Search - The Mickey Rooney Show: Hey Mulligan on DVD

Obscure 1950s television sitcom is surprisingly good

Robert Huggins | Suburban Philadelphia, PA United States | 04/15/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""The Mickey Rooney Show/Hey Mulligan" was a half hour sitcom that ran on NBC for 39 episodes during the 1954-55 season. The show lasted only a single season, becoming a ratings victim to the immensely popular "The Jackie Gleason Show" on CBS. The premise of the show has Rooney starring as Michael "Mickey" Mulligan, a studio page working at the fictional IBC television network who dreams of becoming a serious dramatic actor. The show's humor is derived from the situations in which Mulligan finds himself at both home and work. Regis Toomey and Claire Carleton are Mulligan's loving and supportive parents, while John Hubbard is his boss at IBC, Carla Balenda is his romantic interest, and Joey Forman is his best friend and fellow page at IBC. Forman is a very good second banana to Rooney and much of the funnier situations in this show involve the two pages. Look for early guest star roles from Guy Williams ("Zorro," "Lost in Space") and Angie Dickinson ("Police Woman") in these episodes. In fact, Ms. Dickinson's appearance as a secretary in the episode titled "The Executive" is her very first credited television role.

This budget release, a two-DVD, ten-episode set from the Timeless Media Group, is a condensed version of a larger set also offered by Timeless, The Mickey Rooney Show "Hey Mulligan", which includes 30 episodes spread across three DVDs and includes some extra features which are not included in this "bare bones" set. All of the episodes in this set are also replicated in the larger set. I was greatly surprised by the audio/visual quality of this set; it is very near the quality that one would expect from the major studios, and all of the episodes appear to be complete and uncut (but do not include original commercials). Given the show's comparative obscurity, this is a very good release (and a nice surprise).

Mickey Rooney fans will want the larger 30-episode collection of "Hey Mulligan," but casual fans of 1950s sitcoms will enjoy this "sampler" set. While "The Mickey Rooney Show/Hey Mulligan" isn't among television's top-tier sitcoms, it definitely has its moments and, combined with a very good audio/visual presentation, easily earns my four star rating.
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Very funny and very nostalgic

L. Antonicello | 09/04/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed all ten epidodes of Hey Mulligan which I remember from my childhood. Mickey Rooney is great in this show and Joey Forman , and the rest of the cast are funny as well. The source material is very clear and enjoyable to watch. I hope it's true that the whole series is coming out on DVD soon - ten episodes only whetted my appetite. And while the're at it, how about The People's Choice, and It's A Great Life."