Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Of all the great things about television, the greatest is that it’s on every single day. TV history is being made, day in and day out, in ways big and small. In an effort to better appreciate this history, we’re taking a look back, every day, at one particular TV milestone.
IMPORTANT DATE IN TV HISTORY: July 21, 1951
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: It’s been nearly three years since Robin Williams died, and there are no shortage of ways to remember his legacy. He was a thrillingly singular comedian, a dependable Hollywood leading man whose presence in a film immediately stamped it as his. You could never imagine anyone else doing Mrs. Doubtfire or Jumanji or even something like The Fisher King. Because Williams became such a huge movie star, it’s easy to forget that he got his start on television. Like Tom Hanks did with Bosom Buddies, Robin Williams got his start on an ABC sitcom with a goofy premise.
Mork and Mindy started as an unlikely spinoff of Happy Days, with Mork trying to take Ritchie Cunningham back to his home planet of Ork, before erasing the experience from everybody’s mind. While there’s a good bit of darkness to that spinoff concept, the TV series Mork and Mindy was one of television’s most ulikely romances. With Williams as Mork and Pam Dawber as Mindy, the pair were a sweet friends-and-maybe-more pair over the course of the show’s four seasons. But more than anything, Mork & Mindy was a showcase for Robin Williams as a breakout comedic talent. He was nominated for an Emmy, and within a couple years he was cast in Robert Altman’s Popeye adaptation. Looking back at the show, you can see why.
Of course, no mention of Robin Williams’s TV accomplishments would be complete without mentioning his appearance on Johnny Carson’s last Tonight Show, an appearance that is the alpha and omega about how to put on a show. Williams had a real sense of occasion, and he brought more than his A game to the couch.
Today’s a good day to remember the star that Robin Williams was, as it’s likely we’ll never see another quite like him again.
