A Beloved Happy Days Spin-Off Almost Became A Time Travel Series Before It Was Cancelled

"Mork & Mindy" makes sense in a vacuum as a network sitcom. In a broadcast world where "My Favorite Martian," "Mr. Ed," and "My Mother the Car" once existed, building a series around a scatterbrained alien who's sent to Boulder, Colorado to study human beings, which leads to him falling in love with one of his subjects, was hardly beyond the pale. But if you weren't around at the time, it'll probably throw you when you learn that the series was actually a spinoff from "Happy Days."

Yes, the nostalgia-infused Gerry Marshall sitcom about high school kids coming of age in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, spawned the show that made Robin Williams a stream-of-consciousness-spouting star. I'll concede that "Happy Days" did have slightly fantastical elements (namely Fonzie's ability to start and stop Al's jukebox with a whap of his hand), but the appearance of an extraterrestrial on the otherwise grounded series should've been jarring. But Mork's appearance on the show felt kinda right because, in 1978, every studio and network in Hollywood was desperate to ride the unprecedentedly profitable "Star Wars" wave. So Mork paid a visit on Richie and the gang during the show's fifth season, and, because the character was portrayed by one of the most brilliantly funniest people to ever inhabit this planet, a spinoff was inevitable.

"Mork & Mindy" premiered on ABC in the fall of 1978, and it was an instant ratings smash. The show finished its first season at third in the Nielsen rankings (tied with "Happy Days"), and, on the strength of Williams' work, seemed destined for a long run. In an unexpected reversal of fortune, however, by the end of its second season, "Mork & Mindy" seemed destined for cancellation.

There were scheduling and retooling mistakes made, but ABC was unusually patient with "Mork & Mindy." They stuck with the show until season 4, and were open to a fifth season, which would've found the title characters into time travelers.

In a 2015 interview with Gizmodo, "Mork & Mindy" producer Brian Levant discussed the show's ratings travails, which led to a Hail Mary pitch for the fifth season that never happened. The major problem with "Mork & Mindy" ratings-wise was that ABC moved it to a more competitive spot on the schedule at the outset of its second season, which resulted in a ratings freefall. The series was now ranked 27th and had gotten away from what worked the season before.

There would be no course correction. Season 3 found the series plummeting to 49th in the ratings, which forced ABC to insist on major changes in season 4. The biggest addition was the casting of comedy legend Jonathan Winters, whose improvisatory genius was comparable to Williams'. Unfortunately, this was a scripted network sitcom, so the stars' most inspired work together never made it to viewers' living rooms.

"Mork & Mindy" concluded its fourth season with a cliffhanger, which, according to Levant, was setting up yet another retooling. As he told Gizmodo:

"It was going to be a semi-educational show, where Mork and Mindy traveling through time would meet with historical figures. We actually did a photoshoot for that, of [Mork and Mindy] standing with Abe Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin."

So it would've been "Mork & Mindy's Excellent Adventures." That's not a bad idea, but setting Williams free of sitcom constraints was a merciful act. Though it took him several years to find his footing in films (he didn't become a true movie star until "Good Morning, Vietnam"), once he did, there was nothing like him.