Mork & Mindy/A Mommy for Mindy

A Mommy for Mindy
Season 2, Episode 17
Airdate	January 3, 1980
Written by	April Kelly
Directed by	Howard Storm
Produced by	Dale McRaven and Bruce Johnson
← 2x16 Exidor's Wedding	2x18 → The Night They Raided Mind-skis
Mork & Mindy — Season Two

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A Mommy for Mindy is the seventeenth episode of the second season of Mork & Mindy, and the forty-second episode overall.

Fred arrives at Mindy's apartment, announcing he has married a much younger woman, who is part of his orchestra. Mindy struggles with her emotions as she tries to deal with more than just the shock of having a new stepmother – but memories of when her mother died nearly 25 years earlier.

Starring: Robin Williams (Mork), Pam Dawber (Mindy McConnell)

Also Starring: Jay Thomas (Remo DaVinci) (credit only), Gina Hecht (Jean DaVinci) (credit only), Jim Staahl (Nelson Flavor) (credit only)

and Tom Poston (Mr. Binkley) (credit only)

Special Guest Stars: Conrad Janis (Fred)

and Shelley Fabares (Cathy)

Co-Starring: Missy Francis (Little Mindy)

Featuring: Ralph James (Orson)

Plot Overview

Mindy goes to bed, still trying to deal with her repressed grief and fears that her mother has been "replaced." That night, she has a dream flashing back to the morning where she learns her mother, Elizabeth, had died overnight. In the dream, Fred is clearly exhausted and trying to deal with his own emotions when young Mindy wakes up, hungry for waffles ... and she wants mommy to make them. Fred offers, but as Mindy insists that "Mommy can make them better," he has to explain the hard truth: she had been very ill (not explained how, but Elizabeth likely cancer that had spread), and that "the angels took her to a place where she wouldn't be sick anymore." Mindy finally realizes that her mother has indeed died and will never be coming back, and begins sobbing deeply, "I want my Mommy!" Back to the present, Mindy is crying those words, awakening Mork, and she awakens and collapses into his arms, crying uncontrollably.

Mork tries to reassure her that Cathy will be a perfectly "new Mom," and Mindy says she understands that and is happy that her father found new love, but doesn't understand why she didn't at least get to know Cathy before they got married.

As Mindy and Cathy sort out their feelings, Fred then admits that he wanted to call Mindy and tell her that he had met someone and that the relationship had grown serious. Mindy says that she felt like he completely forgot about Elizabeth, to which he reassures her that she will always hold a special place in his heart ... and the same is true for Mindy.

Notes

• This is one of several episodes where Mindy's mother, Elizabeth McConnell, is referred to. Mork is able to use his powers to directly communicate with Elizabeth's spirit in several episodes, although not this one. Assuming Mindy was born in 1951 (the year of Pam Dawber's birth), it can be assumed that Elizabeth died in 1957 or 1958, likely of an aggressive form of cancer. (Actress and future journalist Missy Francis, who plays young Mindy, was 7 at the time this episode was produced in December 1979; it's established Mindy was 6 at the time of Elizabeth's death.)