DAN HENNESSEY DEAD AT 82

 

You can read the full story here.

As an actor, he was the original Chief Quimby and several minor characters in Inspector Gadget (1983); Catchum Crocodile in The Get Along Gang; Brave Heart Lion, Loyal Heart Dog, Mr. Miller and an announcer in Care Bears; King Gorneesh and Trom 1 in Star Wars: Ewoks; Jord Dusat, Uncle Gundy, Yorpo and Vinga in Star Wars: Droids; Puzzle in Popples; Beaster and Nasty Nigel in My Pet Monster; Sloop and Eggbert Petty in ALF Tales; RoboCop in RoboCop; Cap’n Kidder, Billy the Crud and additional voices in Beetlejuice; Bully Koopa, Crime Wave Clyde and additional voices in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and reprised Bully in Super Mario World; Huff in Piggsburg Pigs!; George Racoon, Train Engineer Sid and Sidekick in The Raccoons; Large Cat, Baron Von Rottweiler and Bouvier DeFlaundra in Dog City; Sunder, Ruckus and Chrome in X-Men: The Animated Series; Junkman in The Incredible Crash Dummies; a general in Ultraforce; Patsy the Gorilla, Lars the Gorilla and a police officer in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective; South Wind, South Wind Giant and Troll Head #2 in The Neverending Story; the Commissioner in The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police; Royal Advisor, Physician, Nessus, Young Hero, Bald Headed Hunter, a Titan and various small roles in Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend; Retirement Home Resident #3 in Rescue Heroes; and provided additional voices in Garbage Pail Kids, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures, Little Shop, Hammerman, and Wild C.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams.

 

As a voice director, he worked on Care Bears, Beetlejuice, Stickin’ Around, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, X-Men: The Animated Series, The Magic School Bus, Blaster’s Universe, Birdz, and Rescue Heroes.

THE ODDBALL COUPLE

 

THE ODDBALL COUPLE
(ABC, September 6-December 20, 1975)
 
DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Paramount Television

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Frank Nelson – Spiffy, various
Paul Winchell – Fleabag, various
Joan Gerber – Goldie Hound
Joe Besser – Various
Bob Holt – Various
Sarah Kennedy – Various
Don Messick – Various
Ginny Tyler – Various
Frank Welker – Various

  

            On November 13, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right; but he also knew that someday he would return to her. With nowhere else to go, he appeared at the home of his friend, Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison’s wife had thrown HIM out, requesting that HE never return. Can two divorced men share an apartment without driving each other crazy?

 

A playbill for the original performances of The Odd Couple.

            The Odd Couple began life as a stage play penned by legendary playwright Neil Simon. The story followed neurotic neat freak news writer Felix Ungar as he’s kicked out of his house by his wife and forced to move into the uptown New York apartment of his friend, slovenly sportswriter Oscar Madison. While Oscar can’t keep house and spends and gambles too much, he seems to live a happy life; whereas Felix only seems to enjoy pointing out his own and other people’s mistakes to the annoyance of all involved. The clashing personalities drive Oscar to the point that he kicks Felix out, but soon takes him back in after realizing the positive effect Felix has actually had on him.

Inspiration and inspired: Roy Gerber, Danny Simon, Neil Simon, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall.

            There are conflicting accounts on where the idea for the play came from. One says the idea originated with Neil’s brother and one-time writing partner Danny, who was forced to move in with newly-single theatrical agent Roy Gerber in Hollywood while he and his wife were getting divorced. The two men had contrasting personalities—Danny was anal retentive while Gerber’s daughter, Pam, described his messiness as “clean clutter”—that inspired Danny to try and write some of their resulting antics down. However, he got stuck early on and passed it off to Neil to finish crafting. The play ultimately caused a rift between the brothers when Danny only got 1/6^th of the royalties and failed to receive a “from an idea by” credit. Another account from James Robert Parish’s biography of filmmaker Mel Brooks claimed that the play originated from Neil’s observance of Brooks’ time living with writer and artist Speed Vogel for 3 months following the separation from his first wife.

Ad for the 2005-06 version of the play starring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

            The Odd Couple opened on Broadway in 1965 and ran until 1967, netting several Tony Awards and additional nominations. Directed by Mike Nichols, it originally starred Walter Matthau as Oscar and Art Carney as Felix. Jack Klugman and Pat Hingle would replace Matthau and Eddie Bracken and Paul Dooley would replace Carney during the show’s run. Proving a success, the play received multiple revivals and reimaginings over the years beginning in 1968.

            In 1967, Simon sold the film and TV rights to Paramount Pictures. A film adaptation came the following year, directed by Gene Saks and featuring Matthau reprising his role with Jack Lemmon as his co-star. The film largely followed the original story of the play with some additional scenes written by Simon to take some of the action out of the apartment and into the city. Released on May 2, 1968, the film was a critical and commercial success, earning $44.5 million to become the third-highest grossing film of the year.

            Looking to capitalize on the success of the film, Paramount ordered the production of a TV show adapting the play/film and expanding upon the story. Klugman reprised the role of Oscar, while Tony Randall reprised the role of Felix from another production of the play. Although the first season of the show used the same set as the film (moved to a larger set to accommodate a studio audience in season 2), a number of changes occurred: Felix’s last name went from “Ungar” to “Unger”; he now worked as a commercial photographer; he was more highbrow with refined tastes in food, music and the arts; his wife was renamed Gloria from Frances; and the ages of his two children were reversed. Oscar also went from having two children to none at all. The series debuted on ABC on September 24, 1970 and ran five seasons until March 7, 1975. Despite never reaching the top 30 in the Nielsen ratings thanks in part to ABC constantly shifting it around its schedule, the summer reruns rated particularly high and prompted the show’s renewal each year.

The Oddball Couple: Fleabag and Spiffy.

            Meanwhile, animation studio DePatie-Freleng was reeling from the monumental failure of Bailey’s Comets. As it featured 90 characters on roller skates requiring constant motion, a large animation crew working day and night was needed to get the show done on time. It ended up going overbudget and received poor ratings; being banished to Sunday mornings after only four months. The studio found itself without work for the following television season and decided the best way to forward was switching focus away from untested original ideas. The first entry in this new direction was an animated adaptation of The Odd Couple.

Getting some news at the door of their half and half house.

            Like the source material, the cartoon focused on the misadventures of two roommates and co-workers that couldn’t have been more opposite. You had Spiffy (Frank Nelson), a cat who was orderly, polite, and a stickler for cleanliness and organization. Then you had Fleabag (Paul Winchell), a lazy dog who was rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate and sloppy in every way imaginable with an appetite for unusual food concoctions. These differences extended to their shared environments as well; with their home being half nice house and half rattrap, their car being half pristine and half junker, and their office being half clean and tidy and half dirty and sloppy. They worked together as freelance reporters—Spiffy was the writer and Fleabag the photographer, flipping the sitcom’s occupations—and had a slightly ditzy secretary named Goldie Hound (a play on Goldie Hawn, voiced by Joan Gerber). To help keep out of doing too much himself, Fleabag often rigs up Rube Goldberg machines to do chores for him. Despite the fact Fleabag, Spiffy and Goldie were anthropomorphic animals, the rest of their world was inhabited by normal humans and animals.

Fleabag in his natural habitat.

            Developed under the title Fleabag and Spruce, then The Odd Couple, The Odd Ball Couple and finally The Oddball Couple, the series debuted on ABC on September 6, 1975. It was the first DFE series to air on the network, since they had previously aired the sitcom. Each episode contained two segments. The series was written by Bob Ogle, Joel Kane, David Detiege, Earl Kress and John W. Dunn, with Ogle serving as story editor. The characters and main titles were designed by Art Leonardi. The music was done by Doug Goodwin, with the theme arranged by Joe Siracusa and conducted by Eric Rodgers.

Coloring book showing their half wreck of car.

            The Oddball Couple only lasted a single season; remaining on the schedule in reruns until the fall. Not much was done for the series in terms of merchandise beyond several coloring books published by Lowe in 1977. The series wouldn’t even see a home media release for 42 years until it was brought to DVD by CBS Home Entertainment via Amazon’s CreateSpace in 2017 (CBS is currently owned by Paramount). As for The Odd Couple franchise, there had been several more television and film adaptations to accompany the continuing stage versions. In 1982, ABC aired The New Odd Couple for a season, recasting the main characters as Black (earlier stage versions had done this as well). In 1998, Neil Simon wrote and produced The Odd Couple II, reuniting Matthau and Lemmon for their 10^th and final collaboration, that unfortunately proved to be a critical and commercial flop. The latest continuation came in 2015 when CBS aired a reboot again called The Odd Couple, which was created, developed, produced, written and starred Matthew Perry as Oscar, with Thomas Lennon playing Felix. It was cancelled after 3 seasons.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Spiffy’s Man Friday / Who’s Zoo” (9/6/75) – Fleabag convinces Spiffy to try and cross the ocean in a canoe to sell their story for big bucks, only for them to end up shipwrecked. / A witch turns Fleabag into a frog to prove that she’s actually a witch.

 

“A Day at the Beach / Fleabag’s Mother” (9/13/75) – When Spiffy forces Fleabag to spend their day off at the beach, Fleabag uses a magical genie to show up Spiffy in various activities. / Spiffy sends Fleabag to Hawaii so he can do an important interview in peace, but Fleabag’s mother drops by for an unexpected visit.

 

“Spiffy’s Nephew / To Heir is Human” (9/20/75) – Spiffy’s nephew Catnip turns out to be a real menace for Fleabag. / Fleabag sets up a phony inheritance to get Spiffy off his back about being clean and tidy.

 

“A Royal Mixup / Paper Airplane” (9/27/75) – When they’re invited to interview royalty, Spiffy seeks to refine Fleabag so he won’t embarrass them. / Fleabag ends up turning a check into a paper airplane and sending it out the window.

 

“The Bighouse and Garden / The Talking Plant” (10/4/75) – Fleabag and Spiffy must break into prison in order to get a valuable interview with an inmate. / Spiffy agrees to a story on a plant that ends up taking a disliking to Fleabag and causes him trouble.

 

“Family Album / Hotel Boo-More” (10/11/75) – Fleabag and Spiffy go through the family album Fleabag finds in the attic. / When the car breaks down, Spiffy and Fleabag find themselves in a ghost town inhabited by real ghosts.

 

“Irish Luck / Who’s Afraid of Virginia Werewolf?” (10/18/75) – Fleabag accidentally buys a leprechaun at an auction that turns out to be anything but lucky. / Fleabag and Spiffy go to interview a woman turning 100-years-old, not knowing she suffers from spells of lycanthropy.

 

“Dive Bummers / Do or Diet” (10/25/75) – Spiffy and Fleabag end up trapped on alone an airplane when all of the skydiving crew accidentally jumps out. / Fleabag resolves to go on a diet to get back into a decent shape.

 

“Klondike Oil Kaper / Old Bugeyes is Back” (11/1/75) – Fleabag drags Spiffy to the Klondike to claim the oil well he’s told he won. / Spiffy must get out of the noisy city to create his poetry, but finds out nature isn’t as peaceful as he hoped.

 

“Mugsy Bagel / TV or Not TV” (11/8/75) – Trying his hand at crime reporting, Fleabag believes some keys he found will lead him to a notorious criminal. / While interviewing a big star, Fleabag gets roped into taking over for the stunt double that quit.

 

“Ali Cat / Joker’s Wild” (11/15/75) – Fleabag tries to convince Spiffy to let him keep the cat that saved him from the neighborhood bully dog. / A bothersome man moves himself into Fleabag and Spiffy’s house promising them a lot of money to take down his life story.

 

“Cinderbag / Mama Fleabag” (11/22/75) – A fairy godfather helps Fleabag clean up so he can go to a royal ball with Spiffy. / Two tired old storks decide to leave a giant baby with Fleabag and Spiffy.

 

“Do It Yourself, Fleabag / Roman Daze” (11/29/75) – Fleabag gets the home improvement bug—unfortunately, he’s not very good at it. / Fleabag and Spiffy end up in ancient Rome and as Emperor Nero’s chefs.

 

“Fleabag’s Submarine / Foreign Legion” (12/6/75) – Inspired by a hit underwater film, Fleabag decides to buy a submarine to make a film of their own. / Fleabag and Spiffy accidentally join the foreign legion when they go to do a story on it.

 

“Bats in the Belfry / Superhound” (12/13/75) – Fleabag and Spiffy are assigned to spend a night in a haunted castle whose vampire master is still very much present. / Some food in Fleabag’s care package from his mother turns him into a superhero.

 

“Jungle Bungle / Talent Scouts” (12/20/75) – Fleabag and Spiffy head to the jungle to find a missing explorer. / Fleabag and Spiffy are tasked with hosting the annual variety show to replenish their club’s coffers.

HAILEY'S ON IT!

WARNING: This is about a recently-cancelled series. Spoilers may follow.

HAILEY’S ON IT!
(Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney+, June 8, 2023-May 18, 2024)
 
Disney Television Animation, 37 Monkeys

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Auli’i Cravalho & Ashly Burch (pilot) – Hailey Banks, Kelci Fyre

Manny Jacinto & Adam McArthur (pilot) – Scott Denoga

Gary Anthony Williams – Beta, Mr. Williams

 

Hailey Banks (Auli’I Caravalho) was a typical bookish 14-year-old girl whose insecurities rendered her adverse to taking risks. Unfortunately, her world was turned upside down on New Year’s when she was visited in her bedroom by a scientist from the future known as The Professor (Sarah Chalke). She told Hailey that she would be responsible for saving the world from devastating climate change, but only if she completed every item listed in the journal she wrote. Now she must conquer all of her fears and insecurities to do all the things she never thought she’d have to—including kissing her best friend, Scott Denoga (Manny Jacinto).

The Professor fills Hailey in on her future.

Hailey’s On It! was created by Devin Bunje and Nick Stanton; fulfilling a goal they had since starting their careers with Disney Television Animation. The concept spawned out of the single scene of Hailey meeting The Professor. That scene was essentially what would play out in the debut episode, as well as establish the recurring gag of The Professor being recalled to the future after failing to completely deliver her message to Hailey--particularly the upcoming winning lottery numbers (in the original pilot, Hailey just didn’t pay attention to The Professor and had no idea what she had to do). The resulting series, initially titled Hailey Banks and the Apoca-list and I Will NOT Kiss Scott Federman, was designed to have grounded characters in extraordinary situations inspired by a variety of time travel movies; particularly Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. While there was a looming threat of a bleak future, they wanted the world to be bright and positive; something Hailey would want to fight for.

Group hug! Kai, Patricia, Frank, Hailey, Scott, Dwayne and Johnson.

Hailey resided in a fictional version of Oceanside, California with her family: her father Kai (originally named Kyle, voiced by Cooper Andrews), a laid back and supportive man who worked as a musician and was serious about his Polynesian culture; her mother Patricia (originally named Cynthia, voiced by Julie Bowen & Kari Wahlgren when she was younger), a hard-working and determined realtor; and her twin baby brothers Dwayne and Johnson. Dwayne and Johnson’s names, as well as Kai’s overall appearance, was inspired by wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who co-starred with Cravalho in the film Moana and later Moana 2 (the series also contained several verbal and visual references to the film). The family pet was Frank (Dee Bradley Baker), an old flamingo with bald patches and a tendency to be smelly and disgusting through no fault of his own. 

Hailey and Beta.

Additionally, the house (or, rather, Hailey's closet) was inhabited by Beta (Gary Anthony Willaims), a robotic AI smartphone from the future given to Hailey by The Professor. Beta was cantankerous and didn’t put up with any nonsense—particularly Scott’s—and loved working out to get “yoked”. He was programmed with a copy of Hailey’s list and calculated the best ones to check off next (although Hailey kept resisting his attempts to have her get kissing Scott over with). To disguise him and make him mobile, Hailey stuck him into the body of a pink teddy bear (which sometimes led to his involuntarily saying “I wuv you” when squeezed). Beta’s creation was to allow the writers a way to “organize and prioritize list items” without relying on the actual list, plus the dynamic the character could have with Hailey. They enjoyed Williams’ performance so much that Beta was upgraded from being a minor character.

Becker and Sunny watching Scott and Hailey kick it with some talented birds outside U.F. Dough.

As mentioned, Hailey’s best friend was Scott (now Denoga instead of Federman). He was outgoing and fun-loving, but also not very bright and accident prone. Along with being totally loyal to Hailey and dedicated to helping with her list, Scott loved Dingles chips (a parody of Pringles) and was often eating them in a variety of flavors. Not only had Scott grown up with Hailey, but he also lived right next door with his family: his divorced mother Sunny (Joy Osmanski), who owned and operated an alien-themed pizza place called U.F. Dough; and sister Becker (Judy Alice Lee), a tough and mischievous girl that would always go out of her way to help someone she cared about—assuming there was something in it for her. Becker actually had a small infatuation with Hailey, but quickly got over it when a series of misunderstandings led her to believe Hailey was too needy and clingy.

Hailey's horror at seeing that list item in her journal.

The journal, or “My Big List of Things I’m Totally Gonna Do”, was started by Hailey in the 1^st grade and became a repository of whatever random thing that came to her mind that she swore she’d try one day (but honestly never would). As Hailey had no idea how important the journal would become, a lot of the entries range from the silly—like teaching a cat to play the piano—to the mundane, like common chores. Adding to the list didn’t seem to have much of an effect other than giving Hailey something else to do, but attempting to remove something caused a time glitch that brought about a vision of the disastrous future if Hailey failed. A special watch given to her by The Professor flashed red, yellow or green to let her know how her progress on a list item was going. The original pilot established that there were 337 list items, but the total number was not as clearly defined in the final show to allow greater freedom and flexibility as story ideas evolved. Some of the known items included:

 

#46: Win first place for World’s Cutest Pet Rock.

#48: See the northern lights.

#49: Plant a lot of trees.

#97: Grown an organic worm farm.

#98: Learn to pull a rabbit from a hat.

#99: Swim with the dolphins.

#100: Start my own shaved ice stand.

#101: Beat dad at badminton.

#102: Ride in a hot air balloon.

#103: Parasail over the harbor.

#109: Eat a raw onion.

#141: Make a pie.

#142: Play the Glockenspiel.

#143: Kiss Scott Denoga.

#144: Run the O.C. 10K.

#146: Go skydiving.

#147: Ride a monster truck.

#148: Swim synchronized.

#149: Eat junk food for a day.

#150: Learn to DJ.

#192: Have a Disney movie marathon.

#232: Learn to walk in high heels.

#233: Use my ear wax to make a candle.

#235: Teach a cat to play the piano.

#236: Hug a cow.

#237: Try an extreme sport.

#238: Fly in a hot air balloon.

#400: Roller skate all the way to Orlando.

#??: Climb a mountain wearing a onesie.

#??: Swim to Scotland.

#??: Learn to play rugby.

#??: Lose a game of chess to a monkey.

#??: Spike my hair and dye it bright neon.

#??: Take a picture with Celine Dion.

#??: Learn guitar and write a theme song.

#??: Invent a new color.

#??: Break the loudest fart record.

#??: Complete a puzzle.

 

Chaos Bots causing, well, chaos.

However, it wasn’t only Hailey’s insecurities getting in her way. Some unseen malevolent force from the future also wanted her to fail and frequently sent back robots called Chaos Bots to help ensure just that. The Chaos Bots could assume any form and came in a variety of sizes. They had the singular drive to either prevent Hailey from completing a list item or to destroy the entire list. Fortunately, they mostly only posed a minor annoyance and proved easier to dispatch than not.

Escape room shenanigans with A.C. and Kristine.

Other characters included Kristine Sanchez (Amanda Leighton), a popular and self-absorbed fashionista with a passion for hats and became Scott’s girlfriend (the show bucked the popular girl trope by making her friendly to everyone); Kennedy (Shara Kirby), a perfectionist and Becker’s one-time rival-turned-girlfriend; Bill Board (Carlos Alazraqui), an eccentric Southern philanthropist who made his fortune in billboards and had a habit of throwing his money around foolishly; A.C. Aychvak (Josh Brenner), Hailey’s self-proclaimed rival that took every opportunity to show he’s better than her at anything since she once beat him in a game of Duck, Duck, Goose, and a stock boy at his parents’ business, Fans Plus (their last name is a play on the acronym HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning); Hailey’s classmates Thad (Nik Dodani), Jonathan (Nico Santos), Bored Murray (Eric Bauza), Genesis (Erica Lindbeck), and Lucy Morgan (Sydney Mikayla); and Becker’s friends The Saws: Chainsaw (Kyle S. More), Bonesaw (Theodore Barnes), Buzzsaw (Nik Shriner), Hacksaw, Paul (Billy Kametz) and Third Becky (More).

Hailey making a New Year's promise to get going on her list. Little did she know...

Hailey’s On It! debuted simultaneously on Disney Channel and Disney XD on June 8, 2023, becoming only the second series to do so following Kiff and the first to not premiere on a Friday night since Amphibia. It was also the final series with serialized elements to debut on Disney Channel following the October 2021 announcement that story-driven shows would be relegated to streaming service Disney+ in favor of more episodic fare on the networks. The debut episode was added to Disney+ the following day along with the next four episodes. Episodes continued to be added to the service in batches following or preceding their airing on the networks.  The original pilot, which starred Ashly Burch and Adam McArthur in the main roles, took about 3 years to complete while each additional episode took about a year. On June 15^th, 2022, Disney Branded Television revealed the series was given an order for 10 more episodes, increasing the first season from 20 to 30. Production on the season wrapped in April of 2024. 

Hailey going for her varsity letter in cheerleading.

The series was written by Bunje and Stanton with Lindsey Reckis, Yolie Cortez, Marty Donovan, Kevin Yee, Karen Graci, Alison Wong, James Alexander and Mary Gulino. Graci served as story editor. Characters were designed by Timothy Moen with Soyeon Yoo, Lina Schlotter, Christina Faulkner, Serapio Calm, Ricky De Los Angeles, Layron DeJarnette, Mark Deloyd Ingram, Mike Maglio, Ivan Mendoza, Jacob Perez, Jose Zelaya, and Claire Nero. Animation duties were handled by Rough Draft Korea and Saerom Animation. Matthew Tishler and Andrew Underberg served as the series’ songwriters and composers, and Cravalho performed the series’ theme, “The Future’s in My Hands”. The song, visualized in the intro, ran through some of the list items Hailey would have to do to accomplish her mission. A recurring gag would see Hailey shut her bedroom window on Scott when she got to the item about kissing him, and his resulting fall would be followed by a different (often silly) sound effect. Bunje and Stanton found they shared sensibilities with Tishler and Underberg, and the presence of music was greatly expanded in the series; especially when Cravalho was cast, giving Hailey a hidden talent for singing to make use of her abilities. The series utilized a blend of genres, including K-pop, pop-rock, electronic dance and musical theater.

Chibi Scott unknowingly signs himself and Chibi Hailey up for a romantic game show.

Along with the primary series, the characters from Hailey’s took part in a variety of Disney Channel shorts that aired during commercial breaks; including Theme Song Takeover, Broken Karaoke, and Chibi Tiny Tales, as well as appearances in episodes of Chibiverse. Updates related to the series were added to the DisneyNOW games Bubble Burst, a bubble-popping color matching game, and Color Splash, which was a virtual coloring book featuring images from various Disney properties, until the DisneyNOW app was shut down in September 2024 and the games were delisted from the website in November 2024. Following the series premiere, Walt Disney Records released a virtual soundtrack containing 6 songs featured on the show performed by Cravalho, Onestar and Wade O. Brown. A plush doll of Beta was given out to members of the crew. Coupled with positive reviews, Hailey’s won “Outstanding Kids & Family Programming or Film – Animated” at the 2024 GLAAD Media Awards.

Beta already regretting this road trip.

The final episode aired on May 18^th, 2024, followed in August by five shorts starring Hailey, Scott and Beta on Disney Channel’s official YouTube channel as the second entry in their Road Trip series, following Big City Greens. However, there was no news about a second season renewal. Suspicions arose that the series may have been cancelled by Disney when Carvalho updated her Spotify profile with the line “She also provided the voice of Hailey for the short-lived Disney animated series Hailey’s on It!” earlier in the year (since altered again), and staffers had taken to Twitter to encourage fans to stream the show on Disney+ while admitting they hadn’t gotten a second season order yet. Since Disney+’s launch, crew on Disney projects have candidly stated that renewals have relied heavily on viewership on the streamer rather than the networks; a similar problem that plagued The Ghost and Molly McGee when news of its own cancellation came months prior.

Is this...the end?

The series was ultimately pulled from Disney+ globally on September 27^th, along with live-action sitcoms Pretty Freekin Scary and Saturdays. Any episodes available on DisneyNOW followed on October 1^st. TV Line would officially announce the show’s cancellation the next day. Hailey’s became the first Disney Channel animated series to end after 1 season since The Buzz on Maggie, and the first for Disney TVA since Billey Dilley’s Super Duper Subterranean Summer. It’s also their first animated series to end on a cliffhanger. Unlike other series removed for tax write-off purposes in recent years, as of this writing Hailey’s was still available to purchase for online viewing, and select episodes and clips remain on Disney Channel’s YouTube.

           

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Beginning of the Friend” (6/8/23) – The Professor comes from the future tells Hailey Banks she must complete all of the items in her to-do list in order to save the world from climate change.

List items:

#??: Enter homemade birdhouse in Home Tweet Home competition.

#195: Free Sid the Psychic Squid

#239: Ride every ride at the county fair.

 

“Beta’d and Hooked / The Wild, Wild Mess” (6/8/23) – Hailey, Beta and Scott set out to catch a fish that once attacked her father to use in their fish taco and win the Fish Taco Festival. / Hailey seeks to become Sheriff for a Day at a western town attraction, but ends up needing to protect it from some real desperados.

List items:

#178: Win first prize at the Oceanside Fish Taco Festival.

#??: Become Sheriff for a Day.

 

“The Last Sand / The Show Must Go Wrong” (6/9/23 D+, 6/17/23 DC) – Hailey must deal with her self-proclaimed rival A.C. Aychvak in order to win a sandcastle-building competition. / Hailey is forced to step up and out of her comfort zone when Kristine’s play takes a horrible turn.

List items:

#167: Win first place at the sandcastle-building competition.

#89: Be in a school musical.

 

“Cubix Dudes / Cos-Played” (6/9/23 D+, 6/17/23 DC) – Scott gets recruited by a group when one of their members gets injured, making him too busy to help Hailey get the photograph of a special owl she needs. / Hailey, Scott and Beta end up getting tricked out of line to get into a convention and meet her favorite comic creator by a group of bullies.

List items:

#??: Steer pigeons from a life of aggression.

#77: Take a photo of a Strawberry Moon owl.

#??: Build a replica of a lighthouse using popsicle sticks.

#200: Get Chan Yee’s autograph.

 

“Road Trippin’ / Escape Doom” (6/9/23 D+, 6/24/23 DC) – Kristine tags along when Hailey and Scott go to a disgusting restaurant in Arizona to spend Hailey’s last gift card. / An escape room challenge is complicated by A.C., forcing Hailey to step up and take charge.

List items:

#411: Use up all of my gift cards.

#67: Complete an escape room.

 

“The Flamingo Must Flamin-Go / Splatter of the Bands” (6/9/23 D+, 6/24/23 DC) – Despite her mother being against pets, Hailey must adopt one and ends up with a smell old flamingo named Frank. / Needing to win a band competition without getting pelted by tomatoes, Hailey abandons her father’s group in favor of a more refined European duo.

List items:

#63: Adopt and raise a pet.

#??: Have a perfect splatterless performance at Splatter of the Bands.

 

“Bringing Home the Beacon / Dance Like No Mom is Watching” (7/1/23) – Hailey seeks to fix the lighthouse Patricia inherited, but she’s already looking to unload that family embarrassment. / While Beta is down for an upgrade, Hailey attempts to complete a list item on her own: achieve the high score in a dance video game.

List items:

#17: Show mom I can fix anything.

#119: Get the high score on Mega Dance Hero.

 

“Kistine-ceañera / The Puffle Kerfuffle” (7/1/23) – Kristine’s father keeps interfering in her Quinceañera, including pushing her to dance with someone he likes better than Scott. / Attempting to reunite a kids’ show duo to complete a list item shines a bleak light on the potential future for Hailey and Scott’s friendship.

List items:

#7: See a LIVE taping of the Puffles.

 

“Flippin’ Out / Smells Like Queen Spirit” (7/8/23) – Hailey chooses cheerleading to win her varsity letter, but discovers the sport isn’t as easy as she believed it would be. / Hailey must win the Crab Queen Pageant while trying to figure out if her competitor is some kind of more advanced Chaos Bot.

List items:

#213: Earn a varsity letter in a school sport.

#167 (repeated): Win the Oceanside High School Crab Queen crown.

 

“Catching Felines / It’s All Gonna Be OK-Pop” (7/8/23) – Hailey believes that Scott’s sister misinterpreted her request for Wild Katz sneakers and instead got her actual wild cats! / Stuck babysitting, Hailey takes her brothers to a K-pop concert so she can complete a list item and be noticed by one of the band members.

List items:

#234: Make a female friend.

 

“W.F. Whoa!” (7/15/23) – Hailey, Scott and new A.I. pal Omega must rescue Beta from the National Organization of Paranormal Extraterrestrials.

List items:

#304: Learn to juggle.

 

“Seas the Day / Kissed Opportunities” (7/22/23) – Hailey’s attempt to cheer Scott up over his breakup potentially turns to her expressing her feelings, until Kristine tells her she doesn’t want anyone else dating him. / Hailey throws a party that ends up leading to a game where she could finally kiss Scott.

List items:

#301: Throw a cool party.

 

“Sight for Dinosaur Eyes / Along for the Slide” (7/29/23) – Hailey builds a device The Professor accidentally drops plans for and accidentally creates a giant iguana with it. / Becker joins Hailey and Scott on their Mt. Oceanside climb so that she can sneak off to ride the abandoned alpine slides.

List items:

#220: Climb Mt. Oceanside.

 

“Leather Jacket Haley / In a Pinch” (8/5/23) – A leather jacket makes Hailey more confident and tough, leading to an explosive mishap for Kristine. / Hailey shirks her duties of looking after the school’s mascot in order to get all of the loose change out of her father’s old couch.

List items:

#??: Get all of the coins out of dad’s couch.

“The Fart of War / Who Let the Dogs Out? (Hailey)” (8/12/23) – An app leads to a mock trial when A.C. tries to shut his partner Scott out of it. / Hailey becomes convinced that the Dingles company tests their products on dogs and intends to free them from the factory.

List items:

#76: Win a mock trial.

#nn: Free the beagles from the Dingles factory!

 

“Beta’s Gonna Hate / The A-maze-ing Maze” (9/29/23) – While Scott, Hailey and Kai hold an indoor Olympics, Beta is convinced the cleaning robot brought home by Patricia is a Chaos Bot in disguise. / Hailey looks to complete a corn maze on her own, but ends up stuck in the center with a scarecrow and Beta.

List items:

#81: Conquer the Circle of Corn-fusion Maze.

 

“I Know What You Did Last Slumber / Lady and the Trampoline” (10/14/23) – A slumber party prank on A.C.’s new jet ski leads to it rolling off a cliff and exploding. / Hailey must conquer her fear of being mocked by the older kids in order to complete the Big Bounce at Trampoline Town.

List items:

#45: Pull an all-nighter.

 

“Scott’s On a Roll / Bye Bye Birdies” (10/14/23 VOD, 10/21/23 DC) – Scott and Hailey both want to get a sandwich named after them and compete against each other in a contest to do so. / Hailey must do the most difficult list item yet: tell the truth for an entire day.

 

“Frankly Fabulous / The Pin is Mightier Than the Swole” (10/21/23 VOD, 10/28/23 DC) – Hailey enters Frank into a dance competition against his former abusive owner while Scott struggles to find a gift for his mother. / Hailey tries hard to lose to her father at bowling while Beta discovers a stuffed bear making vending machine and makes himself a swole body.

List items:

#92: Let dad win at bowling.

 

“We Wish You a Merry Chaos-mas” (12/1/23) – The future of Christmas depends on Hailey’s celebration being a success despite Scott sending the reindeer that originally made it so through a time portal.

List items:

#215: Throw the best Oceanside Christmas Festival ever.

 

“Mer-Made in Oceanside / Full House (of Bugs)” (3/16/24) – Hailey’s next list item is to once again see the Oceanside mermaid she believes she once saw as a kid. / The Denogas must stay with the Banks when their house gets infested, but the parents end up enjoying the togetherness more than Scott and Hailey do.

List items:

#81 (repeated): Find the mermaid again.

 

“The Umpire Strikes Back / Magician: Impossible” (3/23/24) – Hailey and Scott join the awful local baseball team so that Hailey can catch a foul ball. / Hailey, Scott and Beta try to help a magician whose act is being ruined by her tricks being exposed online.

List items:

#47: Be an audience volunteer at a Barbara Cadabra show.

 

“Bad Bear Day / 2001: A Spouse Odyssey” (3/30/24) – A tube of banned honey-based hair gel makes Scott so popular that he begins neglecting Hailey. / Learning her parents failed to file their marriage certificate, Hailey wants to throw them a wedding to rival their previous disastrous one.

List items:

#139: Throw mom and dad a better wedding.

 

“The Saw-shank Redemption / No More Mr. Rice Guy” (4/6/24) – When a bunch of kids end up in detention on the day of the kite festival, they all believe A.C. was behind it so he could win himself. / Feeling unappreciated, Kai goes on strike and his family discovers just how much he does around the house and the town.

List items:

#39: Win a ribbon at the kite festival.

 

“When Squeeples Attack / Cool Intentions” (4/13/24) – Hailey and Scott decide to take care of a small furry creature The Professor left behind despite Beta’s warnings against it. / Haily and Scott take jobs with A.C.’s mother in order to earn the money they owe Becker and get Beta back from her.

List items:

#75: Make five shots in a row on the basketball arcade game at U.F. Dough.

 

“Out of Body Slam Experience / Get Whale Soon” (4/20/24) – Hailey hypnotizes Scott to make him act like various animals, but unfortunately needs to wait to get the next volume on how to un-hypnotize him. / Haley needs to rescue a whale for her list, but keeps getting sidetracked by her neighbors’ lost dog.

List items:

#538: Hypnotize someone.

#301: Paint a log.

#26: Save a whale

 

“How Kristine Goat Her Groove Back / Oceanside’s 11” (4/27/24) – Hailey tries to cheer up Kristine when she loses all of her fame, and a resulting hallucination makes her believe she needs to get back together with Scott. / Hailey writes a note promising to ask Scott out and hides it in a book that ends up in a donation bin—and in the hands of a gossip columnist.

 

“Student of the Weak / Smother Knows Best” (5/4/24) – Hailey tries everything to win “Student of the Week”, going so far as to imitate previous winners. / Knowing about Hailey’s crush, Patricia begins trying to steer the two together—much to Hailey’s embarrassed annoyance.

List items:

#25: Win Student of the Week.

 

“The Biggest Luger / An Imposter is Born” (5/11/24) – Scott is invited to join a prestigious luge team since his father used to be a champion, and Hailey gets his father to come and train him. / When pop sensation Kelci Fyre discovers she looks like Hailey, they decide to trade lives for a bit on the provision that Kelci will listen to Hailey’s demo.

List items:

#201: Play a demo song to Kelci Fyre.

 

“I Wanna Dance With My Buddy” (5/18/24) – A dating app makes Hailey believe she and Scott aren’t a good match after all while Scott realizes he LIKES likes Hailey…but is he too late? 

 

Shorts:

Broken Karaoke:

“I’ll Wear Them All” (10/24/23) – Kristine teaches Hailey about how fun wearing hats can be.

 

Chibi Tiny Tales:

“Hailey’s On The Disneyland Matterhorn” (11/11/23) – Hailey, Scott and Beta encounter an abominable snowman while climbing the Matterhorn.

List items:

#123: Climb the Matterhorn.

#199: Go parachuting.

 

“Beta in Love” (11/18/23) – Beta attempts to woo U.F. Dough’s robot vacuum.

 

“Fortune Teller” (11/25/23) – Hailey refuses to accept her fortune from a fortune telling machine when it keeps showing her she and Scott will kiss.

 

“Science Unfair” (2/17/24) – Scott accidentally causes Hailey’s paper-mâché volcano to go haywire.

 

“Chaos Bot Picnic” (5/18/24) – Chaos Bots spoil Hailey, Scott and Beta’s picnic in the park.

 

Theme Song Takeover:

“Beta Theme Song Takeover” (8/19/23) – Beta reminds Hailey and Scott just how advanced a supercomputer he is.

 

“Scott’s Theme Song Takeover” (2/10/24) – Scott decides it’s time that they do some of the things on his list of most excellent cool things that are totally doable.

 

“Hailey’s Off It!” (5/11/24) – Hailey and Beta sing about taking a day off.

List items:

#15: All day hopscotch

#16: See a shooting star

#17: Show mom I can fix anything.

#18: Find the skunk in dad’s garage.

#19: Write a novel.

#20: Hold my breath for 2 minutes.

#21: Collect every color gel pen.

#22: Donate to every charity.

#305: Have an EPIC Taco Tuesday.

#??: Climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.

 

Road Trip:

“Road Trip” (8/3/24) – Beta drives Hailey and Scott in The Professor’s car to visit the Giggleton Clown Museum.

 

“Moon Roof” (8/10/24) – Hailey is concerned over Beta’s driving while Scott is concerned with opening the moon roof.

 

“Arrrchie’s” (8/17/24) – Beta is horrified that the drive-thru he takes them to requires you to order like a pirate.

 

“Robot Road Rage” (8/24/24) – Beta gets road rage when they end up stuck in a massive traffic jam.

 

“The Clown Museum” (8/31/24) – They arrive at the museum to find it abandoned and dilapidated to the point of being incredibly scary.

List items:

#87: Visit the Giggleton, Nevada clown museum.

#??: Visit the Victorian Doll Museum.