''Mickey'' is an American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

that aired on ABC from September 1964 to January 1965. Created and produced by Bob Fisher and Arthur Marx, the series starred

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

, and was filmed at

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

Studios.

Synopsis

Mickey Grady (

), a retired businessman from

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, inherits the luxury Newport Arms Hotel in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws v ...

, and decides to run it.

Cast

as Mickey Grady * Emmaline Henry as Nora Grady * Sammee Tong as Sammy Ling

Recurring

* Tim Rooney as Tim Grady *

Brian Nash Brian Philip Nash (born 20 May 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and actor. He is best known as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the synth-pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Early life He attended secondary s ...

as Buddy Grady *

Bobby Van Robert Jack Stein (December 6, 1928 – July 31, 1980), known by his legalized stage name Bobby Van, was a musical actor and dancer, best known for his career on Broadway, in films and television from the 1950s through the 1970s. He was also a ...

as Bobby * Alan Reed as Mr. Swindler

Awards

Rooney won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

for "Best Actor in a Television Series" at the 21st Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremonies in 1964.

Reception and cancellation

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 ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Prod ...

'' on CBS.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

ran

television movies Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

at the time. 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 An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''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 A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended.

of barbiturates and died at his home. Tong's death effectively ended any chance for the series' survival, and ABC canceled ''Mickey''. The series' last episode aired on January 13, 1965.

Episode list

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickey (Tv Series) 1964 American television series debuts 1965 American television series endings 1960s American sitcoms 1960s American workplace comedy television series American Broadcasting Company original programming Black-and-white American television shows English-language television shows Television series by MGM Television Television series by Selmur Productions Television series set in hotels Television shows set in Newport Beach, California