In “Monkee
vs. Machine” the boys decide to find day jobs to help pay the rent. Peter is
rejected for a job at a toy factory when his interview, conducted by one of the
company’s advanced computers, goes horribly and hilariously wrong. Mike comes
to the rescue and earns the job after he overloads the machine with his own
questions and comebacks. Though glad to have the job, Mike feels conflicted with
his position as Daggart’s assistant. Daggart wants all the company’s products
to be designed by his computers and to push out a man who has designed for the
company his whole life. To help Pop Harper keep his job, the other three boys (in
mother-son pairs) infiltrate the focus group meant to test the toys.
Neat
bit of trivia, this is actually Peter Tork’s favorite episode of the show and I
must admit that it ranks very high up for me as well. There’s just so much in
this one to love. Peter and Mike’s interviews are both hilarious. Case in point:
Peter:
My name is Peter, you dig? Pete.
DJ61: You
dig Pete? Occupation: Pete Digger.
The
scenes in the focus group probably steal the show, though. The combination of
the guys in drag and dressed as kids kicking Daggart in the leg is magical,
especially when Micky attempts a lady voice. Between the band’s antics and the
kids turning on him, Daggart damn near has a nervous breakdown. His attempts to
keep his cool among exploding pies and getting pelted with bridge pieces fail
to fantastic results.
As one
can probably guess by my gushing over the song “Tapioca Tundra,” I have a deep
affinity for Mike Nesmith, so I have a soft spot for Mike-centric episodes such
as this one. Of course I love his comedic timing and facial expression, but his
morals and sense of duty make him so endearing as a character. It’s easy to see
why in moments of distress they (especially Peter) will turn to Mike or he’ll
just fly in to the rescue on his own, like in “Monkee vs. Machine.” There are
deviations occasionally, but the Monkees’ characters remain fairly static throughout
the series. Many older sitcoms don’t
have continuity in terms of an overall plot for a series; most of the connecting
threads are running gags and characterization. Another example of such a sitcom
would be The Golden Girls, which is
loaded with tiny contradicting details that take a backseat to their character archetypes
and “back in St. Olaf” stories. Well… unless you’re like me and have watched
the series a bajillion time, but even then it doesn’t ruin anything at all.
The
episode also means a lot to me, because it really takes me back to that first
summer I spent watching the show. According to my mother, I watched the show
when MTV aired it in the mid- to late eighties, but I don’t remember that at
all. My memories of the show begin in 1997 when VH1 and Nick At Nite would have
weekly marathons of the show. I still have VHS tapes of Nick At Nite’s Monkee
Mondays. I want to say VH1’s marathon aired on Thursday, but it could’ve been Wednesday
as well. I’m a bit unclear on that detail. I spent so much of that summer (and
the following summer) watching the show and holding my radio up to the TV to
record songs and favorite bits of dialogue so that I could listen to them outside.
I have really fond memories of running and swinging to “Saturday’s Child” (the first
romp in this episode), so hearing that song or watching “Monkee vs. Machine”
instantly brings me there. 
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