Gary Marshall's Universe

[Soaplover]

Mork & Mindy in it's first season was a warm and enjoyable ensemble show about a man from another planet being taught the ways of the earthy by a practical and semi quirky female earthling.. while they were surrounded by an appealing cast of characters during that initial first season.. and had Morgan Fairchild as an occasional recurring character that first season that seemed overly dramatic.. but deep down was trying to find a community of her to belong to. She and Tom Poston were good recurring guest stars in that initial season.

The shift to chasing a younger demo in season 2 seemed to dilute the show and attempts at going back to the original concept didn't work.

 

[ClassyCo]

Mork & Mindy in it's first season was a warm and enjoyable ensemble show about a man from another planet being taught the ways of the earthy by a practical and semi quirky female earthling.. while they were surrounded by an appealing cast of characters during that initial first season.. and had Morgan Fairchild as an occasional recurring character that first season that seemed overly dramatic.. but deep down was trying to find a community of her to belong to. She and Tom Poston were good recurring guest stars in that initial season.

The shift to chasing a younger demo in season 2 seemed to dilute the show and attempts at going back to the original concept didn't work.

Yes, poor MORK & MINDY was tinkered with so much that it plummeted from #3 to #27 between its first and second seasons. It's a classic example of TPTB not realizing what made their show a hit.

 

[Snarky Oracle!]

Yes, Season 2 destroyed what MORK & MINDY once had. I recall Pam Dawber doing interviews, appalled by how the show was inexplicably gutted after Season 1.

 

[ClassyCo]

LAVERNE & SHIRLEY hit the ground running. It began as a mid-season replacement in January 1976, with the first season (just 15 episodes) placing #3 in the Nielsen ratings. A spinoff of HAPPY DAYS, the show eventually garnered the reputation for being "the anti-HAPPY DAYS" because of all the off-camera chaos. Network executive Fred Silverman said LAVERNE & SHIRLEY was "nothing but trouble" from the day it went on the air.

One thing that always swirls around the legacy of LAVERNE & SHIRLEY is the off-screen squabbling between Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams. I've always been a little confused at exactly how serious the fussing was between the two. While most agree they shared a mutual professional respect and even friendship, many also point out their supposed jealousy of one another, which was brought on by their own insecurities and came with the pressure of being the #1 show on network TV.

How bad was it I wonder?

Penny says she had been through similar issues on other shows, but that none of those issues were publicized like her and Cindy's fusses were. The executives "prayed" every week hoping that LAVERNE & SHIRLEY would produce a tape to air, and the poor writers dealt with a daily dose of criticism from the cast who felt they could write better material.

It sounds like a headache all the way around.

 

[Chris2]

I know there was a lot of turnover in the writing staff in those early years. And Penny and Cindy became closer when Penny was going through her divorce from Rob Reiner (that’s also around the time the show began slipping in the ratings).