“Monkees
in a Ghost Town” starts off with the band travelling to an “out of town” job,
but a missed left turn causes them to drive until they run out of gas in a
ghost town. However, it isn’t completely deserted as a pair of robbers is using
the buildings to hide out while they wait for their boss, the Big Man, to
arrive. The crooks decide to leave it up to the boss what will happen to the
boys and toss them in a cell during the wait. After some “fun on the desert,” escape
attempts, and baseball, the Big Man finally shows up and orders the boys to be
taken out, but becomes (slightly) sympathetic upon hearing they’re a band due
to her show business past. They ask her to perform one last number with them to
buy time until they can find a way to get help. 
I think
this episode is just great. If I ranked the whole show this one would probably
end up in the top ten or fifteen. I love the writing of this one. It has some
of my favorite lines in the series, such as this exchange:
Peter:
Cross at the green, not in between.
Davy:
He’s been out in the sun too long.
Micky:
He was no bargain in the shade.
And:
Micky:
Don’t trust the cavalry.
Another
great aspect of “Ghost Town” is its guest stars, Rose Marie, Lon Chaney, Jr.,
and Len Lesser. Lesser and Chaney play crooks George and Lenny, respectively,
and yes, it is a pretty obvious Of Mice
and Men riff, though nowhere near
as depressing. I know the book’s something of a classic, but I don’t get why
that duo became a trope, of sorts, especially among comedies, The Monkees included. One could even
argue that Horace and George from “Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers” count
as such a riff. (A little bit, at least.) Like I said, maybe I was just too scarred by the book, but
yeah, it baffles me. Still, this episode’s Lenny is about as adorable and
lovable as you’d expect and luckily doesn’t die horribly.
Told
you I have scars. Anyway…
Of
course Rose Marie as the Big Man is hilarious and while I like this episode I
think her second guest appearance later on in the season is a better
performance. My main exposure to her came from watching The Dick Van Dyke Show as a kid, so it was a bit weird initially to
see her in something else and in color to boot.
“Ghost
Town” also has two fantastic romps for “Papa Gene’s Blue” and “Tomorrow’s Gonna
Be Another Day.” When I first got into the Monkees the song I considered my
favorite for the longest time was “Papa Gene’s Blues,” so admittedly, I’m
biased toward any romp that uses it. Even so, I do think the concept of baseball
in a jail cell while they dig holes to escape is cute.
I’ve
never given much thought to “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day” as a song, honestly,
so it’s a bit weird that some of my favorite romps feature it. This episode is
no exception. In fact, it might be my favorite romp of the first season, if not
the whole series. I’d try to intellectualize it, but why do that when I can I
simply show it in all its goofy glory?
Pretty
much everything about this episode is on point, except for one nagging question:
How’d they leave at the end if the Monkeemobile was out of gas all along?
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