I loved Garry Marshall. The television shows he created in the '80s were the most deeply important entertainment of my childhood. Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy — it takes no effort at all to conjure, physically, the profound excitement I felt watching these shows in prime time. I remember sitting on the floor, too close to the TV, rapt. Fonzie was impossibly cool. Lenny and Squiggy were the perfect supporting weirdos. Mork, played by Robin Williams, was my introduction to improv, and my first real peek behind the curtain of television production; I had seen Williams riffing on The Tonight Show and soon put it together that certain scenes with Mork were not scripted. Oh, they're letting him just say whatever he wants for a little bit. This is two kinds of magic, and I am in on it!


mknod:

Oh this is so good I'm going to have to read it again.


posted 2834 days ago