His first television series, "The Mickey Rooney Show", also known as "Hey, Mulligan", was created by Blake Edwards with Rooney as his own producer, and appeared on NBC television for 32 episodes from August 1954 to June 1955. In 1951, he made his directorial debut with "My True Story," starring Helen Walker. Rooney also starred as a ragingly egomaniacal television comedian, loosely based on Red Buttons, in the live 90-minute television drama "The Comedian", in the "Playhouse 90" series on the evening of Valentine's Day in 1957, and as himself in a 1960 revue called "The Musical Revue of 1959", based on the 1929 film "The Hollywood Revue of 1929".