The Monkees 

The misadventures of a struggling rock band.

Stars:

Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork

Won 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Davy Jones	...	Davy / ... 58 episodes, 1966-1968
Micky Dolenz	...	Micky / ... 58 episodes, 1966-1968
Peter Tork	...	Peter / ... 58 episodes, 1966-1968
Michael Nesmith	...	Mike / ... 58 episodes, 1966-1968

Storyline

Short-lived comedy about the extremely Beatles-esque band The Monkees. The group of four (Micky, Davy, Mike, and Peter) encounter interesting events and tie in their music with each episode to encompass fast-moving comedic scenes.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | 1960s | the monkees | teen idol | friendship between men | 

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Taglines:

Who's putting who on? You'll never know till you see this show!

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Official Sites:

The Monkees Home Page

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 September 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los Monkees

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC),Raybert Productions,Screen Gems Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (58 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Whereas on the Monkees most of the musical montages were phantasmagoria; just fantasy played out in music video form; the Partridge Family musical performances were just that, musical performances, nothing less or more. This is ironic because the Monkees were closer to an actual band. Though dreamed up by a bunch of television producers at Screen Gems and ABC, with most of their music written by people like Neal Diamond; the Monkees did actually perform in front of audiences; they all sang on all their albums, they all played instruments, and they wrote some of their own songs. Though considered a bogus front band in 1967, by today's standards, they are as real as it gets. Whereas the Partridge Family was almost completely bogus. David Cassidy and Shirley Jones were the only ones who performed at all on their records; (mostly it was just David Cassidy singing with a tiny bit of Shirley doing backup vocals.) They never performed live as a band. So it's ironic that the show pushed this image of the family as a band on the audience; when they were not a band at all.

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Goofs

In a number of second-season episodes, Micky's hairstyle changes back and forth from a straight hairdo to a curly "permed" look. This was due to the fact that second-season episodes were filmed at two different times, the spring of 1967 (when a number of the actual episode storylines were filmed) and then later that fall (during which time all the song performances were filmed). During the summer break, Micky let his hair grow out. The difference is perhaps most notable in the episode "It's a Nice Place to Visit," when at one moment Micky is performing a song with his hair curled, and is then seen leaving the stage with his hair straight.

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Quotes

Micky: [Repeated line] We're a minute short as usual.

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Crazy Credits

"The Christmas Show" ends with the Monkees giving the TV audience a Christmas wish of peace. The group then brings the crew-members on to the set and gives them all a very happy and raucous opportunity to give their loved ones at home a Christmas greeting, all while the closing credits play over this.

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Alternate Versions

The first season episodes originally had a different opening sequence. The syndicated version uses the 2nd season credits for the whole series.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Being from Another Planet (1992)

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Soundtracks

Daily Nightly
Written by Michael Nesmith
Performed by The Monkees
Produced by Chip Douglas

User Reviews

My Favorite Memory

To be honest, I was never a big Beatle fan, but if they were more like Mikey, Davy, Peter and Michael, I could have tolerated them. First off, I loved the Monkees more for their slipshod, improvisational, Benny Hill comedy than their music. They seemed to barely stick to a script as they just had fun, and a lot of their guest stars seemed to share the fun. Some of whom were John Hoyt and the timeless Marla Martel. Most of the music was great, but I loved their comedy routines best. Mickey was the funniest with Michael as his straight man. Peter, the shy one, was funny when he did the dumb guy thing who got his buddies in trouble, but Davy also did the same thing as the cute one with girls chasing him down. My favorite episodes are the ones with the reading of the will, the mad scientist and the fairy tell. I didn't mind much that they weren't allowed to play their instruments, but I was shocked to hear in recent years they smoked pott. I thought they would have known better, but then looking at ""Head," I guess they know now.