Saturday, June 07, 2014

Did Philip Roth create MORK & MINDY?

Uh... no.  But someone who is a whiz with Photoshop would have you believe it.  Friend of the blog, Johnny Walker is the whiz responsible.  Thanks, Johnny.

14 comments :

AndrewJ said...

I recall Mamet's work on HAPPY DAYS: "A...B...C... Always Be Cool."

Keith said...

Actually Mamet's working title was Sexual Frustration in Milwaukee, but it was renamed Happy Days as an ode to television writing under Standards and Practices. I think that's why he moved on to legit stage work.

Anonymous said...

Is it true Robin Williams was considered for the role of Bobby on Taxi, but couldn't take it because he was committed to Mork & Mindy?

Jim Walsh said...

Put the coffee down, Malph...

Covarr said...

What, no FRIENDS created by Jenji Kohan, or CHEERS created by J.J. Abrams?

Thomas Mossman said...

The Cheers credit should be amended to "Based on a Concept by Charles Bukowski".

Pat Reeder said...

If "Friends" had been created by David Mamet, could you imagine how much the writer's assistant who was offended by profanity would have sued for?

jbryant said...

Eugene O'Neill could've done a bang-up job on CHEERS, too. Or William Saroyan.

MAD MEN probably SHOULD credit John Cheever.

I'd like to see MY MOTHER THE CAR by Ken Kesey. Or Joseph Heller's HOGAN'S HEROES.

Wallis Lane said...

FLIPPER, a Herman Melville / Quinn Martin Production.

Marty Fufkin said...

If these credits were "written by" instead of "created by", they would be entirely believable. Well-known authors and playwrights have been known to write sitcoms in their early, struggling years. Joseph Heller, for instance, wrote an episode of Sgt Bilko to put bread on the table.

John said...

jbryant said...

I'd like to see MY MOTHER THE CAR by Ken Kesey. Or Joseph Heller's HOGAN'S HEROES.

6/07/2014 8:32 PM


You can get kind of close on the last one -- Here's Joseph Heller's McHALE'S NAVY.

Anonymous said...

Marty Fufkin: Well, except for the fact that Philip Roth had already written several best-sellers by the time "Mork and Mindy" came along.

But David Mamet's first movie work was, in fact, on an exploitation movie called "Garage Girls." A young Joe Mantegna was in the cast, and when the script needed reworking he suggested his pal Mamet. Apparently all of Mamet's ideas were rejected, but at least he got a couple of hundred dollars out of it.

Anonymous said...

I might add that Mamet did write an episode of "Hill Street Blues." He was already famous then, however, and he did it because his then-wife Lindsay Crouse had a recurring role on the show (naturally, the episode focuses on her character).

jbryant said...

John: I guess Marty meant McHale's Navy when he said Sgt. Bilko. Either way, cool to know about Heller's short-lived sitcom career.