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Was it a big mistake casting Jonathan Winters in that role? Should it have been a child actor?

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Was it a big mistake casting Jonathan Winters in that role? Should it have been a child actor?
No I blame the producers who thought casting Jonathon Winters as Mearth was a good idea. It was just another in a long list of bad choices by the producers. it started with dumping Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr (Mindy's father and grandmother) after the first season and replacing them with younger supporting characters played by Jay Thomas and Gina Hecht. And they just kept making more bad decisions through the rest of the run. It was definitely the producers fault that this show that started out so well went so downhill.

I agree. I like Jonathan Winters, but when they cast an adult as their baby, the show really went downhill fast. I know that he was supposed to be an adult and get younger, but it really wasn't that funny of a concept. They couldn't honestly think that the show was going to last long enough to see him all the way through to "infancy", did they?: lol:

...blame the producers for another round of changes.

Ever since they worked together in an April 1981 episode [when Johnnie guest-starred as Conrad Janis' brother], Robin was thrilled to be working opposite his comedy idol and inspiration on a regular basis (and, unfortunately, he suffered the same kind of personal problems Winters did, just short of being committed {Johnnie often referred to it as "The Zoo"}). By the time the series began its fourth season that fall, virtually all of the supporting cast- save for Janis- had been eliminated {and losing Tom Poston was a big mistake as well}, and the series began filming without a live audience, which was a blow to Robin's creativity, as he works best with a bunch of people watching him improvise. The new director, Bob Claver, had previously been involved with several "laughtracked" Screen Gems/Columbia shows (including "THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY"), and just didn't understand how to get the best reactions from Robin and Johnnie; what should have been screamingly funny moments between them (as it had been in their first episode together) just- "laid there".

And the ratings fell. And ABC gave no encouragement as to how to "fix" the program, other than, "Do something to make people watch it again, or you're cancelled!".



Perhaps the show ended as it should have.

:tv:

I too blame the producers (and the network) who thought that plot was a good idea. Mearth gave me nightmares - a huge grown man in diapers babbling creeped this little girl out!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Jonathan Winters could have been great with Robin Williams on the show, but whoever's idea it was to have him play a giant baby should take the blame for the final season's problems.

^ Exactly.

Jonathan Winters could have been great with Robin Williams on the show, but whoever's idea it was to have him play a giant baby should take the blame for the final season's problems.i agree

Jonathan Winters was the only good thing about the last couple years of M&M. He made me start watching again.

I don't blame the casting of Jonathon Winters as Mearth, if I had to blame anything it would be the everchaning concepts in the show. If the cast would have stayed the same for the entire series the show may have lasted longer. It's okay to add new characters, but don't chance the entire concept.

Also, I blame the constant changing of time slots.

If the show would have stayed in the direction it first started out in, the series may have had some more seasons. They tried to fix what wasn't broke, and in doing so they caused the eventual demise of a great show.

When Jay Thomas joined the cast, it JTS. :lol:

Did anyone like poor Remo? :eek: :lol: I have yet to meet anyone who did. I DID greatly enjoy Jay Thomas' performance as Coach Meister in Mr. Holland's Opus - he did a terrific job there.

Did anyone like poor Remo? :eek: :lol: I have yet to meet anyone who did. I DID greatly enjoy Jay Thomas' performance as Coach Meister in Mr. Holland's Opus - he did a terrific job there.
Remo was okay but I had a crush on his sister Jean played by Gina Hecht!

Gina Hecht was also great in the recurring role of Patti LuPone's cousin on Life Goes On. You may want to look up Pam Dawber's Lifetime Intimate Portrait, which is up on YouTube. Gina is one of the interviewees. :cool:

Gina Hecht was also great in the recurring role of Patti LuPone's cousin on Life Goes On. You may want to look up Pam Dawber's Lifetime Intimate Portrait, which is up on YouTube. Gina is one of the interviewees. :cool:
Cool! I'll have to check that out!

It was made in 2002, and among the interviewees are Robin Williams, Gina Hecht, Jenny O'Hara, Beau Bridges, and of course, Mark Harmon. I think this special was before NCIS.

It was made in 2002, and among the interviewees are Robin Williams, Gina Hecht, Jenny O'Hara, Beau Bridges, and of course, Mark Harmon. I think this special was before NCIS.
I watched this last night and really enjoyed it. Didn't realize Pam had experienced so much heartache in her life. Gina stilled looked beautiful. I noticed that NCIS was never mentioned so I think your right that this show was made before NCIS started.

It was indeed a great special.

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Was it a big mistake casting Jonathan Winters in that role? Should it have been a child actor?


I was never crazy about Mork and Mindy growing up, but I did watch it. But when they brought in Jonathan Winters as the baby they had....oh, that was the end for me. I couldn't watch the show anymore. It had just gotten more sillier than it already was. So, IMO....YES!!!! Having an overgrown man as their baby was a horrible addition to the show.

For me I think it was difference between being 20 when it started and 24 when it finished.

I'll never understand why Winters couldn't have just joined the cast as Mindy's uncle. Just have him buy their building or the television station or something, and there's your excuse to have him drop-in and do schtick with Robin every week.

I agree - Jonathan Winters as a relative of Mindy's could have caused all sorts of hilarity. He could've been a comic foil to Mindy's dad (who I think was still on the show then) or to Mr. Bickley. Oh, the wasted possibilities!!! :(

The show was going downhill fast right from the start. The first season had the best formula, then they changed it, brought in all sorts of new annoying characters and took out the dad and grandma, got them out of the music store.

Mork grates in no time flat, and I think that was the Achilles's heel of this show.

Imagine 8 years of Mork's antics?

Should have stayed a minor re-occurring character in Happy Days.

Pam Dawber on the other hand remains a joy to look upon.

I don't blame him i blame who ever came up with the idea of the character itself not winters.why couldn't they just had a baby and have some fun with that some way. I think mork and mindy raising a baby could have been fun if done right

I don't blame winters what so ever. I blame the writers for whos brillaint idea it was for that storyline,period. If they were going to have a baby,have a baby not an a adult

They had already established in previous seasons that Orkans have a backwards aging process. Bearing this in mind, Mindy would likely have preferred to adopt a baby. That might have made the last season just as funny and a lot less weird. And I like the idea of Jonathan coming back as the uncle instead of the "bouncing baby man."

hmmm, Orkans age backwards? I guess I don't remember that.

I thought it was crazy. But, I don't blame it on the downfall of the show. What I blame for the downfall was when they moved the show for a bit after the first season. It never really gained viewers back after that. It just kept dropping.

I do agree though that it should have been a child actor. Having a middle aged man for a child was just strange.

hmmm, Orkans age backwards? I guess I don't remember that.

Yes, years before Jonathan Winters joined the cast, maybe for S2, I remember that an Orkan elder, to be played by a child actor, was going to be added to the cast, so I wasn't surprised that an older actor would be cast as Mork's child.

Chris "Rowdy C (http://rowdyc.com/)" Moore put Mork and Mindy's marriage and the arrival of Mearth on his list of TV Trash (http://rowdyc.com/tag/tv-trash-2/)'s "worst television storylines" ever. Basically, he argues that when Mearth turned what was once a show simply about Mork's escapades on Earth turned into a "quirky family sitcom". For those who wanted Mork and Mindy to "tie the knot", it was really a case of "be careful what you wish for"!

i've been rewatching all the episodes on the Cloo marathon and i don't know why people are so hard on the final season.

sure, the show seems stupid in today's world, but in its original frame of reference it was just supposed to be a goofy show in the late 70's; it was mainly a vehicle for Robin Williams - and later Jonathan Winters - to goof around and riff away. Sure the scripts and plots were ridiculously silly, but they were supposed to be, I still blame the producers for cast changes that caused all the problems - they were the ones that wanted M&M to get married and start a family.

No I blame the network for their interference that's what killed the show. The network interference always does

i've been rewatching all the episodes on the Cloo marathon and i don't know why people are so hard on the final season.

sure, the show seems stupid in today's world, but in its original frame of reference it was just supposed to be a goofy show in the late 70's; it was mainly a vehicle for Robin Williams - and later Jonathan Winters - to goof around and riff away. Sure the scripts and plots were ridiculously silly, but they were supposed to be, I still blame the producers for cast changes that caused all the problems - they were the ones that wanted M&M to get married and start a family.
Well said Roby, I agree! I thought JW did a great job. I truly believe Mearth was a baby in a man's body lol

I don't I blame the People that Fired Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr after the first season

I don't I blame the People that Fired Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr after the first season


welcome to the boards:wave:

Johnny Winters is one of my all time favorites, but I had stopped watching this long before he turned up. Jay Thomas has always been a complete mystery to me, and the show just stopped dead when they went into that deli.


welcome to the boards:wave:

Thank you for the warm welcome.:wave:

Thank you for the warm welcome.:wave:


Facebook caused this site to lose activity so I am always glad to see new members


especially on the 70's board:)

Thank you! Is there a thread somewhere new people check in and say hello? I couldn't find one.


Chit Chat section

Thank you! Is there a thread somewhere new people check in and say hello? I couldn't find one. Yes, like TVFactFan said, the best place to post a greeting is Chit Chat. :)

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=154

I don't blame Jonathan Winters, I blame the producers and the writers. Mearth wasn't a bad character, it's just that some of the storylines which revolved around him were awful ideas. The episode where he's captured by a cult is probably the best example of that.

Since the show was no longer filmed in front of a live studio audience, Robin Williams doesn't seem too interested anymore although that could be due to drug use. Not as much wacky improv as in previous seasons, except when he's doing something with Jonathan.

Mork is toned down and sometimes is just playing a straight man to Mearth which kinda makes sense since he's a father now, but it doesn't help make the show funnier.

Still, Season 4 isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The episode where Mork loses his memory and goes back to being the old Mork from Season 1 is as good as any of the best episodes and when Robin and Jonathan do something funny together it's always a highlight.

It was the final nail in the coffin of a show that had been dying creatively and ratings-wise since season 2.

You can blame the ABC network for this: They had this demographic study done that convinced them that viewers wanted to see youthful, more energetic characters because they wanted to cater to a more...well, youthful demographic.

I was 12 years old during the first season and I liked Cora and Fred just fine.

Mork And Mindy was far from broken, but ABC forced Garry Marshall to add youthful characters to the show to appeal to a younger demographic, but all it did ultimately was kill the show.

I remember watching the first season when it first debuted (I was very young, but my oldest brother loved the show) and I was very confused after they dumped the older characters in season 2. And when Mearth came along, I couldn't make sense of the character. It became too crazy and downright bizarre, but I don't blame Winters. The show was already going downhill.

no, i blame the writers and whoever made the decision to have a grown up baby. it made the show even more daft.

no, i blame the writers and whoever made the decision to have a grown up baby. it made the show even more daft.

I agree.

Mork & Mindy began its downward spiral with season two.

The whole Mearth thing was the final nail in the coffin.

Jonathan Winter's could have been kick ass as something else. Why not just have Winter's character be another adult astronaut as Mork who was sort of there to spy on him, or be somewhat of a troublemaker in the town (discovering alcohol and scamming free drinks off of people in the bar with the "sipping finger" routine). Just anything but what the show did. I was a child then and we loved the show, but I gave up on it by then.

From Wikipedia, Jonathan Winters spent some time in a psychiatric institution twice in the late 50's, early 60's. I can see him being "bi-polar". I have never heard of "bi-polar" until I was sent to the "zoo" for drug addiction and met some of these people. Mostly good people who were not mentally ill, but their brain chemistry is fouled.

I had a younger friend I have known come to the house one afternoon, and he acted like he just murdered somebody, or he was on a real bad drug trip, or did too much cocaine. He was jumpy, jittery, sweaty, chain smoking. His bi-polar was just getting the best of him. There is medication for that that helps to some degree.

Winters drank a lot of alcohol, since he was in the profession and the generation where people drank a lot of alcohol. Dunno if Winters quit, or went to AA, or wherever, but this might be another connection Winters had with Robin Williams. Winters lived to be 87, which is fairly remarkable for a guy who was overweight all of his life, and went through the stresses of mental illness and fame and probably drank alcohol excessively for many years.

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Was it a big mistake casting Jonathan Winters in that role? Should it have been a child actor?

Haven't posted in this place in YEARS!
But I had to pipe up for the question of this 6 year old thread.

In my opinion, Jonathan Winters was PERFECT CASTING for this role.
Who else could it be?
One of Robin Williams' comedy 'fathers' in real life now playing his comedy 'son' on TV.

And I like what they did in that 4th season, further exploring Mork & Mindy's relationship to the utmost.
From the very beginning of the show you could tell that they would end up married.
That was the ONE part of the show that endured throughout each of the drastic changes each season.
So naturally you have to figure out how a loving couple like Mork & Mindy would be like if they had a child.

The way I see the show is that it's SUPPOSED to be zany & off the wall.
That's the POINT!
It's not SUPPOSED to be normal. AT ALL.
That's what will make the show endure throughout the generations.
I LIKE the abnormal sci-fi storylines within the show.
Reverse aging fits right in with this insane TV show, the way I see it.

Looking back on it, none of the extreme changes damaged the core of the show.
It was crazy & madcap, full of sci-fi/fantasy/action sequences, yet still had heart & warmth.
The performances of the title characters was the core & anchor of the series.

MORK and MINDY.

Robin Williams balanced by Pam Dawber.

Throughout Robin Williams' comic craziness or deep drama you have Pam Dawber's earthy groundedness or surprising goofiness.
Their chemistry on screen & the way they effortlessly played off each other is what made the show for me.

So bringing Jonathan Winters into the show as their son Mearth opened up new paths to take the characters.
It gives Robin a chance to have ricochet riffs off of Jonathan & it shows Pam's quiet control of the riffing madmen as she plays straightwoman to their antics.

Pam's performance in that show is very underrated, by the way.
Her subtle control & boundaries that make the comic skits have maximum impact.
I like how she quietly hams up a performance herself with subtle funny comments within the dialogue & her silly reactions/expressions to Robin and later Jonathan.
She really was a great actress.

The show was rocked by its time slot changes & drastic casting overhauls but I don't think any of it INCLUDING the addition of Jonathan Winters as Mearth ruined the show at all.
The core was constant through each season.

If this show came out today in the current state TV's in, it would be on the air past 10 years AT LEAST.
They took chances with this show & did original stuff.
'Mearth being an old man as a child' took guts.
It was a gutsy decision that fit the insane nature of this entire show to begin with.

If you wanna pick on a character that dragged the show, try Nelson Flavor.
That should have been a guest star role at most.
He was a good choice for the 1980 election year cultural transition between Jimmy Carter & Ronald Reagan but other than that, BLAH!

John Lucas

I am working my way through the complete series on DVD and watching the early episodes of season 4 right now. I was born in 1978 right before the show started. My earliest memories are from reruns in the early 80s after the show was done. I have watched on and off since than.

I am glad the most recent post agrees with me. Jonathan Winters was a great addition. It’s ridiculous to think hey should have cast a little kid. The only reason they created Mearth was for Winters to play the role.

I do not think the show ever would have lasted more than 5 or 6 years at most. Maybe if the network had not changed the time slot or cast. But even than it was mostly a gimmick. It was on longer than My Favorite Martian.

Having Mork and Mindy marry meant actual development. It’s a sitcom about an alien of course they needed to play up than for humor in making the child a man! Plus it had been established Orkans age in reverse. That might be my earliest memory of the show as a kid.

I wish they had mentioned that Mearth looks liked Mindy’s Uncle. It is proof that Mearth has some of Mindy’s DNA. I like to think it was discussed in a off camera moment we did not see but she was in so much shock it was the last thing on her mind.

Considering when Mindy’s Dad did return he interacted with characters who techinically replaced him. They never needed to close the Music Shop. Mork and Mindy could have alternated visiting it and the Da Vinci’s restaurant. Like people do in real life. But tv, in particular at that time, is about actor’s contracts and repeating the same patterns week to week.

No I blame the network for their interference that's what killed the show. The network interference always does

What were the specific changes ABC made to "Mork and Mindy" that led to a decline in viewer ratings, and why did they think these changes would work? (https://www.quora.com/What-were-the-specific-changes-ABC-made-to-Mork-and-Mindy-that-led-to-a-decline-in-viewer-ratings-and-why-did-they-think-these-changes-would-work/answer/FeverIndex)

To beat Archie Bunker in the ratings, ABC took America's hottest new sitcom, fired half its cast, and practically destroyed Mork & Mindy in a single summer.

Following a debut season in 1978 that skyrocketed Robin Williams to unprecedented fame, the network's drastic alterations for Season 2 quickly alienated the fanbase.

The changes were driven by a mix of corporate hubris and a fundamental misunderstanding of why the show worked in the first place. ABC implemented three major shifts:


The Time Slot Weaponization: In Season 1, the show dominated Thursday nights. For Season 2, ABC executives decided to use their biggest hit as a battering ram against a rival network. They moved Mork & Mindy to Sunday nights at 8:00 PM specifically to challenge CBS’s Archie Bunker’s Place (the continuation of All in the Family). They assumed audiences would follow Robin Williams anywhere.

The Cast Purge: Executives felt the show needed a younger, more "hip" vibe to appeal to trendy demographics. They abruptly wrote out Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr, who played Mindy’s father and grandmother. To replace them, ABC introduced Remo and Jean DaVinci (played by Jay Thomas and Gina Hecht), a brother-sister duo who ran a local deli.

The Tonal Shift: Season 1 balanced Mork’s manic alien antics with grounded, heartwarming interactions as he tried to understand human nature. In Season 2, the network pushed the writers to lean into surreal slapstick, disco-era trends, and heavy-handed moralizing. Mork was thrust into increasingly bizarre, cartoonish scenarios.


ABC executives believed these changes would work because they thought Robin Williams's improvisational energy was the only reason people tuned in. They severely underestimated the importance of the show's emotional core. Mindy’s family had provided a necessary, grounded contrast to Mork’s hyperactive comedy. Without the traditional family dynamic, Mork was no longer an alien learning about ordinary human life; he was just a chaotic character bouncing off trendy caricatures.

The strategy was a spectacular failure. The new time slot against an established sitcom hurt viewership, and audiences actively rejected the new characters and the loss of the show's heart. Ratings plummeted instantly. By the time ABC realized their mistake—bringing back Mindy's father and grandmother and moving the show back to Thursdays for Season 3—the magic was gone, and the mainstream audience had already moved on.