One thing was true: Williams wasn't like anyone else at all

"Shazbot!"

Explaining exactly how and why Robin Williams made such a major splash in the fall of 1978 as the main character in "Mork and Mindy" is almost impossible now.

For one thing, it was nearly 36 years ago, the age of Jimmy Carter, disco music and Reggie Jackson. A very different time.

Mork from Ork

For another, seeing the comedy explosions Williams did as Mork from Ork is no surprise to people who experienced the next four decades of his comedy, from wonderful to excruciatingly awful. And with Williams' death at the age of 63 this morning, there won't be any more Adrian Cronauers or Mrs. Doubtfires, but there won't be any more Patch Adamses either.

But in 1978, none of us had ever seen anything like him.

It wasn't just that he was funny. There were lots of funny people on television and plenty of funny shows.

My friend Bill Madden summed it up very well at the time.

"We don't watch the show because it's a great show," he said. "It isn't. We watch it for that minute or so in every episode when he just does off and starts free associating."

When Williams moved on to films, his first two roles showed the dichotomy his career would take. He had the title role in "Popeye," one of the worst movies legendary director Robert Altman would ever make, but he showed his acting skills to best advantage in George Roy Hill's "The World According to Garp."

In the end, if the good movies he made outweighed the bad ones, it wasn't by much. He did have three Oscar nominations for leading roles, and he won a best supporting actor Oscar in 1997 for "Good Will Hunting."

Matt Damon and Robin Williams

In that movie, he played a psychiatrist working with Matt Damon's mathematical prodigy, and what he did better than anything else was tone himself down.

He battled addiction issues all his life, and for the last year or so he dealt with serious depression. I don't know why, but if there's one thing I know from studying comedians, many of the funniest people out there are either very angry or very sad.

If it is true that Williams took his own life, I can't help but wonder if at 63 he felt that his best years were behind him and he didn't look forward to a world in which people talked about how great he used to be.

"Good Morning, Vietnam"

I'll always remember the fall of 1978, though. That minute or two each week on "Mork and Mindy" every week was usually the biggest laugh for me, but I can't help but remember when my first wife and I got together with friends of ours who had a two-year-old daughter.

The big joke was that they had taught her to say Mork's most famous catch word from the show.

"Shazbot!"

It was an expression of surprise, or sometimes annoyance or even chagrin. But it was hilarious to hear this little girl saying it and she loved the laughs she got.

Funny that I find myself thinking of her. I haven't seen her or her parents since 1979, and the last time I saw my first wife was 1982.

It seems so very long ago.

A lifetime, in fact.