ABC Stopped Mork And Mindy's Writers From Giving Pam Dawber's Character Any Depth

For fans of '70s sitcoms, it's hard to imagine Mork without Mindy. "Mork and Mindy" was an unexpected spin-off of "Happy Days" that starred Robin Williams as a spaceman learning about humans, and Pam Dawber as the Earthling he lived with and learned from. While it may sound like a series with two co-stars, network executives evidently made it very clear that only one of them should be the focal point.

After Williams appeared on "Happy Days" as Mork, the idea of giving him his own show came fast. The details, however, were not exactly fleshed out. "I don't think there were any thoughts beyond who the cast was going to be, who the characters were going to be, and the basic issue of his learning about life in Earth," show writer David Misch told Gizmodo. 

One particular issue was the development of Mindy's character. "April Kelly and I proposed an episode ... where Mindy was sort of agonizing over what she would do with her life," Misch revealed in the same interview. "And we got the word from on high. They said, 'No, no. Mindy's got to be the normal American girl, 'cause that's how Mork can play off her.'" In fact, the network discouraged giving the character any sort of background whatsoever. 

To say that the process of getting "Mork and Mindy" on the air was unconventional might be an understatement. For starters, the creators never filmed an actual pilot, and as Pam Dawber told ABC, she didn't even know she was involved until the series had been announced. "[My agent] calls me and says, 'You're not going to believe what I am reading you out of Variety ... ABC, Monday night, eight o'clock, 'Mork and Mindy,' starring Robin Williams and Pam Dawber," said Dawber. "And I'm on the phone going, 'What?' And I was mad. 'That sounds stupid! It sounds really stupid! I don't want to do a show like this.'"

Once Dawber accepted the role, however, she instantly fell in love with the concept and the brilliance of Robin Williams. Dawber and Williams are still remembered today as one of TV's best sitcom couples. Director Howard Storm told Gizmodo that, even though the network prevented the writers from fleshing out Dawber's character, she was essential to the sitcom's success. "Pam Dawber, as far as I'm concerned, never, ever got her due," he said. "To me, she was the life of the show. I mean without her, Robin had no one to work off of." "Mork and Mindy" ended up being a successful, if short-lived series. It ran for four seasons, but some fans consider it to be even better than the show that spawned it, "Happy Days."