Screen Director’s Playhouse, The Human Comedy starring Mickey Rooney, originally broadcast September 9, 1949, 69 years ago - MGM hacked William Saroyan’s screenplay to pieces so horribly that Saroyan rewrote the original screenplay as a novel and released it about the time the movie was released. The final movie was much softer and sappier than Saroyan’s movie, so NBC hacked it up and made it practically diabetic. Mickey Rooney reprised his critically hailed performance as a telegram delivery boy who finds out a little of what life is all about.