Mork & Mindy is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 14, 1978, to May 27, 1982. A spin-off after a highly successful episode of Happy Days, "My Favorite Orkan", it starred Robin Williams as Mork, an extraterrestrial who comes to Earth from the planet Ork, and Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell, his human friend, roommate, and eventual love interest.
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most successful series of the 1970s. The series presented an idealized vision of life in the 1950s and early 1960s Midwestern United States, and it starred Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham, Henry Winkler as his friend Fonzie, and Tom Bosley and Marion Ross as Richie's parents, Howard and Marion Cunningham. Although it opened to mixed reviews from critics, Happy Days became successful and popular over time.
Laverne & Shirley is an American sitcom television series that ran for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley starred Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams as Laverne DeFazio and Shirley Feeney, two friends and roommates who work as bottle-cappers in the fictitious Shotz Brewery in late 1950s Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From the sixth season onwards, the series' setting changed to mid-1960s Burbank, California. Michael McKean and David Lander co-starred as their friends and neighbors Lenny Kosnowski and Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman, respectively; along with Eddie Mekka as Carmine Ragusa, Phil Foster as Laverne's father Frank DeFazio, and Betty Garrett as the girls' landlady Edna Babish.
Carole Penny Marshall was an American actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her role as Laverne DeFazio on the television sitcom Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), receiving three nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her portrayal.
Garry Kent Marshall was an American screenwriter, film director, producer and actor. Marshall began his career in the 1960s as a writer for The Lucy Show and Dick Van Dyke Show until he developed the television adaptation of Neil Simon's play The Odd Couple. He rose to fame in the 1970s for creating four ABC sitcoms including Happy Days (1974–1984), Laverne & Shirley (1976–1983), Blansky's Beauties (1977), and Mork & Mindy (1978–1982).
Pamela Dawber is an American actress best known for her lead television sitcom roles as Mindy McConnell on Mork & Mindy (1978–1982) and Samantha Russell on My Sister Sam (1986–1988).
Cynthia Jane Williams was an American actress and producer. She is best known for her role as Shirley Feeney on the television sitcoms Happy Days (1975–1979), and Laverne & Shirley (1976–1982). She also appeared in American Graffiti (1973), The Conversation (1974), Mr. Ricco (1975), and More American Graffiti (1979).
The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang is an American animated science fiction comedy series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television and originally broadcast during the Saturday morning schedule on ABC from November 8, 1980, until November 28, 1981. It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Happy Days.
Miller-Boyett Productions is an American television production company that mainly developed television sitcoms from the 1970s through the 1990s. It was responsible for family-oriented hit series such as Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, The Hogan Family, Bosom Buddies, Full House, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters and Step by Step.
Ilene Susan Graff is an American actress and singer.
Len Janson is an American writer and director whose career in animated cartoons and live-action motion pictures spanned several decades beginning in the 1960s. He began work as an in-betweener at the Walt Disney cartoon studio. By 1965 he had become a story man with his first screen credit in Rudy Larriva's Boulder Wham!. Soon after, he teamed with Chuck Menville to produce a series of live-action films which used the pixilation technique. An example is Stop Look and Listen. By the early 1970s, Janson and Menville had become major names in the animation industry and welcome storytellers at studios such as Filmation and Hanna-Barbera. Their partnership ended with Menville's death in 1992. Janson remained active for a few more years, mainly as story editor for Sonic the Hedgehog. He also wrote episodes of Baywatch Nights.
Laverne & Shirley, also known as Laverne & Shirley in the Army, is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Paramount Television broadcast on ABC from October 10, 1981, to November 13, 1982. It is a spin-off of the live-action sitcom Laverne & Shirley with the titular characters voiced by Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams and was loosely based on the 1979 two-part episode "We're in the Army, Now" in which Laverne and Shirley enlisted in the Army.
Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour is a 1982–1983 American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Ruby-Spears Enterprises in association with Paramount Television, featuring animated versions of characters from the live-action sitcoms Mork & Mindy, Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days (Fonzie), all part of the same franchise. This Saturday morning series lasted for one season on ABC.
Benjamin Anthony Lanzarone was an American composer, arranger and music director. He was best known for composing incidental soundtrack music for television shows, including episodes of Dynasty, Happy Days and The Tracey Ullman Show.
"My Favorite Orkan" is the 22nd episode of the fifth season of the American television sitcom Happy Days, and the 110th episode overall. Written by Joe Glauberg and series creator Garry Marshall and directed by Jerry Paris, the episode originally aired on ABC on February 28, 1978. It is notable for introducing Robin Williams to a larger audience; the actor's popular appearance in this episode led to the spin-off series Mork & Mindy, which was based on his character.
Cinema Research Corporation (CRC) was an American special effects company in Hollywood, California, and one of the first to produce effects, trailers, opticals, and titles under one roof. The company was the special effects industry leader for decades, until Industrial Light and Magic surpassed them in the late 1980s. In 1990, CRC began to concentrate its efforts on titles and opticals, and became the industry leader in those categories, by providing the titles and opticals for over 400 productions in the decade before the CEO's passing in 2000.
Richard Yarmy was an American actor. He appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the 1960s to the 1990s.
Anthony Wallace Masciarelli was an American television producer. He was the father of actor-director Garry Marshall, actress-director Penny Marshall, and television producer Ronny Hallin.
History of the Sitcom is an eight-part CNN documentary television series that traces the development of the American situation comedy show from the 1950s to the 21st Century. The show features 184 interviews with creatives, actors and directors including Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, Yvette Lee Bowser, Marta Kauffman, and Carl Reiner. The series follows a similar format of the CNN Original Series The History of Comedy.
