"The Monkees" Rewatch: Here Come The Monkees (The Pilot)

In the series’ pilot “Here Come the Monkees,” the band auditions to play the sweet sixteen party of country club member’s daughter, Vanessa. After the band lands the gig, Davy and Vanessa hit it off immediately and begin dating; much to the chagrin of her parents, who worry how all the time she spends with him will affect her schoolwork. Despite her assurances to the contrary, Vanessa fails her history final, which puts the boys’ gig in jeopardy. They help her study for the make-up exam, but Mr. Russell still won’t let Davy near the house or the band near the party.

Like many a pilot episode it’s a bit drab and awkward in comparison to what the series would eventually become, so while I may not like it much I can’t rag on it too hard. Besides, the pilot contains flickers of the shows great qualities like the visual gags, costume changes, fourth wall breaking, and Micky flailing. It’s not as refined, sure, but that came with time. It’s also interesting to see the secondary characters that existed in an early version of the show, such as Jill and Rudy, the latter of which had the connection that got the band their audition for the Russell’s party. Not much is explicitly stated about them or their relationship to the band other than the fact they appear to work at a record store. It could’ve been cool to see more of these characters, especially since most of the adult figures in the series tend to be more antagonistic (like Mr. Babbitt) while Rudy seemed supportive of the band. I get why the show took the adults-as-mild-antagonists route, but more variety wouldn’t have hurt.  

I’ve noticed a portion of the episode that still causes, for lack of a better term, controversy is when Mike tosses a dart at a Beatles poster and it lands square in Ringo’s face. I should stress that most of the folks this upsets appear to be young Beatles fans and as such I’m far more sympathetic to them than other curmudgeons I’ve seen orbiting the Monkees. In all honesty, what kind of high ground can I really take? When I began watching the show I was literally twelve, in my The Beatles Are Sacrosanct phase (which I’ve probably never really left, but…), and yeah, it pissed me off. It’s an oversensitive and silly reaction, sure, especially given the real life relationship between the bands. But, again: Literally. Twelve. And I got over it quickly enough. I suspect (or hope) the same will happen for most.

However, one aspect of the episode that bugs me more as time goes on is the fact that Davy and Vanessa apparently stayed out until one in the morning. I know it was the sixties and allegedly “safer” times and all, but what kind of parent allows a fifteen (bordering on sixteen) year old to a) go out on a date on a school night and b) stay out on a date that late? Maybe I’m just too strict, I don’t know, but it seems wrong to me.

If there’s one aspect of “Here Come the Monkees” that I unequivocally love it is Mike and Davy’s screen tests. The producers included them after initial test runs of the pilot were received poorly. Obviously it worked as following screenings fared better and the show eventually got picked up. It’s easy to see why it worked. As I said earlier, the pilot is a bit awkward and stiff and the Monkees’ personalities don’t get much of a chance to really shine in it. Meanwhile, the screen tests are much looser and show Davy as super adorable and charming and show off Mike’s dry, kind of off-kilter humor. In fact the clips work so well that one could say that’s why episodes occasionally ran a “minute short” to make room for backstage interview footage.