New Monkees

Without question, this is probably the worst show in the history of television. Whoever had the bright idea to do a remake of one of the most influential shows on television without the innovation and the good music. The four guys they picked to play the New Monkees have no talent and they don't have the chemistry that Mike, Davey, Mickey and Peter had. Thank God that this show is not being rerun and that the lame songs weren't hits.

I saw an ad for this and, being a fan of the original Monkees, decided to watch it. BIG mistake! All of the new band members had the exact same hairstyle (and before someone says it: YES, I could tell Paul McCartney's hair from Ringo's). The story of the episode was forgettable . . . and I did. All I remembered was that these guys had no charisma whatsoever, nor were they particularly distinguished musicians. That was the only episode of "New Monkees" that I recalled. If there were more, it would have been a miracle.

No, they weren't the originals. Unfortunately, the producers tried to make them like the original group. They could have had the same plot, but a different name. These guys could play and sing. I have their only album and I still like their music. Larry Saltis, I heard, is in a group named Tower City and has produced records for other performers. Dino Kovas was the joker of the group, as I recall. I don't know what has happened to the rest of these guys. It would be cool if they decided to release the show on DVD. The show was on early Saturday morning out here and the channel moved it around to a different time, so I missed a lot of it. I would like to see the show again, even it if was a little goofy.

Boy, I was really looking forward to this shows debut. Especially after the hype of the auditions. I knew something was wrong when there was huge lips narrating all the time, on the premier episode. Uh oh. Oh no. Please not a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" tribute! What I loved about the original "Monkees" was the fact that they went out into the streets and ran into (sort of) the real world. Why in the world would someone want to put the "New Monkees" in a house that never lets them go outside? The concept was doomed from the beginning. If only they gave them an apartment near the beach and let them try to deal in the real world as a band, trying their best to succeed. Oh.....wait a minute, that would resemble the original "Monkees" concept. We can't have that! Imitating the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" with HUGE lips narrating between 'skits', is a much better idea.....Yaaawwwwn. If only "the New Monkees" had a chance. That same year, "Star Trek: the next generation" premiered. At least they got it right- by mirroring the original concept. Imagine "Captain Picard" and crew stuck in an office building, on some distant planet, plagued by huge lips on all the t.v. monitors! Hmmmm... come to think about it, not a bad idea at that...NOT!.. P.S. I thought the music was fine. And their hairstyles "were" different. Especially the guy with the "pompadour". A hairstyle, strangely enough, in vogue today...go figure?

Dusting off some old albums, I came across the one and only LP from "The New Monkees." The New Monkees was intended to cash in on the original Monkees popularity that was going on in the mid-80's. Unfortunately, the original Monkees was one of those extremely original and unique shows in TV history. New Monkees was a pretty lame attempt and I was disappointed in the output. C'mon, are they ever going to come up with a "New M*A*S*H" or a "New Cheers?" I don't think so. I will admit, the album actually had some good music on it. Not any better or worse than what had come out circa 1987. The concept for putting a whacky band in a show might have worked...had they had a different name and marketing scheme.