Xerko the Godlike, Mork's idol and Orks most accomplished, greatest at everything, citizen....who judging by the newly intro-ed reverse aging of Orkans must also be younger than Mork pays him & Mindy a visit.
Xerko's arrival is announced by Orson to Mork at an awkward time, and his deliriously happy reaction to the news that they are to be honoured by a visit gets Mindy excited too. Xerko duly arrives, not by Egg, but the H28 beam, one of many great innovations of his own. Pompous, yet charming, classically handsome, a genius and boastfully aware of all his qualities yet with the talent to back everything up, Xerko dispenses little nuggets of praise for Morks work on Earth to the star struck Orkan. He reveals that Morks reports are massively popular now on Ork, leading to Earth's 'moving up the charts' as a Planet of Interest.
On fetching Mindy to meet Xerko, Mork's tizzy of happiness, evaporates entirely when Xerko announces to both, that Mork's reports of his life on Earth with Mindy have become too popular for his taste, and he's come to challenge Mork to a Hollytacker duel to take both Earth and Mindy off Mork's hands. His very Earthlike romantic interest in Mindy immediately clear, increasing her unhappiness with the news massively.
To Mindy's shock, Mork's self esteem immediately implodes and he concedes without even arguing, and he virtually hands her over to Xerko, assuring her she'll be happy with him. In the face of Mork's hopelessness. Mindy tries to elicit Fred as an ally, on the grounds of how he freaked out about one Orkan moving in with her. This backfires however as Xerko has a far better handle on Earth customs already than Mork has, including a love of classical music, and Mindy can only watch in dismay as he charms Fred utterly.
Flat out refusing to be passed along as part of the job, Mindy defies Xerko and states her belief in Mork and his ability to defeat him even if Mork doesn't. Finding a packing Mork, she stops him, giving him a pep talk based on her own experiences in school, faced with a girl who was better than her at everything. And how through believing in herself, and not giving up she eventually won a victory over her in a spelling bee. It's enough to convince Mork to at least try, and he accepts the challenge, with Mindy pinning her winning spelling bee ribbon on him ala a Medieval jousting favour.
What follows is the use of the invisible swords of Cletus, the partial destruction (again) of Mindy's living room, and the arrival of an irate Mr. Bickley convinced on sight of the two men in their spacesuits with Mindy and the noise that they are up to something seriously kinky. At the last moment, on the verge of defeat, Mork triumphs...and Xerko admits to being bested, and departs thanking them for teaching him humility the final thing he needed to become an even greater version of himself than he already was.
This episode is a nice little reminder that Mork was sent to Earth not because he was some highly rated explorer, but because essentially, he was a misfit and they were trying to get rid of him, and he knows it. He views himself as "worm sweat" in comparison to the likes of Xerko the Magnificent, and sees no point in fighting someone who is pretty much an Orkan ideal. It's also a clever way to show that while Mork still totally reveres the Orkan traditions and ideals he can't himself live up to, he is actually starting to change ideas and attitudes on Ork itself...without realizing it. From modern viewing there's a little creepiness to it, not only with Xerko's intentions towards her, but all three men don't really take Mindy's perspective/wishes into account...Xerko thinks he gets her by default like a perk of the job....Mork just gives up without at least fighting for her if not his job...and her father sees Xerko as an upgrade for her. Thankfully though this is slight, as Mindy herself makes her feelings plain.
Mostly though its a wonderful showcase for Williams and Waggoner, short, star struck and quakingly fearful vs tall, self absorbed, and super confident.
The Carole Burnett Show was not widely shown (and definitely has not had much in the way of repeats) outside the U.S.. To that end beyond America, 6' 4" crazy handsome Lyle Waggoner, is mostly known for his stoic, near cardboard cut out of a Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman. Only knowing him from that, on seeing him as Xerko for the first time without knowing him from Carole Burnett can be a shock to the system, as you realise how funny he was, and his delivery of his super smug lines in this episode only get funnier on repeated viewings.
Kudos has to go to the FX team on this episode too, with their timings on the duel. Hard enough to get things right when you see an actor swing a sword at a prop, but when said swords are invisible, slicing up candles, and furniture at just the right time to keep the action going and really make you believe they have weapons in their hands is great work. Special nod to the plaster coming away when Mindy has to find and yank out the invisible sword stuck in the wall.
Xerko's arrival is announced by Orson to Mork at an awkward time, and his deliriously happy reaction to the news that they are to be honoured by a visit gets Mindy excited too. Xerko duly arrives, not by Egg, but the H28 beam, one of many great innovations of his own. Pompous, yet charming, classically handsome, a genius and boastfully aware of all his qualities yet with the talent to back everything up, Xerko dispenses little nuggets of praise for Morks work on Earth to the star struck Orkan. He reveals that Morks reports are massively popular now on Ork, leading to Earth's 'moving up the charts' as a Planet of Interest.
On fetching Mindy to meet Xerko, Mork's tizzy of happiness, evaporates entirely when Xerko announces to both, that Mork's reports of his life on Earth with Mindy have become too popular for his taste, and he's come to challenge Mork to a Hollytacker duel to take both Earth and Mindy off Mork's hands. His very Earthlike romantic interest in Mindy immediately clear, increasing her unhappiness with the news massively.
To Mindy's shock, Mork's self esteem immediately implodes and he concedes without even arguing, and he virtually hands her over to Xerko, assuring her she'll be happy with him. In the face of Mork's hopelessness. Mindy tries to elicit Fred as an ally, on the grounds of how he freaked out about one Orkan moving in with her. This backfires however as Xerko has a far better handle on Earth customs already than Mork has, including a love of classical music, and Mindy can only watch in dismay as he charms Fred utterly.
Flat out refusing to be passed along as part of the job, Mindy defies Xerko and states her belief in Mork and his ability to defeat him even if Mork doesn't. Finding a packing Mork, she stops him, giving him a pep talk based on her own experiences in school, faced with a girl who was better than her at everything. And how through believing in herself, and not giving up she eventually won a victory over her in a spelling bee. It's enough to convince Mork to at least try, and he accepts the challenge, with Mindy pinning her winning spelling bee ribbon on him ala a Medieval jousting favour.
What follows is the use of the invisible swords of Cletus, the partial destruction (again) of Mindy's living room, and the arrival of an irate Mr. Bickley convinced on sight of the two men in their spacesuits with Mindy and the noise that they are up to something seriously kinky. At the last moment, on the verge of defeat, Mork triumphs...and Xerko admits to being bested, and departs thanking them for teaching him humility the final thing he needed to become an even greater version of himself than he already was.
This episode is a nice little reminder that Mork was sent to Earth not because he was some highly rated explorer, but because essentially, he was a misfit and they were trying to get rid of him, and he knows it. He views himself as "worm sweat" in comparison to the likes of Xerko the Magnificent, and sees no point in fighting someone who is pretty much an Orkan ideal. It's also a clever way to show that while Mork still totally reveres the Orkan traditions and ideals he can't himself live up to, he is actually starting to change ideas and attitudes on Ork itself...without realizing it. From modern viewing there's a little creepiness to it, not only with Xerko's intentions towards her, but all three men don't really take Mindy's perspective/wishes into account...Xerko thinks he gets her by default like a perk of the job....Mork just gives up without at least fighting for her if not his job...and her father sees Xerko as an upgrade for her. Thankfully though this is slight, as Mindy herself makes her feelings plain.
Mostly though its a wonderful showcase for Williams and Waggoner, short, star struck and quakingly fearful vs tall, self absorbed, and super confident.
The Carole Burnett Show was not widely shown (and definitely has not had much in the way of repeats) outside the U.S.. To that end beyond America, 6' 4" crazy handsome Lyle Waggoner, is mostly known for his stoic, near cardboard cut out of a Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman. Only knowing him from that, on seeing him as Xerko for the first time without knowing him from Carole Burnett can be a shock to the system, as you realise how funny he was, and his delivery of his super smug lines in this episode only get funnier on repeated viewings.
Kudos has to go to the FX team on this episode too, with their timings on the duel. Hard enough to get things right when you see an actor swing a sword at a prop, but when said swords are invisible, slicing up candles, and furniture at just the right time to keep the action going and really make you believe they have weapons in their hands is great work. Special nod to the plaster coming away when Mindy has to find and yank out the invisible sword stuck in the wall.
