McHale's Navy
Over the years, Flynn achieved recognition in television, earning credits as a regular on William Bendix's The Life of Riley and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He appeared at least twice on NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. His appearance on March 30, 1961, was a patriotic program set at sea on the United States naval carrier Yorktown, oddly foreshadowing his later role on McHale's Navy.
In 1961, Flynn was cast as a regular on the first season of NBC's The Joey Bishop Show, but left early, reportedly because he was stealing too many scenes from Joey Bishop. That same year, he guest starred on the Peggy Cass and Jack Weston series The Hathaways, an unusual sitcom about a suburban Los Angeles couple that adopts three chimpanzees. He appeared, too, in Edmond O'Brien's syndicated 1960 crime drama, Johnny Midnight.
From 1962-1966, Flynn played the irascible Captain Wallace "Wally" Burton Binghamton (also known as "Old Leadbottom") on ABC-TV's McHale's Navy, in which he became known for his exasperated catch phrases "What is it, What, WHAT, WHAT!?", "What in the name of the: Blue Pacific/Halsey/Nimitz", and "I could just scream!" He also starred in two theatrical films spun off from the series.
In the 1963 comedy Son of Flubber, Flynn had a cameo as a TV announcer; ironically Flynn would later star in the sequels of the Flubber series as Medfield College's "Dean Higgins" in a trio of Disney Studio films, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Strongest Man in the World, his final live-action film. Flynn also starred in The Love Bug, The Barefoot Executive, The Million Dollar Duck and with Don Knotts in How to Frame a Figg, and in 1973, The Girl Most Likely to..., a made for TV movie.
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