The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan
Encyclopedia
The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan is an American sitcom that aired from 1954
to 1955
on NBC
. The series stars Mickey Rooney
(in his first television role) who was particularly remembered for his starring role in numerous Andy Hardy
films made between 1937 and 1958, which overlapped with Hey Mulligan.
television studio page at the fictional International Broadcasting Company in Hollywood. Mulligan aspires through his night studies to become a recognized performer.
Regis Toomey
played Mickey's father, Joe Mulligan, a veteran Los Angeles
, California
, police officer. Claire Carleton was cast as his mother, Nell Mulligan, who in the story line is a former burlesque
performer who met her husband when he arrested her. Mulligan lives at home and earns $47.62 per week as a page. Carleton, however, was only seven years older than Rooney. Carla Belenda, formerly with the stage name Sally Bliss, played Pat Harding, Mickey's girlfriend, a studio secretary who encourages his acting aspirations. Comedian Joey Forman
played Mickey's friend, Freddy Devlin, a fellow page. John Hubbard
played the boss, Mr. Charles Brown. English
actor Alan Mowbray
played Mr. Swift, Mickey's drama coach.
and Richard Quine
, also a former child actor and a long-time Rooney friend. The title first proposed for the series, For the Love of Mike, was dropped because it had already been registered. Rooney's career had begun to decline when he left full-time employment at MGM in 1948. The situation comedy emerged at a needed time in his career. Some people, including Rooney himself, speculated that his three stormy marriages by the early 1950s to actresses Ava Gardner
, Martha Vickers
, and Betty Jane Rase had marred his wholesome "Andy Hardy" image. (His fourth wife at the time, Elaine, was not an actress.) Although Rooney was thirty-four years old in 1954, his character Mickey Mulligan was only twenty-three.
's The Jackie Gleason Show
and ABC
's The Dotty Mack Show
, a low-budget novelty program in which Dotty Mack lip-synced many of the works of other singers. Rooney's then-manager Maurice Duke had flatly predicted that Hey, Mulligan would outperform Gleason because Rooney had greater appeal to younger viewers. Rooney, who ended his business connection with Duke after the series folded, said, "I don't want to knock off anybody. All I want to do is put on a nice, funny show that people will like."
NBC put great faith in the series because Rooney was not only its star but its executive producer who "writes the music, discusses gags with the director, and shakes hands with visitors on the set." According to Brown, the failure of Hey, Mulligan was a result of Rooney have been "too small to be a wrestler and too big to be a puppet," or perhaps too old for the studio page role.
1954 in television
The year 1954 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1954.-Events:*January 1 – NBC broadcasts the Rose Parade in NTSC color on 21 stations.*January 3 – RAI launched in Italy....
to 1955
1955 in television
The year 1955 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1955.-Events:*March 5 – Elvis Presley appears on television for the first time...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. The series stars Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
(in his first television role) who was particularly remembered for his starring role in numerous Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
films made between 1937 and 1958, which overlapped with Hey Mulligan.
Synopsis
Rooney stars as Mickey Mulligan, an Irish AmericanIrish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
television studio page at the fictional International Broadcasting Company in Hollywood. Mulligan aspires through his night studies to become a recognized performer.
Regis Toomey
Regis Toomey
John Regis Toomey was an American film and television actor.-Early life:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey and attended Peabody High School...
played Mickey's father, Joe Mulligan, a veteran Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, police officer. Claire Carleton was cast as his mother, Nell Mulligan, who in the story line is a former burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
performer who met her husband when he arrested her. Mulligan lives at home and earns $47.62 per week as a page. Carleton, however, was only seven years older than Rooney. Carla Belenda, formerly with the stage name Sally Bliss, played Pat Harding, Mickey's girlfriend, a studio secretary who encourages his acting aspirations. Comedian Joey Forman
Joey Forman
Joey Forman was an American comedian and comic actor. He first attracted attention in Las Vegas as the opening act for Mickey Rooney...
played Mickey's friend, Freddy Devlin, a fellow page. John Hubbard
John Hubbard (actor)
John Hubbard was an American television and film actor.-Career:Born in East Chicago, Indiana, Hubbard took acting lessons as a teen at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, where he attracted attention and movie offers. He was signed by Paramount in 1937, but his contract was sold to MGM a year later...
played the boss, Mr. Charles Brown. English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray
Alan Mowbray MM, , was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.Born Alfred Ernest Allen in London, England, he served with distinction the British Army in World War I, being awarded the Military Medal for bravery...
played Mr. Swift, Mickey's drama coach.
Production notes
The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey, Mulligan was created by Blake EdwardsBlake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
and Richard Quine
Richard Quine
Richard Quine was an American stage, film, and radio actor and film director.Quine was born in Detroit. He made his Broadway debut in the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II musical Very Warm for May in 1939 and appeared in My Sister Eileen the following year...
, also a former child actor and a long-time Rooney friend. The title first proposed for the series, For the Love of Mike, was dropped because it had already been registered. Rooney's career had begun to decline when he left full-time employment at MGM in 1948. The situation comedy emerged at a needed time in his career. Some people, including Rooney himself, speculated that his three stormy marriages by the early 1950s to actresses Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Martha Vickers
Martha Vickers
Martha Vickers was an American television and film actress.-Early life and career:Born Martha MacVicar in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she began her career as a model and cover girl...
, and Betty Jane Rase had marred his wholesome "Andy Hardy" image. (His fourth wife at the time, Elaine, was not an actress.) Although Rooney was thirty-four years old in 1954, his character Mickey Mulligan was only twenty-three.
Reception
Hey, Mulligan aired from August 28, 1954 to June 4, 1955 on Saturday evenings opposite the first half-hour of both CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of popular American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970.-Cavalcade of Stars:...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's The Dotty Mack Show
The Dotty Mack Show
The Dotty Mack Show was an early American television program originally broadcast on the now defunct DuMont Television Network.-Broadcast history:...
, a low-budget novelty program in which Dotty Mack lip-synced many of the works of other singers. Rooney's then-manager Maurice Duke had flatly predicted that Hey, Mulligan would outperform Gleason because Rooney had greater appeal to younger viewers. Rooney, who ended his business connection with Duke after the series folded, said, "I don't want to knock off anybody. All I want to do is put on a nice, funny show that people will like."
NBC put great faith in the series because Rooney was not only its star but its executive producer who "writes the music, discusses gags with the director, and shakes hands with visitors on the set." According to Brown, the failure of Hey, Mulligan was a result of Rooney have been "too small to be a wrestler and too big to be a puppet," or perhaps too old for the studio page role.