging back and forth like nimnuls.

Trivia[]

Orkan 'Facts'[]

  • There is apparently an equivalent to the FBI on Ork. The FBOrk.

General[]

  • The title is a riff on Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 Best Picture Oscar Winning, Circus set movie 'The Greatest Show on Earth'.
  • Shmo is another example of Yiddish being incorporated into the scripts. Often meant as Fool or Dolt, it's a shortened version of Schmo or Schmuck, which actually means penis...or in this case a dick.
  • Mork and the Ringmaster have a dialogue exchange that's practically identically to the exchange between Mork and Dr. Litney in the Pilot of the live-action series regarding the "anklewatch" that Mork wears.
  • In giving his report to Orson, Mork does his '40s radio reporter' shtick as he did in the live action show.
  • The words bezerb (drunk) and gorgles (near death) are used in the episode, though not precisely with the same meaning as they were in the live action show.

Pop Culture[]

  • When Mindy tells Mork to do something after Doing is captured, Mork calls for the Cavalry, along with go to references, Superman and John Wayne, along with the FBOrk.
  • As they are being tossed out, Mork demands to see the Orkan Ambassador, saying he knows his rights, having watched the classic police show, Dragnet, and quoting the line 'Book 'em Danno', from Hawaii 5-0.
  • Mork's Italian voice mimics that of one of the Marx Brothers, Chico Marx, even though he's dressed up to look like Harpo Marx, when a clown.


Main Cast/Characters[]

Gallery[]

External links[]

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