| "Reflections and Regrets" | |
|---|---|
| Season 3, Episode #22 (#72) in series (95 episodes) | |
 Mr Bickley's 50th birthday party brings forth secrets both regretful and confessional from all those present, including the hosts. | |
| "Mork & Mindy" episode | |
| Guest Star(s): | Robert Donner Amy Tenowich Stephanie Kayano |
| Network: | ABC-TV |
| Production code: | 322 (3x22) |
| Writer(s) | Tom Tenowich & Ed Scharlach |
| Director | Howard Storm |
| Original airdate | May 14, 1981 |
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Reflections and Regrets |
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| "Mindy and Mork" | "Season 4 Promos"(special) "Limited Engagement" (Season 4 premiere) |
| List of Mork & Mindy seasons/episodes | |
Reflections and Regrets was the 22nd and Season 3 finale of [Mork and Mindy]], and the 72nd overall episode in the series. Co-written by Tom Tenowich and Ed Scharlach, the episode, and directed by Howard Storm, was shot on April 3, 1981 and premiered on ABC-TV on May 14, 1981.
Synopsis[]
Mindy & Mork throw a Birthday Party for Mr. Bickley who discovers he's 50 and not 49 as he thought. His regret over his 'lost' year, prompts reflection, confession and discussions of regrets among the other guests. From all bar Mindy, who is clearly reluctant to discuss hers.
Plot[]
Mindy and Mork are hosting a birthday party in Mindy's Apartment for Mr. Bickley with Fred, Remo, Jeanie, Nelson, and Glenda Faye in attendance. As part of a special 'bit' for him, Mork, Stephanie and Lola enter and put on a choreographed, if not particularly smooth, Happy 50th Birthday greeting moment for him. After the two Day Care girls head off home, with Mork promising to bring cake to the Center for them. Bickley comments that it was nice of them to do that for him, but points out that he's not 50, he's only 49. Slightly perplexed, Mindy tells him that she and Mork spoke to his son, Tom Bickley, on the phone and he confirmed that he was 50. Bickley jokes that Tom is just confusing him with Paul Newman, and pulls out his drivers license to prove he's not, promptly discovering in front of everyone, that he is in fact 50.
Taken aback, Mr. Bickley bemoans the loss of his year, regretting all the things he might have done with it, and feeling a whole lot older now that he's discovered his 50. Mindy tries to cheer him up by pointing out that regrets don't have anything to do with age, and that they all have them. Running with that idea, Glenda Faye makes the suggestion that, to make Mr. Bickley feel less alone in his regret, and also as a way to get to know each other better/get closer, that they each discuss their greatest regret in life. They all agree, and Nelson suggests that Mindy go first as it's her apartment. Mork remarks at that, that even though he lives with her, it's always Mindy's Apartment, and his regret is that he doesn't have Mindy's clout. His curiosity is raised however, when Mindy is unexpectedly evasive, claiming that she'd rather not go first, that she's shy, and rushes off to get coffee for them.
Jeanie hesitantly volunteers to go first, and taking a seat quietly talks about a guy, Tony, she dated back in NY. Who Remo recalls as a 'big guy, almost 5'8"'. A guy, she says, who made her feel really special at a time when she was quite shy and introverted, and who she went out with for 2 months...before she discovered he was married. Remo is indignant on her behalf, but then recalls it can't be the same Tony he remembers as she went out with that guy for over a year. That, Jeanie says quietly and pointedly, is her greatest regret, Remo grousing about his sister 'playing Dallas in the Bronx'.
Glenda again suggests Mindy go next, but she quickly volunteers Nelson instead. Nelson, apart from regretting being stiff armed by Glenda at the Drive-In the previous night, 'I told you that's not where the popcorn went!', draws from his younger days and tells of a breath taking girl he saw on the bus, who he really wanted to meet and get to know. But hesitated and before he could say anything she got off the bus and left, without his taking a chance and following her, (all of which Mork re-enacts silently as he's telling it).
Glenda again tries to prompt Mindy, but this time she excuses herself to get ice cream for the cake, at which point a mystified Mork, claiming he's going to heat up the ketchup for the cake, follows her and asks her why she is reluctant to discuss her greatest regret. Mindy quietly confesses that its difficult as it's very personal, and she would rather tell him when they are alone. Mork, is quietly excited to hear this, 'sense of intimacy, growing!'. With Mindy and Mork attending to the cake and ice cream, Glenda decides to go herself, and talks about her great love of dance through her life, starting from when she was a child. She recalls how much she and her late husband Randolph loved to dance together, their feet barely touching the ground through their entire marriage. Her greatest regret, she tells them, is that she hasn't danced since he died. Feeling that she has lost a big part of something intrinsic to herself, she asks them if its right to cut off a part of yourself like that? At which point Mork invites her to dance with him, and they dance together through the apartment to music on the stereo, the pair getting applause from their fellow partygoers when they're done.
A little later as they all indulge in cake and ice cream, Remo's (to Jeanie's embarrassment) tells them all that his regret is that women only want him for his body. He's tired of being treated like a piece of meat, and women wondering if his pecs are real? He wants a real relationship not based on pure physical looks alone...as long as the woman is built. Fred's regret is far more poignant, as he talks for the first time, about a time, in the Korean War when frightened and alone, separated from his platoon amid the desolation and carnage of shelling, he came face to face with an enemy soldier who attacked him. Coming at him with fixed bayonet, Fred recalls acting instinctively and shooting him, watching him fly back into a shell crater, and then realizing that he had just killed a man. Telling them that his face, as his life left him, still haunts him. And though Mindy and Nelson as his nephew, try to comfort him with talk of self defense and the man being the enemy, Fred just regards him as another human being and wishes he never had to take his life. Mr. Bickley points out that if he hadn't the chances are he wouldn't be there with them, and Mork adds that he never would have had Mindy. Which Fred acknowledges as true.
At this point everyone realizes Mindy is now the only one who hasn't voiced a regret and try to get her to fess up, Remo pulling her up from her seat to get her started. Mork however quickly comes to her rescue, and tries to divert them by telling them she has no regrets, having lived 'a perfect life'. Thanks to him, and her Lady Remington. But they keep at her, until she's "saved" by a knock at the door, and the unexpected arrival of Exidor (to her usual exasperation). He's there to tell them the bad news. That he's been to his witch doctor who has informed he only has 41 years to live. Ignoring Fred's pointing out that 41 years is a long time, he tells them to ignore him, he'll just lie down quietly. And does so across Jeanie, Remo and Nelson on the couch. Jeanie staring at her brother as Remo ignores this to go back to prompting Mindy to reveal her regret. Exidor, on hearing they are sharing regrets, rises straight up to tell them that he has one. And informs them that, ever since his wife left him, he has harbored a great unspoken love for another woman and has never had the nerve to confess it. Mindy dryly observes that he should go and tell her now. Turning to Mork, Exidor asks him should he do that? Encouraged by Mork to throw caution to the wind, and fly to her like a moth to a flame, Exidor does that charging across the room to land at Mindy's feet confessing his love for her, and desire to have her baby, sending a horrified Mindy running to hide behind the couch.
With Mindy cowering and hiding her face behind the couch, Exidor gathers himself from his rejection and makes for the door, saying his goodbyes, giving everyone nicknames. On his departure, the party breaks up, Mork & Mindy seeing their guests out. The second Mork closes the door however, he turns to Mindy prompting her eagerly and repeatedly to tell him about her regret. Settling him down, she takes a set on the stairs to the attic and tells Mork that her greatest regret is that her mother died before she could meet him, explaining that she couldn't tell the others that because she would have had to explain that she wanted her mother to know everything about him. That he's an alien, he asks? That, she nods, and that Mork is as close to her as her mother was. And...that he is the most important thing in her life. Mork is deeply moved, and Mindy smiles saying she knows her mother would've liked him. And he feels he would've liked her too, and that he knows what he would have said to her mother had he had a chance to meet her. Yes? She queries, and he nods, before turning to open the apartment door to greet 'Mrs McConnell'.
Offering 'her' his arm, he walks the invisible Elizabeth McConnell to the couch and begins a conversation with her. As Mindy moves to watch he confesses to her mother that he lives with Mindy, and that they are very close (though they don't do *that*). He explains that he's an alien. Just not the skittering across the floor, face hugging kind. And then thanks her for bringing Mindy into the world, as he would effectively be lost without her. When 'Mrs McConnell' 'asks' him if he loves her daughter, he replies he is still not sure what love is. But knows that he wants to give Mindy everything he has, and spend the rest of his life with her, and asks Mindy's mother is that love?
As Mindy continues to watch him, half touched, half bemused, Mork reacts emotionally to her mother's 'answer' to his question. Then tells her mother that he finds it kind of funny that he had to come millions of miles to find something that was deep inside of him. He then wonders to her, if Mindy feels the same way? To which 'Mrs McConnell' apparently suggests he should ask her that himself.
Bewildered, moved, and realizing something, Mindy moves as Mork gets up and thanks her 'mother', telling Mrs McConnell that he likes her too as she 'heads' towards the open door. Looking back and forth between him and the open doorway an uncertain Mindy approaches him. Mork turning to her and telling her that is what he would have said to her Mother.
Mindy quietly replies that she has a feeling he is trying to say something to her too.
As they gaze at each other, the still open door starts to move and then closes by itself. Slightly shaken, Mindy looks to Mork and asks if her mother was really there? To which he nods, confirming it was not one of his jokes or him using his powers. Telling her that her mother asked him to give her something, he moves forward, gently pushes her hair off her forehead and kisses it.
Stepping back an emotional Mork takes her hands and finally tells her that he loves her. Teary, Mindy confesses she loves him too, moving to share a kiss with him.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This is the second 'non' appearance of Mindy's mother, the first being A Morkville Horror where Mork more directly channeled a message for Mindy from her. This reappearance would be in keeping with Mork's assertion in that episode that he is 'sensitive' to ghosts and they are drawn to him.
- A rare episode featuring all of the principal season 2 and 3 supporting cast, it boasts the final appearances of Remo, Jeanie, Nelson, Lola and Stephanie. Glenda Faye was also dropped from the cast the following season, but she made one last appearance in Long Before We Met. This was also the final episode helmed by resident director Howard Storm.
- Exidor says he only has 41 years to live. In reality, actor Robert Donner died 25 years later.
- Due to the nature of how this episode ended, no report is given to Orson.
Pop Culture[]
- Paul Newman gets another mention, this time with Bickley saying he often gets confused for him.
- Rula Lenska, referenced a couple of times by Mork in the show, was a red-head English actress who though extremely well known in the UK, was best known in the U.S. solely for her Alberto VO5 appearances, which caused a stir at the time, and made her a bit of a mystery.
- Remo grouses about Jeanie playing 'Dallas' in the Bronx, when she confesses she knowingly had an affair with a married man, Tony, for 8 months after discovering he was married, back in New York. The prime time Soap Opera Dallas being the 'hotbed' of extra marital affairs and steamy goings on on network TV at the time.
- Mork tells Glenda his Uncle "has a barn" while encouraging her to dance with him, spoofing the old Judy Garland / Mickey Rooney musicals like Babe in Arms when people would put a show on in a barn converting it into a theatre.
- Mork tells Glenda when trying to convince her to dance with him, that 'I've Got The Music In Me', a reference to the 1974 song by the same name by The Kiki Dee Band.
- Glenda Faye and Mork dance to an instrumental version of "The Continental" by Con Conrad & Herb Madison, from The Gay Divorcee (1934) first sung and danced to by Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers and the first song ever to win Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.
- Mork says Mindy has lived a perfect life, thanks to him and her Lady Remington, the electric shaver having been highly popular since the 1960s.
- In his conversation with Mindy's mother, Mork distinguishes himself from the 'skittering' across the floor variety of Xenomorph from Alien
Quotes/Excerpts[]
- Glenda Faye: What could you possibly have to regret you little Pixie Pants?
- Mork: Well...oooh bless you...well the fact that my foot doesn't have a thumb. That my ears don't spin in the wind. That I never found out who Rula Lenska was.
.___________________________________________
- Nelson: Mindy it's your apartment, why don't you go first?
- Mork: It's always her apartment. I live here too. I only regret I don't have her clout.
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- Exidor: I'll just lie down unobtrusively, all of you vital people just go on with whatever you were doing. *lies down across Remo, Jeanie & Nelson on couch*
- Remo: Okay Mindy what are your regrets?
- Jeanie: *staring at Remo* Remo, there is a man in a robe *lying* on us!
___________________________________________
- Exidor: *landing at Mindy's feet* I love you my sweet!!! I want to have your baby!
- Mindy: *horrified, gets up and runs* Oh No. No. No. Not me!!
___________________________________________
- Exidor: Bye Whitey, Shorty, Curly. You too Perky. You know Mork, you're the only one here with a normal name!
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- Mork: *speaking to Mindy's mother* Y'know, it it wasn't for Mindy taking in strays, I would never have a place to be. I just want to thank you for bringing her into this world. *listens* Do I love her? Well...I want to...I wanna give her everything I have and spend the rest of my life with her. Is that love? *listens* Oh. *realizes and smiles emotionally* Y'know it's kinda funny that I had to come millions of miles to find something deep inside of me. I wonder if she feels the same way? *listens* Yeah...I guess you're right, I should ask her myself. Thank you ma'am.
___________________________________________
- Mork: That's what I would've said to your Mom
- Mindy: Sounds like you were trying to say something to me
____________________________________________
- Mindy: Mork? Was my mother really here?
- Mork: *nods* She asked me to give you something *stepping forward he brushes back her hair and kisses her softly on the forehead, then steps back, emotional* I love you Mindy
- Mindy: *teary* I love you too, Mork.
Image Gallery[]
Cast & Crew[]
Written by Tom Tenowich & Ed Scharlach
Directed by Howard Storm
Starring[]
- Robin Williams as Mork
- Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell
- Conrad Janis as Fred McConnell
- Tom Poston as Mr. Bickley
- Jay Thomas as Remo DaVinci
- Gina Hecht as Jean DaVinci
- Jim Staahl as Nelson Flavor
- Crissy Wilzak Comstock as Glenda Faye Comstock
