| "Mork, P.I." | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode #24 (#24) in series (26 episodes) | |
 | |
| "The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour" episode | |
| Guest Star(s): | Frank Welker Ralph James Stan Jones |
| Network: | ABC-TV |
| Production code: | 1x24 |
| Writer(s) | |
| Director | |
| Original airdate | December 11, 1982 |
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Mork, P.I. |
| Episode chronology | |
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| "Super Mork" | "Monkey on My Back-Pack" |
| List of Mork & Mindy seasons/episodes | |
Mork, P.I. is a Mork and Mindy themed episode, the 24th from ABC-TV's animated The Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour series.
Summary[]
When Mork is framed for stealing answer sheets for a big final in the school, he turns sleuth to try to find the real culprit.
Plot[]
At Mt. Mount High, Mindy, Mork and Doing head into the library, Mindy suggesting they better study for the big final next week. Inside, Mork is surprised to see that even hulking Football Ace, Tyler has hit the books. Mork goes looking for a book on the History of the Chinese Fortune Cookie, climbing one of the ladders to get to the top shelf. Doing attempts to follow him up, and unbalances both Mork and the bookshelf, sending Mork and all the books tipping backwards, ending up in a giant pile with Tyler. The footballing giant telling Mork that if it wasn't for his having to study for the big test, he'd fix him good. Apologizing to him, Mork heads out, leaving Mindy to resolve that that will be the last time she brings Mork 'and' Doing to the library, heading after them.
As she does, an alarm goes off on Tyler's watch, alerting him to his meeting with Mr. Caruthers in the Principal's Office. In the meeting, Caruthers informs the football star that he'd better study hard or he won't move on to the next year, and, he'll get kicked off the football team. Caruther's tells him to keep studying, and indicates a sheaf of papers, the test answers, saying he'll need to know them all by next week. Leaving them on his desk, Caruthers heads to the door and opens it for Tyler, telling him that's all. Following Tyler out, he locks the door to his office behind him. As he heads away though, he doesn't see Tyler hang around, hiding among the hall plants. Tyler figuring if he steals the answer sheets he'll pass the test easy and be on the football team for good. Using brute force he wrenches off the door handle, and nabs the sheets from the desk, making a run for it.
In the school corridor, Mork is using his finger to drink from the water fountain, when he gets a bout of the weird sounding 'Orc-cups'. The violent Orkan hiccups bounce Mork into the escaping Tyler's path, both of them collapsing in a heap on the floor. With Mork buried in the papers, Tyler alarmed makes a run for it, leaving them with a dazed and irritated Mork who is unable to give chase to the unseen collider, due to his ongoing Orc-cups. Mr. Caruthers, on discovering someone's broken into his office comes running down the corridor, only to also collide with the hiccupping Mork and immediately seeing that he has the answer sheets. When Mindy arrives to see what's going on, he tells her straight out that he's expelling Mork for stealing the answer sheets to the test. Startled, Mork immediately protests it as a bum rap, but says his lawyer is away dealing with a client in the Milky Way. Watching from around a corner, Tyler is delighted to see that Mork has gotten the blame, and resolves to keep an eye on him to ensure he doesn't worm his way out.
Back at Mindy's House in his room, Mork tells her that at least one thing came out of the bezerb mess. His hiccups are gone. Mindy, tries to get him to be serious, wanting to know what they're going to do about the mess he's in. Thinking about it, Mork strikes on the idea of becoming a P.I. and finding out what actually happened. Heading into his closet he dons his sleuthing outfit, Mindy amused at his 'Sherlock' get up, including a bubble pipe, suggests they go to the scene of the crime and look for some clues. Overhearing them, Tyler, indicates he's going to plant a phoney clue, in the form of invitations to a party, to throw them off the scent.
In the school, Tyler dashes through the halls and drops an invitation near the water fountain that Mork and collided at. Mork and Mindy, the latter now wearing a cowgirl outfit, track in afterwards and immediately find the invitation, Mindy identifying it as one to a costume party at Hamiltons. She conjectures that the thief could have dropped it when he bumped into him. Pleased, Mork suggests they crash the party and nab the sucker. At Mork's palatial home, Mork drives himself and Mindy up the driveway. Now wearing a Clouseau-esque moustache, hat and mac, and sporting a thick 'French' accent, he reminds Mindy of 'ze plan', that they have to be the inconspicuous persons. Agreeing with 'Inspector Too-Slow', she gets out of the car, Mork promptly falling into the DuPont's water fountain on the far side. As Mindy tries not to laugh while asking if he's okay, Mork pulls a classic Clouseau indicating it was his plan all along and was simply looking for clues. Suggesting she goes check the rear of the house and the back porch, he tells her he'll go look around inside, taking a 'masked' Doing with him.
On viewing the packed party he tells his pet that everyone is a suspect, and that they'll search the upstairs first. On reaching the bottom of the stairs, Mork hears a woman singing Opera, but thinks it's 'a damsel in distress' and charges upstairs, prepared to break down the door to rescue her. Only for a guest coming out to open up the door as he charges, causing him to careen through the room and crowd she's singing to. Falling out the window and landing in a giant parasol in the back yard. Watching, dressed as Frankenstein's monster, Tyler chuckles thinking his plan is working. Making his way to Mindy, Mork dejectedly tells her they are in dead end city. But Mindy isn't out of ideas. Holding up the invitation she suggests they find out just how good a bloodhound Doing is, giving the Hibijonee the invitation to sniff. Taking a good whiff, Doing turns and immediately points to the Frankenstein's monster over by a golf cart.
Mork says they should take the crimlock by surprise, and then to Mindy's exasperation, yells 'Stop Thief', their suspect immediately jumping into the cart and driving away. Borrowing Mindy's cowgirl lasso, Mork vows to show her while they call him Hopalong Mork and ropes the golf cart, only for the cart to pull Mork after it, Mindy and Doing dragged along trying to cling on to him, as Tyler pulls them threw the party. Until he realizes he's heading straight for the DuPont's massive, open, wine cellar. Mindy yelling in alarm that they are going to crash, Tyler takes a hard right, avoiding the doorway, but the trio being dragged behind are not so in control smashing into the cellar and the racks inside, the door on the vault slamming shut behind them. Picking herself up, Mindy dashes back to the vault door but finds the steel door locked. Mork tells her not to worry, he'll use the blow torch aspect of his finger, effortlessly cutting a hole in the steel. Impressed by her 'hot stuff', she crawls out after him as he tells her he has a plan to lure the thief into a trap and capture him.
Out by the car, Mork says that it's a job for 'Shmo-jak', balding himself with his finger, swapping his Clouseau garb for the navy rain mac of Kojak, handing Mindy a lollipop asking her the famed 'Who Loves Ya, Baby?". The next day at football practice out on the Mt. Mount field, Mork flies the Grimbel Pazzatti over it, still dressed as Shmojack, Mork deploys his finger, leaving a message for the thief for the entire school to see. The players down on the field, including Tyler reading, 'Stolen Test Papers Worthless. Replacement Tests Already on Mr. Caruther's Desk.' Thinking to himself that he'd better get his hands on the new tests or he'll be kicked off the team, he heads for the school building. Hiding in the school after hours, outside Caruther's Office, Mork tells Mindy, large bag in hand that as soon as the thief turns up he'll sack him. High Fiving her Shmojack, they turn off the lights and go to hide.
As Tyler tip toes, helmet still on, up to Caruther's door, Mork tackles him saying he's under arrest, the pair tangling, Mork sounding off about him as Doing joins in. Not noticing Tyler crawling away, before Mindy turns the lights back on. His 'man' safely bagged, Mork smugly announces its time to find out the identity of their thief, only to open the bag to find Doing inside. Looking up, Mindy points seeing the thief up and getting away down the corridor. They give chase, Tyler heading into the Boys Locker Room, Mork and Doing charging in after him, Mindy skidding to a halt feeling she can't go in. Running through the showers, Tyler turns all the faucets on as he goes. Standing outside the locker room doors, foot tapping impatiently, Mindy is startled when the thief charges back out past her and out towards the football field, and exit. Pointing him out to Mork as he emerges with Doing, Mork grabs a pole saying he'll tackle this with an around the goalposts tackle.
Pole vaulting himself forward, Mork flies towards the goalposts, grabbing the crossbar and spinning around it, propelling himself like a rocket after Tyler who thinks no one can catch him. Only for Mork to tackle him right as he reaches his car. Tyler begs Mork to spare him, and confesses that he stole the test papers. When Mork asks him why he did it, Tyler tells him that if he flunks the test he'd be off the team. Mork feels bad for him, but tells him that crime doesn't pay and he'll have to confess to Mr. Caruthers. Agreeing, saying they're too smart for him, Tyler apologizes to Mr. Caruthers in his office the next day. When Mr. Caruthers tells him that he'll lose his place on the team for a year, a year he'll spend studying, Mork enthuses over Mr. Caruther's faireness, telling Mindy he told her their Principal wasn't such a bad Zablat...Mindy awkwardly telling him to cool it. Grabbing a hold of Tyler, Mork tells him that he and Mindy will help him study and in no time at all he'll be as smart as he is.
Goofs[]
- It's not indicated at all how Tyler is in Mindy's house and able to overhear their plan to go look for clues.
- Mindy has for some reason inexplicably changed into a cowgirls outfit between heading from her house to the school with Mork to go look for clues. Before there's any indication of there being a costume party.
Trivia[]
General[]
- The story writer is un-accredited.
- The Title is a play on Magnum, P.I., which became a hit on TV the previous year.
- The 'Opera Singer' is recognizably Pam Dawber, showing off her vocal prowess from her Gilbert & Sullivan/Broadway success.
- Mork uses his finger to cut a hole in the vault door to break them out, much as he did trying to break Mindy out of jail in Season 4's Cheerleaders in Chains.
Pop Culture[]
- Mork dons a series of famous fictional sleuths costumes and symbols, including Sherlock Holmes deerstalker hat, Inspector Clouseau's entire persona, and the bald look, and 'who loves ya, baby' lollipop sucking of Kojak.
- Mork refers to himself as Hopalong Cassidy (as he did in Mork's Greatest Hit, albeit Mork-A-Long Cassidy), the famous Movie and TV Cowboy.
- Much like the Wicked Witch of the West outside of the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, Mork writes a message in the sky with smoke, this time for the bad guy.
Gallery[]
Cast/Characters[]
- Robin Williams as Mork
- Pam Dawber as Mindy
- Frank Welker as Doing
- Stan Jones as Mr. Caruthers
- Ralph James as Orson