Die Monkees

In 1963, producer Bob Rafelson came up with the idea while vacationing on tour with a band in Mexico for a television series about the adventures of a musical act. The exception of this idea was hard to come by,but by 1964 all of that changed with the music of the British invasion. "The Beatles" was all the rage and it changed the course of the American pop scene very quickly. Developing the idea for this series would be hard to come by not to mention a hard sell. Teaming up with the executive producer Bert Schneider at Screen Gems-Columbia Pictures,work was set out to develop the concept of the show which was loosely based on "The Beatles". Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider under there production company Raybert Productions with a script that was written by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker sold the series idea to the head of Screen Gems in August of 1965 with a pilot script called "The Monkeys". The idea for a television series about a fictional rock and roll group was developed as early as 1960,but had a hard time interesting anyone until 1965,by which time rock and roll music and the phenomenal success of "The Beatles" two movies "A Hard Days Night" (1964),and "Help!"(1965), was entrenched in pop culture with the British invasion of music scene sweeping the country. In September of 1965, trade publication newspapers ran and ad seeking "Folk and Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in a new television series". As many as 400 hopefuls showed up to be considered as one of "4 insane boys". Fourteen actors from the audition pool were brought back for screen tests and after audience research, Raybert Productions chose their final four.

The final four that were selected for this series were Mickey Dolenz(who had prior screen experience),Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith,and Peter Tork. The overall part of the show followed the adventures of a folk-rock band forever on the verge of stardom in which these four talented musicians lived together in a crazy apartment and were frequently drawn into the lives of California's many eccentrics. These adventures in which the boys were involved with were interrupted by songs(the songs were written by the best songwriters in the business consisting of Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, and Boyce & Hart among others). As for the development of the series producers Rafelson and Schneider wanted the style of the series to reflect avant-grade techniques such as improvisation, quick cuts, jump cuts, breaking the fourth wall, and free-flowing loose narratives which was new to audiences at the time this television series premiered which included new techniques in editing and production.

Created by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider(who also served as executive producers of the series),and produced by Ward Sylvester(Season 2 only), the television series "The Monkees" premiered on NBC's Monday night schedule in prime-time on September 12,1966 at the 7:30pm eastern/6:30pm central time slot in color and was produced Screen Gems/Raybert Productions. The show's sponsors throughout it's run were Kellogg's of Battle Creek(Kellogg's Cereals),and Yardley Fashions of London. Season 1 of the series aired on Monday nights preceding "I Dream of Jeannie" and opposite "The Iron Horse" and "Gilligan's Island" for 32 episodes in color airing from September 12,1966 until April 24,1967. Season 2 of the series also aired on Monday nights preceding "The Man From UNCLE", "Rowan and Martin's Laugh- In",and "The Danny Thomas Show" and opposite "Gunsmoke" and "Cowboy In Africa" for 25 episodes in color airing from September 11, 1967 until March 25,1968. A total of 58 color episodes were produced from September 12,1966 until March 25,1968 with repeated episodes airing from April 5,1968 until September 1, 1968. Only Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith were the only original cast members that stayed with the series throughout it's entire two year prime time run on NBC.

Director James Frawley directed 28 episodes of the series including it's original pilot episode. Other directors for this series included Bob Rafelson, Alexander Singer, James Komack, Bruce Kessler, Russ Mayberry, David Winters not to mention even Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork directed various episodes of the series. The writers included the team of Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner(21 episodes), Stanley Z. Cherry, Bob Rafelson, Paul Mazursky, Bernie Orenstein, Mickey Dolenz, Stanley Ralph Ross, Larry Tucker, Elias Davis,and Neil Burstyn among others.

The guest stars that appeared on "The Monkees" were Bobby Sherman, Melody Patterson, Julie Newmar, Rose Marie, Peter Whitney, Lon Chaney, Jr., Arch Johnson, Vic Tayback, Heather North, Jeanne Arnold, Barton MacLane, Ben Wright, Stan Freberg, Harvey Lembeck, Henry Corden, Chips Rafferty, John Hoyt, Frank Zappa and a cameo appearance by Milton Berle. The best episodes from "The Monkees" were "The Devil and Peter Tork", "Monkey Versus Machine", "Dance, Monkey, Dance", "Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers", "The Monkees Paw", "The Christmas Show","The Monkees On Tour"(which was a documentary style episode),"Monkees Manhattan Style", "I've Got A Little Song Here" among others. "The Monkees" won two Prime Time Emmy Awards in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy(James Frawley). After NBC canceled the series in the Spring of 1968 enjoyed a resurgence on Saturday morning television in repeated episodes. First it aired on CBS' Saturday morning schedule from September 13,1969 until September 2,1972. Then went over to ABC's Saturday morning schedule in repeats from September 9,1972 until August 8,1973. After it's run on network television the 58 original episodes aired in local syndication from 1975 until 1981. The cable music channel MTV brought back all 58 episodes in repeats on February 23,1986. The success of the original series rebooted a new version titled "The New Monkees" that premiered on MTV in 1987 and later in national syndication. Even after more than 50 years..."The Monkees" are still rock and rolling thanks to a new audience and a new generation who are hooked.

I don't know what to say except that I first saw this series on MTV in 1986 and I was almost immediately hooked on it. It's a great deal of fun to watch because it has plenty of genuinely funny laughs and awesome music. It is very easily the best of the 'fictional band' series of that era.

This is definitely one of the most influential shows in television history. The show was so funny and at times surreal but you could see that the boys had a lot of fun doing the shows even if they didn't like a lot of the music they were forced to do in the early shows. Speaking of the songs, this show was also a great showcase for many of the greatest songwriting talents of the 60's including Goffin and King, Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart, John Stewart and Harry Nillson.

Something for everyone, the Monkees is still funny and eye-catching today. They exemplified the sixties for a lot of people in my generation and I still love them today. Not only for the nostalgia but just for the fun of it all.

The Monkees was one of the most unique television shows ever created! The show featured great music and comedy that had people laughing for hours. All four of the guys were extremely talented and no one else could have taken their place. The show should be run more often so that today's generation of kids can enjoy them too.