Mork's Best Friend

"Mork's Best Friend"
Season 1, Episode #24 (#24) in series (95 episodes)
Mork has to deal with his own feelings as well as the attitudes of those around him in regards to his pet 'Bob's' apparent passing in "Mork's Best Friend", the Season 1 finale episode (ep.#25).
"Mork & Mindy" episode
Guest Star(s):	George Pentecost
Network:	ABC-TV
Production code:	125 (1x25)
Writer(s)	Simon Muntner
Director	Howard Storm
Original airdate	May 10, 1979
IMDB	Mork's Best Friend
Episode chronology
← Previous	Next →
–	"Mork in Wonderland, Part 1" (Season 2 premiere)
List of Mork & Mindy seasons/episodes

'Mork's Best Friend wss the 25th and final episode from Season 1 of Mork & Mindy, as well as the 25th overall series episode. Written by Simon Muntner, the episode, directed by Howard Storm, was shot on March 2, 1979 and premiered on ABC-TV on May 10, 1979.

Synopsis

Mork brings home and adopts a female pet caterpillar which he names Bob. Quickly becoming deeply attached to her he lavishes her with attention and 'toys', only for him to discover her still and unmoving. Having his first experience of grief, he wrestles with his differing emotions, and the reactions of those around him, including Exidor, Mindy and Mr.Bickley, in relation to a caterpillar's death, before setting out to give Bob a proper send off.

Plot

To the trepidation of Mindy, Mork returns home to her apartment with a tale of 'something' that followed him home, and a plea to her to let him keep it. After establishing, from his description, that her guess of a 'squashed dog' is incorrect, it's revealed to be a female caterpillar (she has to be with a body like that0 that he's already named Bob. Mindy is happy to let Bob stay and tells them them make a lovely couple as she heads off to get changed for her French class that night. As Mork gets Bob settled in the Candy Dish, there's a knock on the door announcing the arrival of Exidor for the first time to Mindy's apartment. As usual Exidor's invisible entourage is causing him trouble but once he banishes them to his moped he comes in to join Mork, as he's come to preach to him of the only 'true religion'. After Mork asks him what the true religion is 'this time', Exidor tells him it's reincarnation, 'we have all been born before and we shall all be born again' Exidor challenges to guess what famous figure from the past he was in a previous life, but establishing he was only in the communist party to meet girls, isn't in a Broadway show, is bigger than a bread box, and is not the Editor of the National Enquirer Mork fails to guess that Exidor was once Julius Caesar. Something Exidor is sure of because he 'gets stabbing pains every Ides of March'. Mork however is keen for Exidor to meet Bob, and presents her to him in the candy dish, but after mistaking her for a fuzzy tootsie roll, Exidor is at first unimpressed until on closer look, declares her no ordinary caterpillar but the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln! He declares he has to be going, but not to worry he'll be coming back, if he gets his drift.

But before he can go, Mindy comes out and is startled to see who is with Mork, the first time she's seen Exidor since meeting him for the first time at the ill fated cabin trip. She is even more startled when Exidor greets her as Cleopatra, and reminds her he's 'Julie', when she looks between him and Mork uncomfortably, Exidor takes off in high dudgeon and how 'quickly they forget'. Mindy comments that between his friends and his pets she's not sure if Mork is an advanced alien being or just an intergalactic bozo, Mork going for a little of column a a little from b. As there's nothing in the ice box for Bob, Mindy suggests Mork sees if Mr. Bickley might have anything.

However, downstairs in Mr. Bickley's Apartment, Bickley can't believe that Mork's actually made a pet out of a caterpillar. Bugs, he says, can't do diddley, and compares Bob unfavorably in every way to his pup, Bicky. The two get into a competition over which of their pets is the best, until finally Bickley tells him he's tired of this conversation, and that Bob does have one worthwhile use. She'd make a great bookmark, making his point by slapping a book closed hard. By the time Mindy gets home from class, Mork has been busy building 'the other woman' a small combination log cabin and condominium, a hot tub and lawn furniture, enthusing to a vastly entertained Mindy about Bob's household 'staff'. Mindy is highly impressed by how well he's looking after her. But when he goes to wake Bob up to tell her about Mindy's French class and get her to do some Yoga, he finds her unmoving. Mindy hearing his upset, comes around to find him trying to do CPR on the caterpillar. But it's too late, he declares, Bob's dead.

A short while later, sitting on the couch as Mindy knits, Mork grieves over the matchbox containing Bob, bemoaning all the things he was going to do for her, like buy her all those pairs of little ballet slippers. Mindy reminds him even caterpillars have to die, but he says its not over yet, Exidor's coming over. Mindy wants to know what he called him for. He tells her Exidor is into reincarnation now and maybe he can bring Bob back. Mindy setting aside her knitting moves to him, trying to convince him that Bob is gone and he has to accept that it's for good. Upset, he knows, and he blames himself, saying he should've known by the way she looked at him. Mindy tries to get him to see that it was only a bug, and he turns on her viciously. She apologizes rapidly, saying she didn't mean that, but is adamant it wasn't his fault. And he agrees, and promptly blames her, claiming she was jealous, and that she wanted Bob dead and is laughing at it, getting more and more hysterical, as she watches in growing bewilderment, until he collapses back onto the couch, groaning that if is what grief is, it really stinks. She assures him humans feel the same way when the pets they love die. Mork tries to shrug off that it was love, claiming Bob was 'just a stupid bug'. She tries to comfort him, saying she knows what he is going through. He berates himself for saying he didn't love her, he loved the 'ground that she crawled on'

Exidor enters rapidly, saying he came as soon as he got the call, and Mork tells him Abraham Lincoln is dead again. Standing up, Mindy politely asks 'Mr Exidor' what it is he does? He's a spirit migration engineer he replies, which she mistakes for a grave robber, before he corrects her that that is 'body' migration engineer. Exidor assures Mork they still have time to bring Bob back as a lower life form, to which Mork asks what is lower than a caterpillar? A caterpillar trainee, he replies. Mindy listens with amused skepticism as Exidor tells Mork that the entire thing has been formulated by Dr. Paul Kern at Colorado Tech. He tells Mork they have to say the 'magic incantation' which Mork must repeat after him. "Owa..tajer..kiam". Both Mork & Mindy repeat...and Exidtor tells Mork to say it again, on repeat, after the second time, Mindy realizes what they're saying and starts eyeing Exidor, but Mork keeps going till the words run together unmistakably, and he shoots Exidor a glare and demands to know how he could make jokes at a time like this? Exidor tells him to lighten up, he's always so serious. Bob's not dead he tells him, just preparing her comeback, and is actually already reincarnated as a sacred cow in India. Telling Mork to call him if anyone else dies, Mindy happily waves him on his way only for him to startle at her when he charges to the couch to tell her that she used to have 'the best barge in Egypt'. then rushes off to chase kids away from his invisible mule. Mork admits to Mindy that sometimes Exidor has "swiss cheese for brains" but wants her to tell him the truth, Bob is gone forever isn't she? Mindy gives him an honest answer of Yes, and accepting that, Mork asks her what Earthlings do when their pets die? Smiling in remembrance she tells them they usually have a little funeral then is about to tell him about flushing them down the toilet and backtracks rapidly, telling him they bury them. The idea of a funeral gives him a little peace and he asks her can they do that for Bob, which she is happy to agree to, before he gets up to get started informing Bob's 86 million relatives.

The next day Mork hits the Herman Funeral Home, and meets with L.G. Herman, who is very impressed that after only knowing the deceased a few days, he is making arrangements for their 'everlasting peace'. He is less impressed that they were living together after only a few days. And somewhat disconcerted when Mork tells him her name was 'Bob', and he doesn't know her last name as 'they weren't important to us'. A sale is a sale however, and Mr. Herman pushes on with the assumption that Mork want's the best for Bob, and totaling up the headstone, wreathe, flowers, pallbearers, hearse etc. he quotes Mork almost 3,000 dollars. Mork is stunned to hear that it costs money to die, only, Herman says to die well. Mork, indignant, tells Herman that Bob died well and nothing he can do can make her feel better. Funerals, Herman tells him, are to make him better. But the only way he'll feel better, Mork says, if is Bob stays with him, forever. And to Herman's horror, that, Mork says, is exactly what he's going to do, intent on keeping her in his room for good, leaving the Funeral Director visibly nauseous as he goes.

A week or so later, Mr. Bickley is let into the apartment by Mindy, already looking around for the cocktail party he's been invited to, mystifying her. He shows her the card Mork sent him, just as Mork descends from the attic in best shirt, black tie and black dress suspenders. Mork tells him he put it was cocktail party as he knew he wouldn't come to a funeral. Bickley is confused over who died, and when Mork tells him it's Bob, Bickley wonders didn't the bug die weeks ago, setting Mork off into into a grief spiral. Sighing, Mindy tells Bickley, Mork's been carrying Bob around in his pocket for days and she finally convinced him to bury her. Bickley has no intention of attending a bug funeral, but Mindy prevails upon him for Mork's sake and bribes him with a bottle of bourbon, he agrees, but "don't ask me to view the body!" Mork takes on the role of Yiddish Toastmaster, leaving Bickley staring at him, and Mindy trying hard not to laugh, until Mork startles her by calling on her to say a few words. Mindy awkwardly acknowledges that she's never gotten to know a caterpillar better than Bob 'she was great, Bob was'. Thanking 'Mindila' he calls upon Bickley, who stands up reluctantly, but gives an impromptu recitation "with heavy heart and mournful eyes and tears that softly flow, we say our final sad goodbyes to a fuzzy escargot!" and as per usual breaks down in typical fashion and then starts to miss Bicky running back down to his dog.

With Bickley gone its time for the burial and Mork plans to bury Bob in Mindy's Philodendrons. But as he opens the box to bury her he's faced with a usurper, when Mindy looks she realizes that Bob wasn't dead, only moulting into a beautiful butterfly. Delighted, Mork opens the box further by the window to set her free and they watch her fly off. Mindy wonders whether he believes what Exidor said about reincarnation now, but Mork says no, he still thinks Exidor has his 'head up his foot', but perhaps he is right about something else, maybe when you die 'something beautiful happens'. Thinking that's a nice thought, Mindy suggests they go follow Bob, and hs to pull Mork back with her through the door as he enthusiastically tries to climb out the window.

Giving his report to Orson, Mork tells him he's learned many things, including the meaning of the old earth phrase you can't take it with you, because he went to the place you have to leave it...a Funeral Home. He tells Orson a Funeral home is like a track meet, you have to wear black, you don't need a stop watch, and one of the guys is really lousy in a relay race. Mork wishes he could have heard the eulogy he gave for his caterpillar, and tells him Mindy says that when Bob does die he'll go to heaven and be with all the other bugs and everything will be perfect. Orson wants to know if heaven is so nice why do Earthlings resist going there, and Mork answers "Who wants to be with all those bugs?!" Orson asks him what he thinks happens when you die? Mork confesses he doesn't know, all he can say is when his caterpillar sprouted wings and flew away, it looked kind of like a little angel.

Trivia

TV Ad promoting Hizzonner going up against the new ratings smash.

General

• The same night that ABC originally aired this season finale, NBC broadcast the pilot of Hizzonner opposite it. The show starred David Huddleston as a small-town mayor and co-starred Gina Hecht as a secretary in city hall. Hizzonner only lasted 7 weeks before being pulled; and Hecht joined the cast of Mork & Mindy the following season as Jeanie DaVinci.
• Though we don't see Bicky this time, Mr. Bickley's pup gets a couple of mentions, including Bickley getting all emotional over him at Bob's funeral service.
• This is George Pentecost's second of his three appearances (in three different roles) in the show, the first having been as the Maitre D' in Mork's Mixed Emotions and his third in Midas Mork as the McConnell's Butler, Quentin.
• Mork's comment about being able to wait for the death of the Editor of The National Enquirer was probably prompted by a front page story by the Enquirer that year (1979) claiming Robin Williams was deliberately trying to undermine the show.
• This will be the only time Mindy ever politely refers to Exidor as "Mr Exidor" her opinion of him rapidly going downhill from this point on.
• This is the first time that Mork refers to Mindy as a Shiksa, something that will become more and more prevalent through the following seasons sometimes in fights, but mostly as an endearment / indicator of how attractive she is, e.g. 'Shiksa Goddess', 'Shiksa Queen'

Pop Culture

• Mork tells Mindy he's taking Bob to see 'The Swarm' one of the 1970s plethora of 'nature strikes back' movies, this one about Killer Bees with an all star cast.
• Mork does the entire eulogy with a Yiddish accent, and paraphrases the song 'If you knew Susie, like I know Susie', made famous by Eddie Cantor, in his 'If you knew Bob, like I knew Bob...oy oy oy what a bug' speech.
• Mork calls Orson Battlestar Gigantica during his report. Battlestar Galactica also aired for the first time in 1978 on ABC.
• Signing off from Orson, Mork does his Nanu Nanu in the form of an excerpt from the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah (resonant with resurrection)

Quotes/Excerpts

• Mork: Mindy, guess what followed me home?
• Mindy: What followed you home?
• Mork: Can I keep it, huh?
• Mindy: This is one of those questions I always dread. Alright, what is it?
• Mork: It's real cute.
• Mindy: Mmm-hmm.
• Mork: It's fuzzy.
• Mindy: Mmm-hmm.
• Mork: It's about this tall. *Mork clamps his fingers down to an inch*
• Mindy: *grins* A dog that's been run over by a truck?
• Mork: *inhales but admiring* Oh Mindy, that's so sick! Squashed dogs can't follow you home!

_________________________________

• Mork: Look! It's a kittypillar!
• Mindy: Oh, that's a caterpillar!
• Mork: Not for a few more weeks yet, it hasn't got hair on its chest.

_________________________________

• Mork: I like to call her Bob. See! She looked up when I said her name!
• Mindy: Oh, that end isn't her head.
• Mork: Really? I thought she was smiling at me.

_________________________________

• Exidor: Mork!
• Mork: Exidor!
• Exidor: In this life, yes!

_________________________________

• Exidor: Mork, I have come here to preach the only true religion!
• Mork: What's the only true religion this time?
• Exidor: Reincarnation! We have all lived before and we shall all be born again!
• Mork: Wow, the ultimate deja vu!

__________________________________

• Mork: You'll enjoy meeting my new friend, Bob.
  [Mork shows Exidor his caterpillar]
  Exidor: You made friends with a fuzzy Tootsie Roll?

__________________________________

• Exidor: Why, this is no ordinary caterpillar, Mork. This is the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln!
• Mork: No!
• Exidor: Yes!
• Mork:How can you tell?
• Exidor: Is that the face of someone who would tolerate slavery?
• Mork: That's not her face.
• Exidor: Really? I thought she was smiling at me!

__________________________________

• Mindy: Those robes somehow look strangely familiar
• Mork: They ought to be after what you and Mark Anthony did to him, you and that asp of yours.
• Mindy: Y'know Mork between your friends and your pets I sometimes wonder if you're an advanced alien being or just an intergalactic bozo.
• Mork: The answer is *computer noises* Both!

__________________________________

• Mork: Do we have anything green in the ice box?
• Mindy: Mmmm...last moth's cottage cheese? *grins*
• Mork: Ooo leafy green is better than lumpy green, but I'll give it a try
• Mindy: Listen I'm going to be late for class. I'd better go. Hey maybe you can get something from Mr. Bickley?
• Mork: No, I already had my shots.

__________________________________

• Mork: How's that French class of yours?
• Mindy: Well....Comme ci, comme ca.
• Mork: *frowns* What's that mean.
• Mindy: *thinks about it, does a Mork hand gesture* Ehh Ehh Ehh Ehh

__________________________________

• Mindy: Mork it was only a bug!!!
• Mork: WHAT?!?!
• Mindy: I'm sorry! I didn't meant that. But it's not your fault that it died!
• Mork: Oh you're right! *jumps up* Yeah you're right! It was your fault wasn't it?! Nyhahahah! Yeah you were jealous weren't you?! You had better legs but she had more of them! *in growing hysteria* And now that she's dead you want to laugh! Well go ahead Ahrrrr Ahrr Ahhhrr Ahhhr Ahrr Ahhhrr Ahhhr!!
• Mindy: What are you saying!?
• Mork: *collapses back to the couch* Oh Mindy! Mindy! Ohhh...Mindy! Ohhhhh. *looks at her* If this is the emotion of grief it really stinks!!

__________________________________

• Exidor: It's now time for the ritual reincarnation boogie!! *making magical passes over Bobs matchbox with his hands* Arise oh defunct creepy crawlie!! Arise oh many legged cadaver!! Well that's that. *walks away*
• Mork: *walks after him* That's What?! Nothing happened!?!
• Mindy: *sarcastically* Oh that's a shocker.
• Exidor: *indignantly glares at Mindy* Bob has been reincarnated as a cow!
• Mork: Oh that's wonderful! No that's terrible, he'll be eaten!
• Exidor: No, she's safe. she's in India! She's sacred.
• Mork: Holy cow.

__________________________________

• Mork: Oh. Well...what do you Earthlings do when your pets die?
• Mindy: *smiles* Oh, well we usually have a little funeral, then flush them down the....*freezes as his head turns towards her* ...I mean ehh...we bury 'em.

__________________________________

• Mr. Herman: Was the deceased a relative of yours?
• Mork: No. I only knew her a few days.
• Mr Herman: *impressed* Oh, you're very to be making arrangements for her everlasting peace.
• Mork: Oh it's the least I could do, we lived together.
• Mr Herman: *pauses* Oh I see. Well not to worry. We here at The Herman Funeral Home, we don't make judgements on our client's lifestyle. What was her name?
• Mork: Bob.
• Mr. Herman: *looks sideways at Mork* .......I see. And the last name?
• Mork: I dunno. Last names weren't important to us.
• Mr. Herman: I can imagine.
  

Promo

Mork & Mindy The Ropers & Stone 1979 ABC Sunday Night Movie Promo

Promo for ABC's August 26, 1979 prime time lineup featuring a promo for (a rerun of) Mork's Best Friend from "Mork & Mindy" (first up on vid) then "The Ropers" and the pilot for "Stone" starring Dennis Weaver.

Image Gallery

Main/Recurring cast

• Robin Williams as Mork
• Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell
• Tom Poston as Mr. Bickley
• Robert Donner as Exidor
• Ralph James as Orson

Guest starring

• George Pentecost as Mr. Herman