Temple Tuesday: What Would Mork Say?

In the popular sitcom “Mork and Mindy” (1978-1982), actor Conrad Janis played Mindy’s father. Kind, yet also old-fashioned, he objected to his daughter living with the alien Mork (Robin Williams). And yet, just thirty years before, he made some very unwanted advances on poor Shirley in “That Hagen Girl.”

Watching Janis attack Shirley was Kathryn Card, who played a chaperone at the dance where all this illicit behavior occurred. Because the town gossip speculated that Shirley’s character was the illegitimate daughter of an older local attorney played by Ronald Reagan, it was assumed she was a “bad girl.” Tired of all the whispers behind her back, little Shirley decides to go out on the town with Janis and live up to her reputation. Here she enjoys a soda with Jean Porter before going out to a bar with the slimy Janis.

What happens to Shirley? She ends up getting expelled. If only the writers had given poor Shirley’s character a backbone and thought forward to 2021, they could have had her hire an attorney and sue Kathryn Card, Janis, and the school for allowing the unwanted advances and they probably would have ended up naming the school after her.

Back to Card: you might recognize her from playing the mother of Lucille Ball on “I Love Lucy.”

Card’s character was constantly annoying Lucy’s husband by calling him Mickey instead of Ricky.

And back to “Mork and Mindy,” I remember recently seeing a video where Shirley said she wanted to meet Robin Williams. It never happened here on earth, but both of them went to dine at the Lord’s table in 2014. Perhaps they met up there.

See more Shirley photos at my main website.