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 Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS. NBC ran television movies 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 his role in Bachelor Father. In his 1991 autobiography, Life Is Too Short, Mickey Rooney wrote that Tong was upset by the news that the series faced cancellation. Tong, who was a heavy gambler and owed money to the mafia, 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. The series' last episode aired on January 13, 1965.
Read more about this topic: Mickey (TV Series)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“But in the reception of metaphysical formula, all depends, as regards their actual and ulterior result, on the pre-existent qualities of that soil of human nature into which they fall—the company they find already present there, on their admission into the house of thought.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)