"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees At The Movies

“Monkees At The Movies” begins with the band playing checkers on the beach. Soon director Luthor Kramm sees what he thinks is them doing a “typical new dance step” and approaches them to be extras in his new beach movie, I Married A Creature From Outta Town. The movie stars “perfect teenager” Frankie Catalina (played by Bobby Sherman), who can’t sing, can’t act, can’t surf, and fears girls. During a scene involving a volleyball game, Frankie throws a tantrum because he thinks Davy is trying to upstage him and proceeds to insult the others when they come to Davy’s defense. But “he doth abuse the Monkees at his own peril,” which leads to everything from his makeup to his cue cards and even full shots being sabotaged by the band. While going over dailies, he sees the Monkees’ actions and quits the movie, believing the sabotage to be a result of Kramm’s resentment toward him. After Davy draws the short straw, the others try to convince Kramm to cast him as Frankie’s replacement. Their schemes work, but maybe too well as they quickly fear the stardom has gone to Davy’s head.

This episode’s alright. It’s not as aggressively filler as “Manhattan,” but it’s also not as great as, say, “On the Line” or “One Man Shy.” It moves fast and the romps are fun, so I think that helps. On the other hand, the pace is detrimental when it comes to the idea that fame had gone to Davy’s head. The show establishes Frankie as a longtime movie star and jerk right from the jump, but Davy becomes arrogant before he even steps foot on set as a lead actor. It doesn’t make much sense and I feel like it might’ve made more sense to just cut that angle entirely. As I’ve said I’m sure many times, they have about twenty-five minutes per episode, so I know concessions will be made and certain corners cut. I’m not expecting nuanced, detailed stories here, but I’m still going to point out when I think things don’t work.

And speaking of things that don’t work, that hideous wig Bobby and Davy have to wear. Yuck. I bet if this were a season two episode that ugly thing probably would’ve been the source of their arrogant behavior. But, alas.

Another notable thing about “Movies” is once again the interview segment. Davy’s story about his brother-in-law arresting a guy while dressed in Monkee merchandise is hilarious, but a more pertinent discussion brought up here relates to the Monkees’ concerts and whether they play their instruments during them, which is itself just an extension of the ““““controversy”””” (in heavy air quotes) about how much they write and play on their records. I think it’s notable, in part, because it’s an interesting lead-in to the next episode “Monkees On Tour,” a mini-documentary of said tour. Also, I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure this instance is the first time the whole authenticity stuff made its way onto the show proper and the fallout from the breakdown of Monkees-kayfabe greatly shaped the Monkees’ image, music, show, and beyond from here on out, for good and ill.