Mork & Mindy telepic in the works.

David*P · 12-15-2004, 11:56 AM

This just in from zap2it.com:

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Much of NBC's telefilm present continues to be raiding ABC's past. Just as the network did with "Charlie's Angels" and "Three's Company," NBC is taking a warts-and-all look back on a classic ABC series with "Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Mork & Mindy.'"
The original movie will look at the 95-episode run of the "Happy Days" spinoff, which premiered in 1978. Much of the focus will be on the rise to fame of star Robin Williams, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Canadian actor Chris Diamantopoulos, who starred in the ABC pilot "The DeMarco Affairs" from David E. Kelly, has been cast as Williams. Diamantopoulos has appeared on Broadway in "The Full Monty" and in episodes of "American Dreams" and "Charmed."

Garry Marshall, who executive produced "Happy Days" and "Mork & Mindy," will also play a major role in the movie, though the part has yet to be cast.
Matt Dorff, who looked at yet another ABC show for the NBC movie "Growing Up Brady," will executive produce the "Mork" movie, which was written by David Misch ("Duckman"), who got his start as a writer on "Mork & Mindy." Neill Fearnley of "Inside the Osmonds," will direct the movie, which will go into production next Month.

"The movie is a celebration of a great sitcom and the comic genius of Robin Williams," Dorff says. "It also explores the downside of the show's overnight success when the network takes a hit show and tries to fix it."

Among the network "fixes" on "Mork & Mindy" were the firing of original cast members Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr and the introduction of Jonathan Winters' reverse-aging baby Mearth from Earth.
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All though those movies seem to be cheesy they always seem to have something new about the series that I never knew. It'll be interesting to see if Chris can channel Robin's manic energy.

Mikel_Cooperman · 12-15-2004, 03:54 PM

Havent heard of this one but am looking forward to the one they are doing about Dynasty called:
Dynasty: Behind the Sex, Greed and Manipulation which looks campy and fun.

GeorgePaul · 12-15-2004, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Among the network "fixes" on "Mork & Mindy" were the firing of original cast members Conrad Janis and Elizabeth Kerr and the introduction of Jonathan Winters' reverse-aging baby Mearth from Earth.

Hmmm...interesting. The disappearances of those two cast members had only been acknowledged euphemistically in all the sources I've read. Hopefully the movie will shed light on how Janis was able to be lured back for a few guest shots in the final season--as well as what in the heck happened to Tom Poston.

Still, it's nice to have confirmation that both Kerr and Janis were victims of a network retooling--as was poor Jay Thomas, all but absent from the final season.

How'd you like to be this guy? Thomas was phased out of "Mork and Mindy," then eight years later is unceremoniously written out of "Cheers" after a nice few guest appearances, then disappears nine years later after a splashy recurring role on "Murphy Brown."

Now you have GOT to be optimistic as an actor to make it through even ONE of those public dumpings by a show's producers--let alone three.

Rob P S · 04-04-2005, 08:04 AM

Airs tonight, for those who are interested.

Chris · 04-04-2005, 10:12 PM

Interesting. Last week, I started to receive Mork & Mindy DVDs from Netflix, so amazing timing. It does strike me that this is a show that went demonstrably downhill; and watching the telepic, it appears the network had a big play in that.. but in the end, maybe all for the best.

**HTF Ads**

todd s · 04-04-2005, 10:29 PM

It is funny watching this and other tv show biopics (Charlie's Angels, etc). You have to wonder by watching these bios how these shows even made it as long as they did.

Another thought. You see the styles from the 70's. And you have to wonder in 20 years what biopic movies they will be making about current shows.

Inspector Hammer! · 04-04-2005, 10:44 PM

Mork and Mindy was one of my favorite shows growing up and I really enjoyed the movie tonight. The guy who played Robin was extraordinary! He nailed Robin Williams, from his walk, manner of speaking and everything else in between!

Probably the greatest Robin Williams impersonator i'll ever likely see.

David*P · 04-04-2005, 11:36 PM

I echo John Williamsons' sentiments about Chris D who played Robin Williams. I was ready to see an impersonation of Robin Williams but this guy seemed like he really WAS Robin Williams.

I thought the movie was much better than the reviews gave it though I thought it should've just been called the Unauthorized Bio of Robin Williams: The Mork & Mindy Years, as it seemed that the show just took a back seat to Robins' life. But that's because the whole movie was based on a book biography of RW.

Mikel_Cooperman · 04-05-2005, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Still, it's nice to have confirmation that both Kerr and Janis were victims of a network retooling--as was poor Jay Thomas, all but absent from the final season.

I remember them retooling it after the first season but the fact was, it didn't need to be retooled. It was getting great ratings already and someone at ABC decided to fix something that wasnt broken. The show was never the same after that season.

I started watching it last night. Talk about a dead on characterization of Robin. Got too late so will finish watching later.

Update: I watched the whole thing and enjoyed it. I wonder if Pam Dawber was actually treated like they portrayed in the movie. Must have been hard to play second banana to Robin even if he is (was ) a great talent.

Randy Tennison · 04-07-2005, 09:00 AM

Just watched it on TIVO last night. Well done. And an unbelievable job by Chris Diamantopoulos. WOW!

And, at first, when I saw Daniel Roebuck as Garry Marshall, I thought "Oh, this isn't good". But, he really did a great job, as well, despite the obvious fake teeth. What a great actor, to be able to pull off Jay Leno and Garry Marshall. He seems to be the king of "Behind the Scenes" movies, having also been in the Three's Company biopic.

This was the best of the "behind the scenes" telepics that I've seen.