I completely agree that Robin Williams always felt genuine to me. Perhaps it was that he often seemed similar in real life to the characters he played on screen. His appearances and interviews were rarely strained or difficult, they always seemed fun and off-beat, which is how many of his most celebrated characters acted too.
And I think it also helped our connection to him that he was fairly public about his struggles with addiction (and depression). It made him more human (somewhat like Robert Downey Jr, though I don't think Robin Williams was as troubled and addicted as RDJr. was at times). If you ever saw Williams' amazing standup routines, he would often talk about what it was like (both the insane highs and the terrible lows) to be addicted to cocaine or alcohol. Heck, half his characters acted like they were high most of the time. You know Mork and Adrian Cronauer were toking every time we did not see them on camera
Compared to, for example, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Williams always seemed more like one of us and he was someone with whom we all wanted to break bread and share a dinner conversation. Like many of you, I have found myself reflecting on his varied and wonderful roles over the past 20 hours since we heard this news. I'll probably crack out a couple somewhat dusty DVDs this evening to relive the joy that he brought me. Thanks Robin... we will miss you oh so much!
-Jason "it is good that The Crazy Ones was not picked up or we could be treated to something awful like when the producers tried to keep 8 Simple Rules alive after John Ritter died" Evans