| Mickey | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Bob Fisher Arthur Marx |
| Directed by | Richard Whorf |
| Starring | Mickey Rooney Sammee Tong Emmaline Henry |
| Composer | Robert Hammack |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 17 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Selig J. Seligman |
| Producers | Bob Fisher Arthur Marx |
| Cinematography | Fleet Southcott |
| Editor | Floyd Knudtson |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Selmur Productions Four K's, Inc. ABC Television Network |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | September 16, 1964 – January 13, 1965 |
Mickey is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 1964 to January 1965. Created and produced by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, the series starred Mickey Rooney, and was filmed at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.
Mickey Grady (Mickey Rooney) had been a Coast Guard recruiter in Omaha, Nebraska who wanted to live by the ocean. When he inherits the luxury Newport Arms Hotel in Newport Beach, California, he thinks all his dreams have come true. Mickey soon learns Sammy Ling, the hotel manager with a lifetime contract, had let the hotel fall deep in debt, and the Grady family would need to find ways to make the hotel profitable. [1]
Rooney won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Actor in a Television Series" at the 21st Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremonies in 1964. [2]
The series failed to sustain ratings to survive the full season in its 9 p.m. Eastern time slot on Wednesdays. Its principal competition was another sitcom, the top-ten series The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS. NBC ran television movies at the time. [3]
Due to low ratings, ABC was considering canceling Mickey. The network was hesitant to cancel the series due to the popularity of Sammee Tong's character, who had a solid fanbase thanks to Tong's role in Bachelor Father . Rooney wrote in his 1991 autobiography, Life Is Too Short that Tong was upset by the rumor; a heavy gambler who owed money to the mafia, Tong needed the money from the series to pay off his debts. On October 27, 1964, Tong took an overdose of barbiturates and died at his home. Tong's death effectively ended any chance for the series' survival, and ABC canceled Mickey. [4] The series' last episode aired on January 13, 1965.
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Seaside, Westside" | Unknown | Unknown | September 16, 1964 | |
| 2 | "The Big Jump" | Unknown | Unknown | September 23, 1964 | |
| 3 | "The Case of the Slippery Slipsy" | Unknown | Unknown | September 30, 1964 | |
| 4 | "How to Raise Children Without Really Trying" | Unknown | Unknown | October 7, 1964 | |
| 5 | "Mickey Crashes the Movies" | Unknown | Unknown | October 14, 1964 | |
| 6 | "The Way the Fortune Cookie Crumbles" | Unknown | Unknown | October 21, 1964 | |
| 7 | "Goodnight, Whoever You Are" | Unknown | Unknown | October 28, 1964 | |
Note: Sammee Tong died of a drug overdose the day before this episode aired. | |||||
| 8 | "Nobody Buys Retail" | Unknown | Unknown | November 4, 1964 | |
| 9 | "Hard Work Never Hurt Anyone" | Unknown | Unknown | November 11, 1964 | |
| 10 | "Honest Injun" | Unknown | Unknown | November 25, 1964 | |
| 11 | "Somebody's Been Sleeping in My Bed" | Unknown | Unknown | December 2, 1964 | |
| 12 | "For the Love of Grandpa Toddie" | Richard Whorf | John Fenton Murray | December 9, 1964 | |
| 13 | "One More Kiss" | Richard Whorf | Peter Barry & Bob Kaufman | December 16, 1964 | |
| 14 | "Luck O' the Irish" | Unknown | Unknown | December 23, 1964 | |
| 15 | "The Elephant Mickey Won't Forget" | Richard Whorf | Bob Fisher & Arthur Marx | December 30, 1964 | |
| 16 | "Be My Guest" | Unknown | Unknown | January 6, 1965 | |
| 17 | "Mickey Takes Over" | Unknown | Unknown | January 13, 1965 | |