Mork's insecurities about primitive Earth ways are a fun source to mine, and this one is a little gem.
Mindy has to have her tonsils out, and Mork's worry about her health and the state of Earth's medical expertise is just about kept in check by Jeannie's reassurances. His first visit to see her in the hospital however does little to alleviate his worry finding it overcrowded (with Mindy housed in the children's wing), understaffed (1 nurse for three floors) and with the practice of cutting people open still in play. Unable to stay to 'protect' her, due to visiting hours, his anxiety skyrockets further the next day, when he returns to find her missing, lost in the administrative and staff shuffle, with the hospital staff and administrator either assuring him he's wrong about her being there, or leaving him to his own devices to resolve the issue. His increasingly desperate attempts to locate her finds Mork in full surgical garb posing as a doctor, and a blissfully drugged up on pre-op meds Mindy mistaken for a Mrs Mavis MacDonald and now scheduled for brain surgery.
Mork's gradually escalating panic is cleverly and funnily done, with some, non-vilifying, but pointed comic commentary on the inadequate state of hospital funding, management and patient care. So bad in this hospital that even the kids are sardonic about it (one appropriately played by Kim 'Tootie' Fields soon to be on The Facts Of Life), and the staff won't attend their own facility to get treatment. The truly comic kick however comes in the final act, in the discovery by a now fiercely protective Mork, of the doped up, happily delirious Mindy, who is not even fully aware of her own name by this point.
While the plot is driven by Williams and Mork's anxiety and protectiveness, this is one of the shows rare moments (along with classics like Mindy, Mindy Mindy in S3) that allows Pam Dawber to let loose and show some broad comedy chops of her own, and she nails it.
Her physical comedy and pratfalls, goofy 'drunken' pronouncements, giggling and flirting as she's manhandled by Mork are both endearing and pure funny. She even manages to get a tiny bit of her own back on Williams (for his legendary attempts to throw her off/make her laugh) by full on licking the side of his face at one point. Keep an eye on her in the background too as she's wandering around on the hospital's window ledge, while Mork argues inside with the staff.
The show is a showcase for, and legacy of, William's genius, but like Mary Tyler Moore before her (who also had no comedy background when she came onto the Dick Van Dyke show) its incredibly fun to watch the evolution of his co-star through the run. Again like MTM, one thing Pam Dawber did have when she came to the show, along with her immense charm, was an innate grasp of comic timing and reactions, and throughout the first season you can see how both got polished fast. She was thrown in at the deep end with Williams at his wildest on camera (yet, like Dick Van Dyke a generous performer) and she learned quick, with this second season episode a definite milestone in her own comedy growth.
Mindy has to have her tonsils out, and Mork's worry about her health and the state of Earth's medical expertise is just about kept in check by Jeannie's reassurances. His first visit to see her in the hospital however does little to alleviate his worry finding it overcrowded (with Mindy housed in the children's wing), understaffed (1 nurse for three floors) and with the practice of cutting people open still in play. Unable to stay to 'protect' her, due to visiting hours, his anxiety skyrockets further the next day, when he returns to find her missing, lost in the administrative and staff shuffle, with the hospital staff and administrator either assuring him he's wrong about her being there, or leaving him to his own devices to resolve the issue. His increasingly desperate attempts to locate her finds Mork in full surgical garb posing as a doctor, and a blissfully drugged up on pre-op meds Mindy mistaken for a Mrs Mavis MacDonald and now scheduled for brain surgery.
Mork's gradually escalating panic is cleverly and funnily done, with some, non-vilifying, but pointed comic commentary on the inadequate state of hospital funding, management and patient care. So bad in this hospital that even the kids are sardonic about it (one appropriately played by Kim 'Tootie' Fields soon to be on The Facts Of Life), and the staff won't attend their own facility to get treatment. The truly comic kick however comes in the final act, in the discovery by a now fiercely protective Mork, of the doped up, happily delirious Mindy, who is not even fully aware of her own name by this point.
While the plot is driven by Williams and Mork's anxiety and protectiveness, this is one of the shows rare moments (along with classics like Mindy, Mindy Mindy in S3) that allows Pam Dawber to let loose and show some broad comedy chops of her own, and she nails it.
Her physical comedy and pratfalls, goofy 'drunken' pronouncements, giggling and flirting as she's manhandled by Mork are both endearing and pure funny. She even manages to get a tiny bit of her own back on Williams (for his legendary attempts to throw her off/make her laugh) by full on licking the side of his face at one point. Keep an eye on her in the background too as she's wandering around on the hospital's window ledge, while Mork argues inside with the staff.
The show is a showcase for, and legacy of, William's genius, but like Mary Tyler Moore before her (who also had no comedy background when she came onto the Dick Van Dyke show) its incredibly fun to watch the evolution of his co-star through the run. Again like MTM, one thing Pam Dawber did have when she came to the show, along with her immense charm, was an innate grasp of comic timing and reactions, and throughout the first season you can see how both got polished fast. She was thrown in at the deep end with Williams at his wildest on camera (yet, like Dick Van Dyke a generous performer) and she learned quick, with this second season episode a definite milestone in her own comedy growth.
