| "Ride 'em Morkboy" | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode #11 (#11) in series (26 episodes) | |
 | |
| "The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour" episode | |
| Guest Star(s): | Ralph James Frank Welker |
| Network: | ABC-TV |
| Production code: | 1x11 |
| Writer(s) | |
| Director | |
| Original airdate | October 30, 1982 |
IMDB 
|
Ride 'em Morkboy |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "The Wimp" | "Meet Mork's Mom" |
| List of Mork & Mindy seasons/episodes | |
Ride 'em Morkboy was a Mork and Mindy themed episode from the ABC-TV The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour animated series, the 11th overall episode of the series.
Summary[]
Mork has collected animal specimens for Orson and encased them in eggs to send back to Ork. Unfortunately, the eggs get broken on a hay truck at Boulder's annual Wild West Days, and when the rodeo animals consume they hay, they take on the characteristics of other animals.
Plot[]
Boulder Wild West Day, and the Rodeo parade is passing through the center of town. Mindy sitting with Doing in the stands is frustrated, looking around for Mork who promised to attend the Day with her. Looking to Doing she tells him to go home and tell Mork to get here before he misses the parade for the Rodeo, the Hibijonee zipping away to do as she asks.
Back at the McConnell House, in his attic room, Mork is making a report to Orson, who wants to know if the shipment of Eggs is ready. Standing beside cases of eggs, Mork salutes and indicates them telling Orson that, as ordered, most of them are ready to go and he'll ship them later on that afternoon. Each egg holding the characteristics of a single different Earth Animal. Demonstrating, he takes the egg marked Tiger and cracks it open on a plant in his room, which immediately takes on the aggressive aspects of the big Cat. Mork declaring it to be a real Tiger Lily. Impressed, and as Mork fights off the flower with a chair, Orson considers that they can now examine Earth animals on Ork without having to travel all the way there. Mork agrees, but reminds him that the eggs effects only last a few hours. Orson orders him to get the eggs to them as fast as he can, and be careful doing it. Informing him there could be disastrous consequences if any Earth animal eats the eggs. Mork snaps to, informing Orson that the Eggs will be with him safe and sound and as he's signing off, Doing bounds into the room and his arms. As Mork wonders what he's doing there thinking he was with Mindy, he gasps realizing he's forgotten about meeting Mindy. Figuring he can't leave the eggs where they are, as they are too dangerous, he picks up the pallets and decides to take them with him.
Alone in the stands, a fretting and irritated Mindy mutters that she shouldn't have let Mork out of her sight. A second later she hears him calling her name and is immediately alarmed as she catches sight of him carrying the egg palettes completely blind to what's ahead of him. One of the Rodeo Bulls. Yelling at him to watch out, she and Doing can't watch as Mork ends up sitting on the bulls head, before it angrily tosses him and eggs right up into the air. Shooting into the stands he lands beside Mindy, on his head. Asking if he's okay, he tells her that his head is the safest place for an Orkan to land. When she asks him if it hurts, he goes to joke only for one of his Eggs to land on his head. As Mork reacts, Mindy points directing his attention to the hay wagon and the eggs falling and cracking all over the hay. Mork tells her that if any animal eats that hay they'll take on the characteristic of whatever animals egg they've eaten and says they have to stop it before anything bad happens. But as they run to it, the driver, Mr. Skinner, stops the wagon and tells the surrounding kids to grab hold of fistfuls of the hay and go feed the rodeo animals, and by the time they get there all the hay is gone. As Mork and Mindy talk about what might happen, behind them Doing sniffs out a broken egg, and eats it. Hearing the effects they turn to see Doing react, the Hibijonee literally coming apart and taking flight, his head whistling like a bird, his middle part sounding like a cat and his rear a dog, chasing himself around. Mindy goes to catch Doing, but Mork stops her telling her that will have to wait, they have to stop the kids from feeding the other animals.
Racing up to the Rodeo Bull they find their too late. As they watch the Egg doused hay affects the bull whose eyes go crazed. Alarmed, Mork tells Mindy to watch out, getting in front of her to protect her, but after the bull rears up on to its hind legs and forms buck teeth, Mork figures out it ate the rabbit egg and wanders forward to hug it, telling Mindy it's as docile as a bunny. Before it springs up into the air with him. Giving chase, Mindy calls up to Mork to let go! Yelling back that that's a great idea and he should have thought of it, promptly letting go and ending up in a garbage can. Running up, Mindy plucks him out of it. As Mork thanks her for saving him, she points back at the array of animals who have all eaten the egg coated hay and are now acting bizarrely like other animals. Saying he's muddled up all the animals Mindy is about to ask him what he's going to do when she's interrupted by the Mayor pulling up in his Cadillac having overheard her, and slams Mork, saying the reputation of Boulder is on the line and they have to have the Rodeo. If Mork doesn't get the animals back to normal then he'll make it his business to see Mork is run out of town permanently. Mork tries to assure the Mayor he'll have them back to normal in time. But as the Mayor drives off, Mindy asks how he plans to do that. Mork confessing he has no idea, but job one is to round them up.
As the two of them trace the animals tracks, Mork with a huge butterfly net, Mindy jumps back and clings to him as the bushes in front of them start to move. Figuring it has to be one of the bezerb critters, Mork dives into the bush with his net, the sounds of a struggle echoing out to Mindy, until Mork is thrown back out at her feet and clings to her legs. When she asks what it was, he tells her it's a Jack Rabbit that's been turned into a Raging Bull. The rabbit emerging, pawing on the ground and snorting, convinces Mork that this is no Easter Bunny and he tells Mind to run for it. But as they flee, the rabbit springs after them and head butts Mork, sending him flying into a swimming pool.
Telling Mindy he's okay as he climbs out, Mindy hears Doing and the two of them see the various parts of Doing still a Bird, Cat, Dog flying overhead. All of a sudden Doing's disparate parts come back together and he falls back into Mork's arms complete and back to normal. Just as Mork is welcoming his pal back though, Mindy points again and the look up this time to see a horse. Swinging through the trees, sounding like a chimp. That is until it falls and lands on Mork, and asks 'Polly want a cracker?' Mork extricating himself figures the horse must have eaten both a monkey egg and a parrot egg. Luckily, he feels, the effects of the eggs will wear off in an hour, but Mindy points out they don't have an hour, the Rodeo is just about to start, and if they don't get them restored the Mayor is going to...but Mork cuts her off with a click of his finger, which starts to glow, saying he has it, wondering why he hasn't thought of it before. When he doesn't say what, she presses him, reminding him the goofy animals are scattered all over town. Right, he agrees, and he's going to make like the Pie Eyed Piper of Hamlin and lead them all in. Playing his finger like a flute, Mork gets the Horse to follow him, and sets off, collecting the crazy animals, mostly horses, from people's gardens and swimming pools. His pied piper plan working, Mork tells his Little Mama that now they have to get them back to the Rodeo.
Inside the Mayor and the Rodeo owner are waiting impatiently, until both are startled by the sight of Mork leading the horses in playing his finger. Putting the horses back in the corral, Mork tells the still crazy acting horses that they'll soon be as good as new. The Mayor wants to get the Rodeo started, but the owner tells him he's crazy if he thinks they're going to ride those mixed up animals. The Mayor tells them he has to, they can't have a Rodeo without Bulldogging and Horse Riding and Stunts. But the owner is adamant they're not riding them. Overhearing them, Mork, doing his best bowlegged John Wayne impression intimating they're yellow. When the Rodeo calls him on it, Mork imitates a chicken. Infuriated, the owner grabs a hold of him and tells Mork if he's so good with riding the crazy critters he should do it, and flings him onto the Rabbit Bull, who immediately springs out into the ring with Mork on its back. The fact that the Bull is bouncing along on its hind legs makes it easier for Mork to hold on and he starts to get cocky calling out to Mindy, and not seeing a banner ahead of him, which he smacks into and shoots him back to land on one of the horses, which takes off. Landing in the ring, the horse to the Announcers amazement, acts like a gopher and digs down into the Rodeo arena with Mork on his back.
With the Announcer lost for words, Mindy gets into the box and nabs the microphone telling the crowd it's Mork the Wildest Wild West Trick Rider in the World! As the Gopher Horse emerges again and crashes into one of the fences, Mork sees the Raging Bull Rabbit hop by and grabs hold of it. The rabbit promptly dragging him away. Thinking quickly, Mindy announces that this is Mork demonstrating the Australian Rabbit riding technique, telling the crowd they breed them mean down under. But her hopeful mood vanishes as she sees a load of the crazy animals all entering the ring at once, knowing he won't be able to handle them all. Thankfully the bull in front of Mork is acting like a puppy. But Mindy's worry only increases as beyond him, the effects of the eggs on the collective group of wild horses and bulls in the ring with Mork is wearing off. All of them charging towards him, Mork not realizing, and calling to them as if they're all dogs, ducks and canaries...right until the first bull tosses him into the air, and onto the back of a bucking bronco which throws him back onto the head of a bull, which flips him outside the ring and onto the owner of the Rodeo.
The Mayor bears down on Mork furiously, accusing him of ruining his Rodeo, until he's distracted by the sound of the cheering crowds. The Rodeo crowd having loved it. A short while later the same crowds are on the street as Mork & Mindy are given a parade while sitting in the back of the Mayor's Cadillac. Driven by the Mayor. Drawling in her best 'Old West' accent that Mork was terrific, Mork slides his thumbs under his suspenders answering it by saying it 'Weren't nuttin'' any green blooded Orkan couldn't have done, grinning as Mindy kisses him.
Trivia[]
Orkan 'Facts'[]
- Mork seems to intimate that Orkans have green blood. But this has never been something established in the show. And Mearth, regarded physiologically as an Orkan, bleeds red (Cheerleaders in Chains).
Pop Culture[]
- As the Bull/Rabbit springs up into the air with Mork. Mork imitates the sound the Six Million Dollar Man makes when he jumps.
- Mork describes the Jack Rabbit as a 'Raging Bull' a reference to the 1980 biopic of Jake LaMotta, starring Robert De Niro, a friend of Robin Williams.
- Mork says he's going to make like the Pie Eyed Piper of Hamlin, meaning the Pied Piper, Pie Eyed meaning drunk.
- The Mayor references 'Bulldogging' (also known as Steer Wrestling), Horse Riding (Bronco Busting) and Stunts all traditional events at Rodeos.
- Mork wheels out his John Wayne impression again when taunting the Rodeo Owner and his riders for being too chicken to ride the crazy horses.
Gallery[]
Cast/Characters[]
- Robin Williams as Mork
- Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell
- Ralph James as Orson
- Frank Welker as Doing