Category: Television

Mork and Happier Days

The world is saddened today by the news that Robin Williams has passed away. He was such a part of our lives that everyone has their own favorite movie scenes or performances, and I cannot add much that you already do not know or that you cannot find elsewhere.

But Williams is one of the few performers where I remember the first moment I saw him. And I was blown away. As a kid turning on Happy Days, a show that was in its fifth season and showing signs of old age, I suddenly saw something completely new. This strange alien character called Mork and the actor playing him was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. The next day at school, everyone was talking about him and his appearance on the Happy Days episode called “My Favorite Orkan.” Here is a scene with Henry Winkler as Fonzie and Robin Williams as Mork.

Robin Williams and Mork, of course, got their own spinoff series which I followed until that one went into its own old age. In many ways, I feel Williams and I grew up together, as I enjoyed his juvenile antics but then got to appreciate his more serious adult work in movies I’ve written about in different contexts like Dead Poets Society (1989), Insomnia (2003), and the underrated World’s Greatest Dad (2009).

It is very sad to hear how he passed, but I am very thankful he lived and gave us so much. Rest in Peace. Na-nu Na-nu.

What is your first memory of Robin Williams? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Happy Days on Love, American Style
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  • The Long Lost Chuck Cunninghams
  • A Christmas Carol: Dickens, Edison, Sim, and the Fonz
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    “High Maintenance” Shows the Potential of a Web Series

    High Maintenance

    The New Yorker recently had a story “Taster’s Choice” about the web series High Maintenance. The series stars the show’s co-creator Ben Sinclair as a nameless pot dealer. Each episode, which runs only around 6-15 minutes, features the dealer dropping off weed to a customer in New York. There is no ongoing storyline, and each episode is a complete short story on its own, featuring different characters getting a delivery by the dealer.

    While the professionally made show is about a pot dealer, it is about more than marijuana. And while the shortness of each episode means we are not talking about War & Peace here, there is a completeness to each tale. So watching episodes becomes like sitting down with a bag of potato chips: Each bite is satisfying but also leading you to try one more.

    Some episodes will make you laugh, and some are poignant slices of life, like the episode below that is entitled “Brad Pitts.” There is a sadness to the story but also something redeeming. Check it out. It only takes less than nine minutes.

    High Maintenance // Brad Pitts from Janky Clown Productions on Vimeo.

    Three episodes of High Maintenance are released every few months on Vimeo, where they stream for free. Although the episodes have been mostly funded by Sinclair and Katja Blichfeld (Sinclair’s wife and the show’s co-creator/co-writer/co-director/casting director), Vimeo plans to provide funding for upcoming shows. So it will be interesting to see what comes next for Sinclair, Blichfeld, and High Maintenance.

    Thanks to Executive Producer Russell Gregory for a correction to an earlier version of this post. What do you think of High Maintenance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Jim Stafford and the “Wildwood Weed”
  • Harry Shearer’s New Series on Richard Nixon

    • Trailer for Season 5 of “The Walking Dead”

    Attendees at Comic-Con International in San Diego got a sneak peak at the upcoming season of AMC’s TV series The Walking Dead. Now, through the wonders of the Internet, you get to see it too. Of course, if you are a fan and prefer not to know anything about the upcoming season, feel free to skip it. But since I have to wait almost three more months until October 12 for the season to start, I could not wait. Check it out.



    Who is your favorite character on “The Walking Dead”? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • The Song That Played Over Carl’s Last Days Montage on “The Walking Dead”
  • That Walking Dead Torture Song: “Easy Street”
  • “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Comic-Con Reel
  • Pop Culture Roundup for December 2012

    • (Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

    What Quiz Show Recently Devoted an Entire Category to Bruce Springsteen?

    Jeopardy Springsteen

    Jeopardy recently devoted a whole category to questions about Bruce Springsteen. Additionally, all of the category names were related to the singer: “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Glory Days,” “Cover Me,” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” and “The ‘E’ Street Band.” Fans hoping for a whole board related to Springsteen, though, were disappointed to find out only the Springsteen category really had questions about the New Jersey rocker. For example, “E Street Band” contained clues related to words beginning the letter E.

    This video puts together the questions from the “Bruce Springsteen” category. Most long-time fans should find themselves doing pretty well with the clues, such as one about a Springsteen song that mentions suicide and was proposed as the New Jersey state song in 1980. Check it out.


    Bruce Springsteen – Jeopardy by mendle44

    How did you score? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • I’ll Die With a Buzzer in My Hand!
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  • Local News Coverage of Bruce Springsteen in 1978
  • Belgians Reach Out to Bruce Springsteen With “Waiting on a Sunny Day”
  • “Satan’s Jeweled Crown” & Bruce Springsteen (Cover of the Day)
  • I’ll See You In My Dreams: Goodbye 2020, Hello 2021

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    Sebastian Bach Channels Willie Nelson

    sing your face off
    Former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach showed he can be a little country when he turned into Willie Nelson for the latest episode of ABC’s Sing Your Face Off. Bach walks onstage dressed as Nelson, providing his rendition of “Always On My Mind.” The image is a little disorienting because he does not quite sound like Nelson, but when Bach hits the high notes around the 1:16 mark, he puts his own stamp on the classic song.

    You may catch the episode airing Saturday, June 7 at 9:00 p.m. EST. As for the real Nelson, we have previously noted that he has a new album with original material coming out June 17.

    What do you think of Sebastian Bach’s Willie? Leave your two cents in the comments.

  • Wayne Carson and “Always on My Mind”
  • When is Mickey Newbury’s “33rd of August”?
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