Each 30-minute episode of Morton & Hayes was presented in a documentary style, with host Rob Reiner introducing another long-lost comedy film short starring Chick Morton (Kevin Pollak) and Eddie Hayes (Bob Amaral).
The films on the show were supposed to have been produced by (fictional) producer Max King in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
The films were thought lost forever in a tragic fire until workers in Los Angeles were either in the process of tearing down a Burger King to make way for a Sizzlers – or vice versa – when they discovered a rusty, battered old vault.
Inside that vault more than 100 black and white Morton and Hayes classic comedy shorts of the 1930s and 1940s were found. The prints were restored and presented for the first time on television by Reiner.
The short Morton & Hayes films were authentically made the way they would have been at the time and the comedy was in the style of Abbott and Costello, with lean Morton in the Abbott role and plump Hayes as his Costello.
After each film, Reiner would discuss some of the “behind the scenes” stories about the making of the films, or the actors involved in them.
Chick and Eddie began their career in vaudeville with a mind-reading act called the Great Vincenzo (Chick) and Al (Eddie). Their earliest known film was The Vase Shop; their last film, Sheeps, made $19 on opening day.
Max King released the boys from their contracts in 1948 and they last appeared together on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS in 1968.
Eddie became rich through investments. Chick gambled, drank and was slapped with four paternity suits. He did a guest shot on Hawaii Five-0 and some television commercials before he retired to the Old Actors’ Home in San Fernando.
In the final two episodes, Reiner interviewed the “now-elderly” Morton and Hayes, who were reunited on the show after 23 years of estrangement.
Chick Morton
Kevin Pollak Eddie Hayes
Bob Amaral Rob Reiner
Himself Mr Franklin
Bradley Mott Augie Gibbons
Christopher Guest Beatrice Caldicott
Allison Janney Abigail Caldecott
Maria Parkinson
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The films on the show were supposed to have been produced by (fictional) producer Max King in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Chick and Eddie began their career in vaudeville with a mind-reading act called the Great Vincenzo (Chick) and Al (Eddie). Their earliest known film was The Vase Shop; their last film, Sheeps, made $19 on opening day.
