| "" | |
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| Season 3, Episode # (#) in series (95 episodes) | |
| "Mork & Mindy" episode | |
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| Network: | ABC-TV |
| Production code: | |
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| Original airdate | November 13, 1980 |
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Putting The Ork Back In Mork (Part 2) is a Mork and Mindy episode from Season 3
Plot
The Orkan Elder puts Mork through a variety of tests to rid him of the "Earth Spirits" that have made him boring and humanistic.
Trivia
- Originally aired as the second half of an hour-long episode, and it appears in its original form on DVD. For syndication, a "previously on Mork & Mindy" bumper was added to the beginning of the show.
- It's revealed that the Orkan aging process is reversed.
- The Elder says that he's 7 micro-bleams old, which is 86 in Earth years. Bleams are an Orkan measurement of time, and one bleam equals 2,000 years. The prefix "micro" is completely incongruous, as it's only uttered here and the Elder later remarks of The Ritual of the Sacred Eggs, "I haven't done it in many bleams."
- Mork reveals that there are three moons on Ork, named Lumpy, Squeezy and Jo-Jo.
- Mork's pet noggachomp, Bebo, is introduced in this episode. Essentially Bebo was a rounded remote-controlled car covered with fur who chased Mindy around the apartment and appeared next to Mork as he made his reports to Orson throughout season 3. Bebo received as guest-starring credit as "himself" in each episode.
- After Mork smashes his head against the wall, he says, "I do not know any Libyans and I have not yet cashed the check." This is a dated political joke referring to Billygate, a scandal that occurred when American President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy Carter, became a government agent in Libya.
- When Mork slams his head against the wall the last time, he makes a comment about moving "Laverne & Shirley" to Thursday nights. This was a direct jab at ABC, which had moved the top-rated sister show from Tuesday to Thursday, causing ratings to fall off the chart.
- Mr. Bickley asks the Elder, "How'd you like to go for a ride in my Cuisinart?" Today, Cuisinart produces a wide array of kitchenware and appliances but at that time the word was primarily used as a brand-name for a food processor.
- Mork jokes that Mindy needs "asbestos shorts" to sit on the Orkan chair. Asbestos was known for being fire-retardant and was used in a variety of products, but its usage was later discontinued when its toxic properties were fully revealed.
- In a blatant spoof of The Excorsist, Mork refers to The Elder as an "eggsorcist," undergoes a ritual in which he's freed of Earth spirits and awakens from a dream in which his head was spinning and he spit out Linda Blair.
- Mork ends his possession with impressions of Richard Nixon regarding Watergate and The Wizard of Oz references.
Cast & Crew
Written by Ed Scharlach & Tom Tenowich
Directed by Howard Storm
- Robin Williams as Mork
- Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell
- Conrad Janis as Fred McConnell
- Tom Poston as Mr. Bickley
- Vidal Peterson as The Elder
- Bebo as Himself
- Ralph James as Orson