"The Monkees" Rewatch: The Picture Frame (The Bank Robbery)

"The Picture Frame" begins with Mike, Davy, and Micky entering Mammoth Studios to meet with director J.L. and his assistant Harvey. J.L. offers them rolls as bank bandits in a movie and says he's already arranged a hidden camera shoot at the Ninth National Bank. All the boys need to do is show up, hold up the bank with the list of dialogue, and then come back with the money. Unfortunately for them, the whole thing is a setup to make them the fall guys for J.L. and Harvey's robbery, so once the "shoot" ends and the boys return with the props J.L. reports them to the police. By the time the band eventually figures out that the police aren't part of another shoot and try to explain what happened it's already too late. Mike, Davy, and Micky end up in jail and soon have to defend themselves in court, so it's up to Peter to search Mammoth Studios for the photo that will prove their innocence.

Honestly, I think "The Picture Frame" should've been the first episode of season two, because it's better than "It's a Nice Place to Visit..." In almost every way. It takes a fairly silly (in a bad way) conceit and just runs with it, charging it up with high energy and surreal, Pythonesque bits. Being Pythonesque can also mean silly, but in an absurd and fun way, like the courtroom scenes and when the police station became a movie theatre. The guys also do a great job in it with each of them getting at least one big laugh moment. A couple of my favorites include Mike's ridiculous faces and Davy's greatest line of, "We were shooting a movie! Some cat came up and said, 'You wanna shoot a movie?' Said, 'Yeah, we'll shoot a movie.' So we shot a movie." The episode's so, so silly and so, so great that even its title is a somewhat of a pun.

Another noteworthy aspect of this episode is the romps. One, because they feature the first non-credit sequence appearances of the iconic rainbow room. And two, because they're "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "Randy Scouse Git," which are simply great songs. Plus, both show the Monkees doing social and political commentary in both direct and subtextual ways. "Randy Scouse Git" may play at being goofy and absurd, but it goes right for the jugular when it counts. I mean, when Micky Dolenz literally shouts, "Why don't you hate who I hate, kill who I kill to be free?" there is no sugar-coating his scorn. Meanwhile, "Pleasant Valley Sunday," by comparison, is more understated if for no other reason than its digs are couched in such a lovely, sunny pop song. As such, I feel like its one of those songs that can be easily misread if you're not paying attention, like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" (though perhaps not as widely misunderstood as that one seems to be.) Come to think of it, maybe "Pleasant Valley Sunday" is partially responsible for my affinity for happy sounding depressing songs.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: It's A Nice Place To Visit... (The Monkees In Mexico)

"It's a Nice Place to Visit..." begins with the Monkees broken down in El Monotono, Mexico. While they leave the Monkeemobile with a mechanic they go into a nearby cantina where Davy instantly falls for their waitress, Angelita. He asks if she'd like to go for a walk with him, but her father and the cantina owner refuses on her behalf as she is the girlfriend of El Diablo, the bandit without a heart. The boys then find out their car needs a new motor for $14.95 and return to the cantina to find work. Though the owner has misgivings about letting them play, the patrons enjoy them so much he tells them to "play until you think you will drop and then keep on playing." Davy goes to say goodbye to Angelita and she tells him that doesn’t want to be El Diablo’s girl, but that she doesn’t feel she has a choice. While they continue to “say goodbye” El Diablo enters the cantina with his bandits and threatens Davy with describable and indescribable torture because Angelita chose him over El Diablo. After he takes Davy prisoner, the others infiltrate his camp disguised as bandits El Dolenzio, El Torko, and El Nesmito who offer to join forces with him after they pass his tests of strength, bravery, and skill and determination. El Diablo throws a celebration meal for them, during which Peter finds and frees Davy. But before they manage to get back to their car and leave Mexico, El Diablo challenges El Dolenzio to a duel at high noon, which Micky must accept lest the bandit punish the whole town.


My first prompt for this episode reads “New credits, same old stereotypes and love at first sight.” One of season two’s distinguishing traits is the use of “For Pete’s Sake” as the end credits theme, which I like simply because I prefer that song over the main theme and it helps lessen any repetitiveness when marathoning the show. Now, the opening credit theme remains, but montage it plays over includes clips from season two and elsewhere as well as a little gag involving their names. Also, the syndicated version of the show used the season opening, so it’s the one I’m most used to and familiar with. As for the “same old” stuff I mentioned, the episode wastes little time getting to Davy instantly falling in love with Angelita and characters with stereotypical accents. I don’t know and it’s not really for me to say if the episode is as culturally or racially insensitive as others, but one character actually exclaims “Aye Chihuahua!” so take from that what you will.

One notable thing in “It’s a Nice Place to Visit…” that I’m pretty sure is different or at least uncommon for the show prior to this and that’s the use thematically appropriate music. For instance, the episode uses a more Western style version of the main theme song throughout it. Also, the featured Monkees song is “What Am I Doing Hangin’ ‘Round,” which again has a Western feel and the lyrics fit, at least somewhat. Of course, the specifics and plots of the song and the episode differ, but the “loud mouth Yankee” “down in Mexico” that keeps wondering why he’s sticking around with this chick despite all the reasons he should just leave definitely has some parallels to what happens to the boys here.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees On Tour

Before we get into the episode I wanted to start this post with a “Monkees Primer,” of sorts, because it occurred to me recently that I did just jump into the show itself and never gave proper background for it. As I’ve mentioned before with regard to spoilers, I do tend to assume that anyone reading these posts has some knowledge of or familiarity with the show, but passing over that background entirely still feels like a huge oversight on my part. Plus, it’ll become even more important once the discussion turns to subjects like Head and 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee, so it’s better to lay the groundwork now. And if you are familiar with the background, don’t worry, this will be a very, very condensed Cliffs Notes version of the series beginnings.

After being inspired by the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider (the filmmakers behind Raybert Productions) began developing a show about a fictional group. Eventually, production company Screen Gems bought the idea and auditions looking “for 4 insane boys” and “spirited Ben Frank’s-types” began in the fall of 1965. Out of the four hundred who auditioned, Micky Dolenz (drums), Mike Nesmith (guitar), Davy Jones (percussion), and Peter Tork (bass) landed the main roles. Micky and Davy had previous acting experience (Micky in the show Circus Boy referenced in “Monkees at the Circus” and Davy in musicals such as Oliver!), while Mike and Peter had focused on their music with Peter primarily being a folk singer and Mike pursuing singing/songwriting as well as publishing his work before The Monkees. One could argue that their musical history contributed to their eventual dissatisfaction with how the Monkees’ music was made and then perceived. Initially, that side of the Monkees was handled by music supervisor Don “the Man with the Golden Ear” Kirshner, a team of songwriters (such as Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart and Gerry Goffin & Carole King), and studio musicians while the Monkees shared lead vocal duties (again, like the Beatles.) There were exceptions to this, including their concerts and tracks like “Papa Genes Blues,” which was written by Mike and included Peter on banjo, I believe, after Mike argued for Peter’s inclusion. In addition, the mid-sixties saw a growing importance placed on the notion and appearance of ““authenticity”” and playing one’s own music (instead of simply covering pop standards as had largely been the case prior to acts like Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, etc.) as a result ““real”” musicians didn’t much appreciate the manufactured nature of the group. Hence, the “is it true you don’t play your instruments?” question in the interview segment that ended “Monkees At The Movies.” So, between the group’s growing frustrations and releasing material that had not been cleared, Don Kirshner was fired around March 1967 and the Monkees became the primary players on their third record, Headquarters, released in May 1967.

Which leads us to “Monkees On Tour,” an episode that documents the group’s January 21, 1967 show in Phoenix, Arizona and served as the finale for season one on April 24, 1967. And I’ll be honest here, part of why I chose to do a Monkees Primer now instead of waiting is because episode summaries tend to take up a big portion of these posts and that’s not really possible with “On Tour.” It’s pretty straightforward in terms of what happens and shows them on stage, backstage, with screaming fans, with calm fans, at the hotel, at a radio station and each of them roaming on their own. 

I like the chance to see them perform, but I can’t help but feel as frustrated as I do when I see Beatles performance footage. Like, I totally get being an excited fangirl, but when I watch this stuff I wish the damn seagulls would just shut. up. Keep in mind that I’m the type to get very irritated when audience members scream during a quiet moment in a song or when an artist talks in concert, so the constant stream of shouting utterly ruins footage like this for me. I want to hear the band, not the nonsense of an audience high on themselves, but that’s impossible because some people are just obnoxious. I don’t want to go off on a full rant, so I’ll stop here by saying that I will never understand the point of going to see an artist’s show if you’re not going to listen or have any regard for the artist and your fellow audience members. That’s all.

Another thing that sticks out to me is that while I love the silly moments, like Davy messing with a swan or them taking over a radio station, what stays with me the most is the sorta melancholy of the second half, like Mike’s “someday… someday,” Peter’s “a little green and a little quiet,” or Davy’s “it looked lonely.” I don’t know if it was necessarily meant to be serious or sad, but that’s how it makes me feel. Maybe part of why it does is due to these more personal, introspective moments being intercut with the very public, energetic, and loud concert and how that perhaps unintentionally highlights how isolating touring specifically and fame in general can be. Or maybe it makes me feel that way because “On Tour” is another episode that I haven’t watched very often and for the longest time my main memory of it was Micky talking about how he wants to build “something that’ll last” and “something I can say is my own.” I can’t really verbalize exactly why that particular moment made me feel sad. I guess the best way I could put it is that it made me sad to think that maybe he gave up what he truly wanted in favor of something else and I always hoped that he was able to realize that goal in some way. In fact, a few years ago he started a furniture company with one of his children, so maybe it fulfills that dream for him, at least I hope so.

And on that note, that brings us to the end of “Monkees On Tour” and The Monkees season one! Even though it’s taken me way longer than I wanted to get the project to this point it’s still been quite fun to reminisce and become reacquainted with the show. I’m really looking forward to diving into season two and those posts will start the week of January 8th. Until then!

"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.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees In Manhattan (Monkees, Manhattan Style)

"Monkees In Manhattan” begins as the band arrives at an NYC hotel in order to meet with McKinley Baker, an unknown Broadway producer who wants the band to star in his new musical. They spent all their money on the bus trip, so Baker offers to let them stay in his suite until he receives money from his financial backer. The boys accept, but soon the hotel manager, Mr. Weatherwax, threatens to throw Baker out for lack of payment. The manager refuses Baker’s promise for payment once he meets with his backer and gives them an hour to leave, so the boys must stall for the three hours until Baker’s backer meeting. Unfortunately, once the backer backs out, the boys then have to find a new one to save the show and find a way to pay the hotel.


Oh, boy, what a load of nothing. I don’t even know what to say here, because this does feel like mostly filler. Even the romps are kinda boring and contain mostly clips from other, better episodes. And yeah, it’s not rare for the show to recycle, but in this case, it’s difficult to ignore when the results don’t amount to much and the rest of the story doesn’t amount to much either. Like the plot itself, the show is just stretching for time until something better comes along.

The only redeemable and not recycled (and not rabbit related) aspect of “Manhattan” is the interview section at the end. All of the clips are endearing in their own ways, but the most adorable is likely the one that shows Davy and Peter goofing around with their makeup artist, Keeva, But y’know what? Here, just watch it: 

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees Get Out More Dirt

“Monkees Get Out More Dirt” should be subtitled “Laundry Day Is A Very Romantic Day,” because when the boys stop by the laundromat and go looking for soap, all four quickly fall for the owner, April Conquest. Upon returning home, they each concoct a reason (from sick aunts to dog food) to immediately go back and visit her at work where they find her working on her doctor’s thesis in laundry science. They return home again only to pace around the pad for a bit being snippy at each other before watching Dr. Sisters advice show in which she claims to win the girl you want through her mind and learning “the kind of man she likes and then be that man.” This leads each of the boys to call April and other people in her life to find out her interests and hobbies, including pop art, ballet, chamber music, and motorcycles, and taking them on in order to impress her. Unfortunately, the plan works a little too well with April proclaiming, “Oh, I love you all” and pushing her close to a nervous collapse. Her nerves lead her to close her laundromat one day and the boys worry it could cost her the business, so they decide to choose one of them for her while the others let her down easy.

I’ll say, for an episode based on a love pentagon it’s lighthearted. I mean, at no point did I ever think the band was in danger, unlike “Success Story” which had an ominous cloud hanging over it during that first watch. “Dirt” does put them, ostensibly, into competition with each other, but they don't really lose sight of their friendship (as shown by Peter’s letter to Dr. Sisters) nor do they allow it to hurt April and her business. They do snip at each other a bit and split the pad into quarters for a brief moment, so any beef between them is relatively minor and short-lived. It’s a nice change of pace from other love triangles-rectangles-tetradecagons where people damn near want to slit each other’s throats, no matter how good of friends they were. Then again, this particular pentagon centers on the try-to-describe-her-and-not-use-the-word-statuesque Julie Newmar, so who could really blame them if they did become so blinded by infatuation they threw it all away? I mean, if a chick were to come between the band it might as well be the only Catwoman.

My other prompt for this episode says, “Wait, how old are they supposed to all be again? (thirty year old teenagers.)” If April’s working on her doctor’s thesis, she’s gotta be about twenty-three, twenty-four, at least, right? Meanwhile, Mike’s twenty-one and Davy’s young enough to still have a legal guardian. Hell, forget age differences, April apparently has multiple degrees and her own business, why is she even giving a bunch of broke “teenagers” a second glance? Especially when they lied to her from the start. Yeah, let’s be honest, they didn’t really deserve her anyway.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees On The Line

In “Monkees On The Line” Mike decides the band should hire an answering service, since not being home or answering the phone when they are around could cost them gigs. When they try to negotiate a lower rate at the Urgent Answering Service, the lone operator offers them a job with service included on top of the regular pay. They accept and she goes to Jamaica, but not before she establishes the main rule: “Don’t get involved with the clients.” It takes all of one phone call before that rule is thrown right out the window, because Mike encounters a client, Ellen Farnsby, he believes is suicidal. (*jazz hands* Comedy! But fear not, she’s simply an actress using the service to rehearse and “live [her] part” for a play.) While Mike and Micky run to check on her, Davy and Peter take over the phones, only for Davy to leave in search of the recipient of an urgent message from “Zelda-baby” and get caught in a circular chase sequence with a cop and his angry wife. Left to his own devices, Peter schedules what he thinks is a gig for a band and ends up hidden in the wall after pushing a red button. Eventually the misunderstandings come to a head in another chase around a giant telephone.

Like I said last time, perhaps on paper this seems too weird or silly, but it’s all in the execution and the execution here is brilliant. In fact, if I had to pick this might be my favorite episode of season one. It’s simply hilarious and the writing and performances are on point, though it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that to me Mike is the absolute star of this episode. He frequently has great facial expressions (see "Monkee Chow Mein"), but “On The Line” is loaded with absurd Mike faces. Given that he’s generally the level-headed straight man of season one (to the extent that it even has one), it’s fun to watch him go off the wall and over the top with his performance. And while I love the bonkers stuff, I gotta say that one of my favorite moments is Mike’s relatively dry delivery of “No, I’m sorry, you must have the wrong number we don’t have a telephone.”

My only real complaint would be Davy’s assertion that Mike got involved with Ellen’s situation because he was “kinda hooked on” her. Right, because there is no other reason why someone might be concerned when another person claims they’re so lonely they “can’t go on” and want “to end it all.” Yeah, nope, no. No other possible reason. Empathy for a fellow person in distress? Basic decency and compassion? Nah! He just wanted on her because hysterical phone calls are so damn hot. Jeez. Though he says, “How could I not?” in response to Davy and babbles about masculinity, most of Mike’s reaction makes it seem like maybe he did it to be the hero, so to speak, or at least wants to look that way to the others. An idea not nearly as out of character for him considering much of the show characterizes him as someone who helps people, be they his friends or others, such as in “Monkees Vs Machine,” “Don’t Look A Gift Horse In The Mouth,” and even the ending of “I’ve Got A Little Song Here.” Could it be that I’m just blind, since he’s favorite? Maybe, but for now I’m sticking to my guns and my dislike.

Finally, given that the very concept of an answering service was something of an anachronism by the time I got into the Monkees, I must echo Mike’s confusion, how do you tell which one is ringing?

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkee Mother

“Monkee Mother” begins with Mr. Babbitt, armed with a list of complaints, kicking the Monkees out of the pad. He claims the new tenant will be there any minute, said tenant is Milly, a widow with a stuffed parrot (Lewis) and dog (Martin.) As Milly begins to settle in and arrange her belongings the boys confront her about how they were living there first. She responds with “So live!” that she’s had boarders before, a label the boys don’t take too kindly toward. Despite some heartwarming bonding moments with her, they decide the arrangement still isn’t working out once Milly brings over visitors in the form of her noisy relatives and an English girl she met at the store. Micky suggests that she really wants is a new husband and they decide to set her up with Larry, the mover who helped her into the pad and seemed to take a liking to her. The pair quickly marries and during the wedding Mr. Babbitt apologizes for inconveniencing the boys, because he wasn’t too fond of Milly’s visitors either. After the wedding, Milly says goodbye her “darling boys” with some advice and a promise to visit them “soon,” that is, that night.

This one’s a heart-squeezer, folks, and I love it so much. In the words of Miss Truvy Jones, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” “Monkee Mother” certainly fits that bill if you’re a big ol’ sap like me. As I said, there are some bonding moments between the boys and Milly and they all happen one right after the other and it just leaves me in pieces. The worst (best?) is the moment when Mike looks at her so, so sincerely and says, “Make me a success.” Ugh! I’m tearing up right now writing about it! Cap off the sequence with “Sometime in the Morning” and forget it, I’m destroyed. I love the comedy of The Monkees, that much should be obvious by now, I hope, but I love the rare, little moments of emotion and drama as well, so much so that they tend to define their respective episodes in my mind. Like, I can’t think of “Success Story” without thinking of “Shades of Gray” and Davy saying goodbye. Likewise, as hilarious as this episode is, for me it will always be about those times when Milly and the boys find a connection and learn to like each other despite all their differences and the fact that living in the same house didn’t work for them.

And the episode is hilarious. Rose Marie, in her second Monkees role after the Big Man, and the guys play off each other really well in both the comedic and dramatic scenes. I think my favorite line comes from Davy, “Listen, don’t worry, man, she’ll find somethin’ to do with yeh,” which may not seem all that funny on paper, but it’s all in the delivery, trust me.

The songs included in this episode are fantastic, too. I already mentioned “Sometime in the Morning,” probably one of the best Monkees ballads. It’s one of those songs that’s so sweet and so beautiful it makes my chest ache. The episode also features “Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow,” which I love and is made even better by Peter and Mike being utterly adorable during the performance.

Lastly, I’m once again left confused by notes Past Me made regarding one of these recaps. The note in question this time says, “’I don’t care’ about ‘cupcakes in sour cream.’” …’Kay. Obviously, this is a reference to the only words Clarisse seems to know and Davy’s advice to Larry, respectively, but I don’t remember what exactly this was meant to prompt me to talk about. Only answer I can come up with is that it was about the humor and quotable lines, but surely, there had to be a more direct way doing that. Eh. Hopefully as I get into a routine where my note-taking and post-writing happen more closely together I won’t run into this issue as much.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkee Chow Mein

“Monkee Chow Mein” begins with Mike, Davy, and Micky eating in a Chinese restaurant while Peter fills a giant doggie bag with food. While leaving he dumps a plate of fortune cookies into his bag and grabs another off a waiter’s plate. This seemingly innocent action leads the waiter to shout “He has the cookie, stop him!” as the other restaurant patrons and spies gather around him. Mike yanks Peter out of the crowd and the band flees the restaurant before they can be caught, only to then run into agents from the Central Intelligent Service who take them to headquarters for questioning. After some attempts to explain that Peter likes to feed cookies “to a dog we don’t have,” the agents eventually realize the band’s innocence and non-involvement in the goings-on of the restaurant. They explain to the boys that the cookie contained information about a chemical weapon they’d developed called the Doomsday Bug, which had been stolen by a spy ring with a second-in-command called the Dragonman. Despite the inspector’s warnings, the boys nervously head home with Micky certain they’re being followed. After multiple kidnapping attempts, threats of torture, “bad food and drugs,” and costume changes, it’s up to the Monkeemen to bring down Dragonman and, his boss, Mr. Big.

Right. So, this is gonna be another one of those awkward episodes to talk about, because it is quite racist against Asians and Chinese folks, in particular. Like I’ve said before, I don’t think problematic elements automatically make a work worthless, but I also wouldn’t blame someone for skipping over it due to them. It’s a complicated issue. Part of me finds the old “It’s from the 60s, what do you expect” line, while true to an extent, riddled with its own problems. Racism is alive and well, folks. You can’t really get away with “well, that’s how it was then” when stuff like yellowface and stereotyping in fiction goes on to this day. Then again, I do think it’s slightly unfair to place our current standards onto older media, especially when comedy in particular often ages quickly and badly. For me, talking about these issues isn’t about ripping something to shreds, but about acknowledging the problems so that we can do and expect better going forward.

In the case, the problematic elements are made all the more frustrating by the moments are good and kinda subversive. Early in the episode, after the band’s been chased out of the restaurant, Mike says, “Well, you never can tell, Orientals [cringe] are a curious people,” which is soon followed up with “I don’t know, occidentals [westerners] are a curious people” when the C.I.S. agents pick them up. But the best moment comes when Toto accidentally kidnaps Micky and says, “Forgive me, master, but all American look alike to me,” a play on the racist notion that all Asians look alike. Of course, the episode still hinges on stereotypes and yellowface, so I could understand the little moments of subversion not really making up for it.

And yet, I can’t deny that I have affection for this episode. When I was young and first getting into the show, it was a big favorite. Peter’s “Miiiiike!” and the Monkeemen scene always did me in. Honestly, those and all the other bits that always made me laugh and made me love it then, still make me laugh, even though it also makes me cringe hard at times. As I said before, this stuff is complicated. 

Luckily, the coming string of episodes are some of my favorites and hopefully won’t as a cringe-inducing and awkward to talk about.

Oh, wait… Miss Farnsby is coming up.

Shit!

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Alias Micky Dolenz

“Alias Micky Dolenz” starts out with Micky being approached by a nervous and aggressive man asking him, “When’d you get out?” Mike then convinces Micky to report the man to the police only for the station to erupt in fear, because like the man on the street, the officers mistook him for gangster and “most viscous killer in America” Baby Face Morales. The chief explains that, while they caught Baby Face, his accomplices remain at large along with the loot they stole and he would like Micky to impersonate Morales so they could finish the job. After his initial refusal, Micky agrees and visits Baby Face under the guise of being a cousin who wants to be just like him and asks for advice in order to make his impersonation more authentic. The chief then instructs Micky to go to the Purple Pelican in search for Baby Face’s henchmen Tony and Mugsy. Once there, he runs into Face’s girlfriend, Ruby, who tells him that Tony “is top dog now” and may not give him “his split.” Soon Tony and the others confront Micky-Face and a fight breaks out at the bar when Micky-Face asserts he’s not a has-been, but an “am-is” and wants his cut. After the brawl, Tony concedes top dog status to Micky-Face and agrees to his plan to pick up the diamonds. However, Tony’s misgivings lead the gangsters to tail Micky back to the pad and immediately take him where the jewels were both stolen and hidden with Mike and Peter in tow and the recently escaped Baby Face not far behind.

And finally, at episode twenty-five, we finally get a Micky-centric episode! Cue the cheers, glitter, jubilation, confetti, etcetera. Not only is it Micky-centric, but it also serves as Micky’s doppelgänger episode, almost as if the show runners wanted to make up for their oversight. (Or probably not, I’m just spitballin’.) But, of course, while it’s all well and good that Mick gets center stage, there’s a more important issue question to answer: is the episode any good? It’s… okay. It has the great line, “If you punch me the mouth and I’ll kick you in the head.” The episode’s songs and the romp/rumble in the bar are great, but when one is “Mary, Mary” that’s just a given. (Oh, and hey, even one of the songs is a double. Herrherr. Ahem. Anyway.) But I think my favorite bit might be Baby Face’s girlfriend, Ruby. The plot moves rather fast so she doesn’t get much screen time, but I think she’s a riot. Maureen Arthur, the actress who plays her, has great facial expressions.

Of course, the aforementioned fast plot does cause some problems for me, as it usually does. My biggest problem being that in less than two minutes the chief goes from meeting Micky and mistaking him for Baby Face to telling a teenager to impersonate a criminal in order to capture a bunch of other criminals. The show may frame other authority figures in the show as bigger idiots or assholes, but the chief’s gotta be one of the stupidest either way.

“Alias Micky Dolenz” is also notable for its distinct lack of Davy. Well, that is, until the last minute of the episode, an interview segment with him explaining how and why he wasn’t in it. Because I guess the producers just couldn’t help themselves or trust the audience to stick around without him for even a little bit.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees à la Mode

“Monkees à la Mode” starts off at the headquarters of Chic magazine while Madam Quagmeyer and her employees discuss possible subjects for their annual “young America” issue. After Madam Q dismisses staff photographer (and utter snob) Rob Roy Fingerhead’s ideas as stale, writer Toby Willis suggests the Monkees are the “fresh and new” faces she wants. Q claims they are “possible” and “hideous,” but that they can remake the boys in their image. Soon the boys receive a copy of Chic with a letter saying they’ve been chosen as the Typical Young Americans of the year. Toby and Rob Roy arrive at the pad only for the photographer to prance disgustedly around the apartment, insulting it and the boys before leaving in a huff. Mike in particular has reservations about the article, telling Toby, “Well, I mean we are typical young people, but eh… well, young people just aren’t typical anything.” She responds by pointing out what the article could do for their career and ask them to trust her, so the boys reluctantly agree to meet with Madam Q at her office for a photoshoot and collection of background information. When Toby’s story “captures them just the way they are” Quagmeyer rejects it in favor of Rob Roy’s version that paints them out as snobs. Once printed, the article leads to problems with the Monkees’ friends, a sabotaged banquet, and a new editor at Chic.

Much like my previous post on Captain Crocodile, this post will include complaining about a certain character. Because $%*&$# Rob Roy Fingerhead. His face is stupid. His voice is stupid. He's an idiot and an asshole and I'm glad they made him crush his camera and put the poor thing out if its misery. Which... is certainly the character functioning as intended, but whoa boy, they may have done too good of a job with him.

Another thing that bugs me about “À La Mode” is that the band’s friends so readily believed what the article said. I mean, I guess you could say they felt lied to or some such, but surely they’d actually been inside their pad or to a gig and knew they couldn’t possibly afford gourmet food. Not to mention, if they love chamber music so much, then why do they play in a rock band with no such apparent influence. And yeah, I know, the show’s only about twenty-four minutes and the writers can only set up so much, but the lack of fleshing out here still bugs me. Especially considering that two of the angry friends appear to be girls that Davy and Micky are dating, but the article (as read in the show) makes no mention of them being, I don’t know, philanderers or something like that. I feel like I’m just rambling at this point, so I’ll just leave that there. 

Now, despite the things that annoy me (both intentionally and unintentionally) in the episode, the Monkees themselves do a fantastic job in it. They are all just on point, whether it’s Peter making faces in the background, Davy’s attitude (“You wanna get us arrested?” and the telegram), Mike’s dry delivery (“Well, I realize this is probably beyond your scope but I lived there”), or Micky’s physical comedy. And of course the banquet where they accept their trophy is an absolute riot and probably the highlight of the episode, though I do think their interview scene at Chic is a close second. If for no other reasons then “No, I lied, Burbank” and “Well, it all depends what I’ve lost,” but the whole scene is just joke after joke, it’s amazing. It also reminds me, fittingly, of the press conference scene in A Hard Day’s Night and anything that can do that must be doing something right.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Captain Crocodile

In “Captain Crocodile” the Monkees are set to play on the children’s show of the same name. Unfortunately, convinced they’re an attempt to replace him, the show’s star sabotages their first appearance. When offered a regular spot on the show the boys initially refuse, but accept when executive Junior Pinter guarantees “no more pies in the face.” This change increases the Captain’s paranoia and he conspires to embarrass them or prevent them from playing. Finally, Mike demands he let them play or they quit, he relents, but once done the boys find out they’d been playing off the air. After the TV station receives twenty-seven letters (presumably from the captain), complaining about the band, a meeting is called to determine if they will continue to appear on the show before the final showdown between costumed Monkees and the Crocodile Corps. 

My biggest takeaway from this episode is that Captain Crocodile is a total asshole. He reminds me of The Golden Girls episode “Mister Terrific” where Rose (Betty White’s character) meets and starts to date the titular Mister Terrific, a children’s show host/superhero, who is grumpy and uptight because his producer wants to update the show, even if it means firing him. In both cases, the intent was add to the show, not to “ease [them] out” and their problems were the result of paranoia and resistance to any slight change. The big difference between Captain Crocodile and Mister Terrific is how their respective shows frame them. The Monkees rightly positions Crocodile in the role of a villain, complete with canned hissing and booing lest the audience miss that they shouldn’t like this guy and his “evil thoughts.” The Golden Girls, however, wants the audience to like and sympathize with Terrific, for reasons beyond me. Crocodile’s hubris and asshole-ery costs him his job and show, but even after multiple tantrums and a dangerous publicity stunt Terrific gets his show back, which he only lost in the first place because he didn’t want to have to change anything about it. And maybe it could’ve worked if the actor who played Terrific had approached the role with any kind of warmth or sympathy, but no.

And I’m getting way off track. Sorry.

Anyway. 

Something else worth mentioning from the episode is the sequence wherein the boys fantasize about the TV shows they could be successful doing, which include parodies of Batman and To Tell The Truth, among others. It’s really funny and one of those moments where talking would ruin it, so just watch it:

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees at the Circus

“Monkees at the Circus” begins with the boys sneaking into a closed circus. They fiddle around with some of the props until caught by one of the performers, Victor, who threatens to call the police while throwing knives at Davy. Victor then gathers up the other performers to encourage them to leave, claiming “the circus is dead” due to lack of crowds, payment, and good equipment since the rise of discotheques and rock ‘n’ roll groups. This upsets Susan, the daughter of the circus’ owner (Pop), who tells Davy the difficulties they’ve had maintaining the circus without crowds to perform for. So while Victor tries to rile the performers, Davy rushes the stage to convince them all to stay, saying the kids and crowds will come back as long they are there when they do. His plea only briefly succeeds and when the boys see Victor confront Pop with a petition signed by the other performers they pose as an ambitious circus act called the Mozzarella(i?) Brothers, which excites the performers and leads to a sell-out crowd. However, when worries force the Monkees to come clean about being a rock band and not trapeze artists, the circus’ fate is again in jeopardy. 

I need to be honest and say that I think I waited a little too long to write this post, because one of the topics I put to talk about doesn’t seem like as good of a jumping off point as it may have at the time I wrote it. The prompt, such as it is, in my notes goes like this, “Mozzarella brothers, seriously, wtf is any of this? (at least it’s wtf in a mostly good way?)” And yeah, the Mozzarella/Mozzarelli stuff is funny, don’t get me wrong, but that’s about where it ends. I’m not sure what Past Me thought I could expand on that topic with. 

However, one topic that I think works for discussion that I, funnily, didn’t include in my list of topics is the circus and rock’n’rollers rivalry. I get that The Monkees casts the boys largely in the roles of underdogs and lovable misfits, but even so, circus performers being bitter about rock music and discotheques seems really random. Even the show implies that the circus’s audience skews young, certainly younger than most discotheques allow, since the boys themselves range from seventeen to twenty-one. So what exactly is the problem? Plus, it’s rather funny to me that a circus, a form of entertainment commonly portrayed as a venue for, well, “freaks” is used as a symbol old, stuffy adults when compared to rock’n’roll.

The next topic in my notes reads, “And who’s this Susan when she’s at home? A plank of wood, that’s who.” Again, I’m not sure what prompted the latter bit, but in hindsight I find it rather harsh. She’s not totally wooden as she does show some emotion during the course of the episode and is rather sympathetic. When she does come off wooden I think it’s because her resting face is rather blank. Either way, she feels like much more of a real human than most of the lady leads so far, though Valerie from “One Man Shy” is definitely still my favorite. 

My last note mentions “terrifying clowns,” which feels a little redundant, but here we are. I also don’t have much else to say beyond that. I mean, look at this: 

Shudder

"The Monkees" Rewatch: The Prince & the Pauper

“The Prince & the Pauper” begins with the Monkees waiting at an embassy because they read that “they” might be holding a ball and the group had been lacking in gigs. Soon enough, someone ushers Davy into another room, telling him, “The Count has been looking everywhere for you.” Before Davy can explain the band’s dilemma to the Count, Prince Ludlow walks in and he’s a dead ringer for Davy. Ludlow asks that they be left alone and explains to Davy his own dilemma, which is that he has come to America to find bride, since Peruvian law says if he is unwed by his eighteenth birthday Ludlow’s rule passes to Count Myron. While Davy finds the rule crazy, he also believes the prince shouldn’t have a problem since he’s a prince and has a lot of good qualities. Unfortunately, Ludlow’s shyness hinders him and when Wendy Forsythe comes for a visit, the other Monkees force Davy to impersonate him and talk to her for the prince. After the meeting goes well, Ludlow asks Davy to keep impersonating him for a few days to woo Wendy for him and he agrees. While Davy and Mike stay at the embassy, Peter and Micky take Ludlow back to the pad in order for him to “learn how to act after you got her.” Ludlow’s inexperience isn’t the only problem the band must contend with, since Count Myron and his toadie Max have been plotting against the prince in order for Myron to take the throne.

This episode marks the beginning of, I suppose you could call it, a running gag of the band coming across a doppelgänger of one of the boys. Though, unlike “Pauper” not all doubles serve as the focus of the story for their respective episodes, but we’ll get to that when it becomes relevant. Anyway. Beyond being fairly crucial to the story, Ludlow is definitely a highlight of the episode. Davy’s performance (as in actor-Davy, not character-Davy’s impersonation) as Ludlow is super endearing, if a bit forced at times. One example of such being Ludlow’s stuttering and tugging at his medals when he and Davy first meet, but I feel like I’m kinda nitpicking since most of the time Ludlow is utterly precious. Davy Jones had charm for days, so of course the shy, wide-eyed innocent routine will be a heart-melter coming from him. Or maybe it’s just me. Davy’s scenes with Mike at the embassy serve as the episode’s other big selling point, because the guys play off each other really well. 

As for Micky and Peter, well, after Mick suggests Davy talk to Wendy and they take Ludlow back to the pad, they don’t really have very much to do beyond eating potato chips and watching Ludlow fumble through conversation with some random chick. That’s not automatically a bad thing, by the way, after all, there’s only so much time per episode, so they can’t always all contribute to the same extent. However! I’d like to point out that twenty-one episodes in and still no Micky-centric story. The show freakin’ dual-wields Davy before it focuses even once on Micky. Sigh. Disappointing.

Another disappointment I should mention, I find it vaguely annoying that at one point Ludlow kind of implies that shyness equals shallowness, meanwhile Davy instantly cheers up about Ludlow and Wendy’s marriage after meeting Wendy’s doppelgänger even though the show gave no indication that he was into Wendy until a minute before her double shows up. Obviously, Ludlow and Wendy’s relationship isn’t exactly a love story for the ages, they’re basically on a Disney timeline, but at least they’d, y’know, talked before taking a liking to each other. Yes, Davy falling in love at first sight on a near daily basis is par for the course for the show, but this particular example highlights just shallow it is. Like, “Whoops! I lost this girl I liked, but at least I stumbled upon someone with the same face!” The potential for absurdity makes me wonder how “Pauper” would’ve turned out if it had been made during the even more self-aware, self-deprecating season two.

"The Monkees" Rewatch: Monkees in the Ring

“Monkees in the Ring” begins with Peter and Davy walking down the street and Peter littering the sidewalk with every pistachio he eats. While he tries to clean up the trail, Peter innocently bumps into a short-tempered man. Things nearly come to blows until Davy intervenes and inadvertently knocks the pedestrian out. Joey Sholto, a fight promoter, witnesses the whole exchange and approaches the duo to say he’ll make Davy the next featherweight champion of the world. He agrees to meet with Sholto to discuss boxing, because the band needs the money. Even so, the others express concern for his safety, especially considering his lack of knowledge and experience in the sport. Sholto makes a deal with them that if Davy doesn’t win his first three fights by K.O. then they can “have him back” and they agree. Davy begins training and goes on a boxing tour that he easily dominates with “thunder in [his] left and dynamite in [his] right.” Unfortunately, each of the fights have been rigged in order to build Davy’s “dynamite” reputation and skew the odds for when he fights the episode’s Totally Not Muhammad Ali known simply as the Champ.

“In the Ring” is yet another episode (along with the next few) that for whatever reason I missed out on whenever it aired when I watched the show years ago, so not only am I not that familiar with it, it’s really practically new to me. I have to admit, though, given that this (like a lot of season one) is Davy-centric I wasn’t too excited going in. It pains me to say things like that, because I love Davy and I totally understand why the show made him the focal point so often. He was the main heartthrob in the group, after all. Still, as someone who likes all of the Monkees, it sucks to see them short-changed. All that said, I did enjoy the episode, it has a lot of little, hilarious moments (“He don’t listen to his Papa no more!”) Plus, any episode with “I’ll Be Back Upon My Feet” immediately gets big points from me. Though I find it odd how Davy bought into his Roman Reigns-esque hype, all things considered. And while that bit of Sitcom Logic is weird, the worst example of it might be the moment when Mike finds out about the rigged fights and tells Davy while still in Sholto’s office surrounded by press. Dude, come on! Just goes to show that Peter wasn’t always the Dummy. 

"The Monkees" Rewatch: The Audition (Find the Monkees)

“The Audition” (aka “Find the Monkees”) begins with the group’s pad being invaded by Martians. And a trio of secret agents. And some apparently not copyright infringing jolly green giants. The three gimmicky rival bands each tell the boys they’d received invitations to audition for TV producer Hubbell Bensen, who is looking for a singing group to star in a new show. Despite being “as bad as any of other group in town” the Monkees are disappointed that they seem to be the only group to not get an invitation. As they lay around the pad depressed Davy suggests sending a tape recording they’d previously made to Mr. Bensen. Unfortunately, before returning the rented tape recorder, Micky forgot to take the recording with him, so instead the boys decide to visit Mr. Bensen in person at NBC Studios. Meanwhile, Miss Chomsky, Bensen’s beleaguered secretary, rented a tape recorder which just so happened to have the Monkees’ recording on it. Bensen’s immediately taken with the recording of “Mary. Mary,” proclaiming, “That’s the group I’m looking for!” After searching through booking agents, talents scouts, record companies, disc jockeys, and others with no leads, Bensen eventually decides to tell the press his problem to gain publicity and find the group.

One thing I wanted to note about this episode is that, like “I Was A Teenage Monster” before it, it has a sort of meta quality to it given that it’s about the band getting a TV show where they will presumably play  a band, who will “play my [Bensen’s] theme song.” Granted, it doesn’t have quite the resonance or room for commentary of Monster, this case of the band playing a band trying to get a gig to play a band is just kinda funny to point out.

Speaking of comparisons to earlier episodes, as briefly touched on, this episode goes by two names, “The Audition” and “Find the Monkees.” As I said in my post on “Too Many Girls,” the multiple names for some episodes confuses me and I wanted to try to find some sort of possible explanation for it. The closest thing to a concrete answer I could find was from the Anorak Zone, which says the alternate titles resulted from “repeat episodes being billed with different names, or early working titles being confused with the finalised ones.” I say closest thing, because while the latter portion makes sense, I don’t get the former. I’m not sure if that’s due to the phrasing or me overcomplicating things. Though, to be honest, it probably is just me overcomplicating it, so I’ll try to drop it.  

On a completely different note, this episode ends with an interview about long hair, getting into fights, and then recent “riots” and vandalism on the Sunset Strip involving teenagers protesting a curfew and laws that prevented people under eighteen from attending clubs that serve alcohol even if the clubs specifically cater to teenagers. Now, I don’t know enough about this particular situation to have an opinion on it one way or another, but I did want to point out two quotes from the interview that I find particularly interesting. The first being the last statement before the credits roll, which is Davy saying, “The reason I haven't spoken all this time is because that it doesn’t matter what I say nobody’ll listen to me because I’m under twenty-one, so I’m just keeping my mouth shut.” He smiles slightly as he says it, but wow, talk about a truth bomb. It’s no wonder the episode ends there and pretty pointedly, I’d say. I mean, his statement shows the paternalistic notions the protests were pushing back against, notions acted on without any concern to what the people directly affected by the laws know, want, or need. Or as Peter put it, “Nobody listens to kids talking for kids because kids are only kids.”  And while I’m on the subject of sentiments expressed here that sadly remain very relevant to this day, I want to close with this quote from Micky: “There haven’t really been riots. They’ve been in actuality, since I, since I was there, they’ve been demonstrations. And uh, but I guess, a lot of people and journalists don’t know how to spell ‘demonstration’ so they use the word ‘riot’ ‘cause it only has four letters.”

"The Monkees" Rewatch: I Was A Teenage Monster

The premise of “I Was A Teenage Monster” is actually pretty simple: the Monkees have been hired by scientist Dr. Mendoza to teach “a youngster” to play rock ’n’ roll, but start to have doubts once they find out the “little monster IS a little monster” of a Frankenstein’s monster variety. (Or is he a machine?) Soon they discover the doctor’s real intention of “teaching” the monster by stealing their musical abilities and then wiping their memories. So, the boys must find a way to regain their talents and thwart his “avaricious ambitions” for the Singing Android (aka Andy.)

Straight up, I adore this episode! It has so many great moments. Plus, it gives me a chance to talk about magical realism! While I’ve talked in the past about the series’ tendency to stretch one’s suspension of disbelief fairly wide, shall we say, “Teenage Monster” is likely the most overt example of magical realism up to this point. Now, the definition of “magical realism” might seem self-evident, but for clarity’s sake (and to put my English degree to some use): Magical realism is an artistic genre and tradition from Latin America that basically presents a grounded reality where some magical or mythical elements exist unexplained and accepted as if ordinary, often for the sake of some sort of (mostly political) commentary. Obviously it shares characteristics with other genres, like sci-fi, fantasy, science fantasy, surrealism, etc., and the overlaps can make it a bit hard to categorize. It seems like the big thing that characterizes it is the fact that it’s all played very mundane and just how things are. I don’t know if the writers of this episode were consciously trying to fit into the genre or if it actually technically does fit into it, but I think the argument could be made. After some initial fear the band does just act as normal and accepts their memory loss and the idea that Dr. Mendoza could and did transfer their musical abilities to Andy. Of course, the question of whether or not Andy is a “monster” or very sophisticated machine complicates things, because if he is a machine then the episode might be more sci-fi/fantasy. However, between Mendoza’s assistant Groot asking to be turned into a Wolfman and all the music seeming to emanate from Andy (instead being proficient at the instruments), I think the magical realism description still kinda fits.

Something that really struck me while watching the episode for this blog was the scene where the boys attempt to teach Andy rock ’n’ roll, specifically their priorities. Before teaching him anything about actually playing an instrument or singing, they gave him a new name, a Beatle haircut, “groovy clothes,” a guitar he couldn’t play, and a choreography lesson from Davy and Peter. Basically the image trumped all and, well, the music would eventually be fed into him later. I’m probably not the first to point this out and frankly I’m surprised it never dawned on me before, but the parallels between the monster in this episode and the Monkees’ own creation (right down to turning on their respective creators) are really interesting. Now, this episode had been written and filmed before behind the scenes tension erupted over music and input from the Monkees’ members, so I doubt (though I could certainly be wrong) this episode was intended as a commentary on the manufactured nature of the group. However, more pointed commentary on their construction and the constraints that resulted does become a theme in later output. It’s funny to see, though perhaps inadvertently, how early it started.