The Monkees (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Monkees |
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Season One title card
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| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by |
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| Developed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "(Theme From) The Monkees" |
| Ending theme | "For Pete's Sake" (second season only) |
| Composer(s) | Stu Phillips (background music) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 58 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Cinematography |
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| Editor(s) | Mike Pozen (and others) |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
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| Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Picture format | 4:3 SDTV |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 12, 1966 – March 25, 1968 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by |
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| Related shows | New Monkees |
The Monkees was a fun American TV show that first aired on NBC. It ran for two seasons, from September 1966 to March 1968. The series followed the exciting adventures of four young guys, known as The Monkees, who dreamed of becoming a famous rock 'n' roll band.
The show used many new and cool ways of filming for TV. It even won two Emmy Awards in 1967, including one for Best Comedy Series. After the show ended in 1968, it stayed popular for a long time. People watched reruns on Saturday mornings and in syndication, which means it was shown on many different channels.
The Monkees became popular again in the 1980s when MTV started showing reruns in 1986. More recently, it has aired on Sunday afternoons on MeTV since February 2019.
Contents
What the Show Was About
The series focused on the adventures of The Monkees, a rock band trying to make it big. They lived in Los Angeles, California. The band members were Micky, Davy, Michael, and Peter.
The show was full of funny and sometimes weird adventures. The band would get into all sorts of strange situations while trying to find their big break in music.
How the Show Was Made
Getting the Idea and Choosing the Actors
In the early 1960s, two filmmakers, Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, started a company called Raybert Productions. They wanted to make it big in Hollywood. They got the idea for a TV show about a made-up rock and roll group after watching The Beatles' movie, A Hard Day's Night.
Raybert sold their idea to Screen Gems in April 1965. By August, Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker had finished the first script for a test episode, called "The Monkeys." Bob Rafelson said he had thought of a TV series about a music group as early as 1960. But no one was interested until 1965, when rock and roll music was super popular.
On September 8, 1965, newspapers like Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter put out an ad. They were looking for "Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series." About 400 people showed up hoping to be one of the "4 insane boys."
Fourteen actors from the auditions were called back for screen tests. Raybert chose the final four after checking with audiences to see who they liked best.
- Micky Dolenz had acted before as a child star. He was 10 years old when he starred in the Circus Boy series in the 1950s. His agent told him about the Monkees project.
- Davy Jones was from England and used to be a jockey. He had already found some success on stage, even appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show with the cast of Oliver! the same night The Beatles first performed live in America. He was already working with Columbia Pictures and recording music, so he was seen as a possible star for the show early on.
- Michael Nesmith was from Texas. His mom, Bette Nesmith Graham, invented correction fluid (like Liquid Paper). He had been in the U.S. Air Force for a short time and also recorded music. He was the only one of The Monkees who came to the audition because he saw the newspaper ad. He showed up with his laundry and impressed the creators with his relaxed style and funny sense of humor. He often wore a wool hat to keep his hair out of his eyes when riding his motorcycle. This led to early nicknames like "Wool Hat," but that name was dropped after the first test episode.
- Peter Tork was suggested to the creators by his friend Stephen Stills. Peter was a very talented musician who could play many instruments. He had performed in folk clubs in New York City before moving west, where he worked as a busboy.
Making the Episodes
The Monkees first aired on September 12, 1966, on the NBC network. The show was sponsored by Kellogg's Cereals and Yardley of London on different weeks.
The series was filmed by Screen Gems. Many of the same sets and items from The Three Stooges short films, also made by the studio, were used on The Monkees. For example, a pair of bunny pajamas worn by Curly Howard in some Stooges films were also worn by Peter Tork in Monkees episodes.
Sometimes, the young men would wander off set and be hard to find when it was time to film. So, if a Monkee wasn't needed in front of the cameras, they would be kept in a room that used to be a meat locker.
The show often didn't have a very strict script, so some episodes ended up being too short. To fill the time, the producers added "extras." These included the Monkees' original screen tests and honest interviews with the group. These interviews usually lasted one minute, which led to the running joke, "We're a minute short as usual."
Early episodes had a laugh track, which was common for TV shows back then. But later, the show stopped using one, and about half of the episodes from Season 2 had no fake laughter.
The Music of The Monkees
The main theme song for The Monkees, called "(Theme From) The Monkees", is one of the band's most famous songs. The line "We're the young generation and we've got somethin' to say" showed how young people wanted to share their own ideas and live their own lives, instead of just following older traditions.
For the second season, the show used a different song, "For Pete's Sake," as the closing theme. This song was on The Monkees' album Headquarters.
The Monkees' Home
The Monkees lived in a two-story beach house. The address of their house changed in different episodes.
- 1334 Beechwood in “Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers”
- 1424 ???, Malibu, California, in “Too Many Girls”
- 1438 North Beechwood according to Davy in “The Case of the Missing Monkee”
- 1334 North Beechwood Drive, Hollywood, California, according to a telegram in Head
The address 1334 North Beechwood Drive, Hollywood, California, was often given in 16 magazine as a way to contact Screen Gems or The Monkees.
The front part of the first floor was a living room, dining room, and kitchen all in one. In the back, with a view of the Pacific Ocean, was a special area with huge windows. This is where The Monkees kept their instruments and practiced songs.
The walls were covered with funny signs and posters. For example, there was a "MONEY IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL" sign near the kitchen. There was also a "SCRUB UP" sign above the kitchen sink and an "IN CASE OF FIRE, RUN" sign pointing to an old fire extinguisher.
In the kitchen area, there were two doors. One led to a bathroom, and the other to Davy and Peter's bedroom. The second floor, reached by a spiral staircase, only had Micky and Mike's bedroom. By the second season, all four Monkees shared the upstairs bedroom.
A mannequin named Mr. Schneider also "lived" with them. He would give wise advice when you pulled his cord. Mr. Schneider was named after Bert Schneider, one of the show's producers. The main director, James Frawley, usually did Mr. Schneider's voice. In Season One, the boys also had to deal with their grumpy landlord, Mr. Babbit. He was always yelling at them or threatening to kick them out for not paying rent.
The Monkeemobile
The Monkeemobile was a special car made from a Pontiac GTO. It was designed and built by Dean Jeffries. The car had a cool, tilted front windshield that was split into two parts. It also had a convertible top like a touring car, changed rear and front parts, and big tail lights.
Inside, it had four bucket seats and an extra third row of seats where the back of the car usually was. It even had a parachute! The front grille had the GTO emblem.
Awards and Recognition
The Monkees won two Emmy Awards in 1967. They won for Outstanding Comedy Series and for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. James Frawley won the directing award for the episode "Royal Flush." He was nominated again the next season for "The Devil and Peter Tork."
Winning Best Comedy Series was a bit of a surprise. They beat out popular shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Get Smart, and Hogan's Heroes.
Why the Show Ended
In its first season (1966-1967), The Monkees was very popular on TV. The band also had many hit songs. The Monkees became a huge sensation in pop culture.
However, many people didn't realize that the show and the band were created for TV. The Monkees characters didn't write or perform their own music in the studio, except for singing. They only played their own instruments during live performances. When this became known, some fans and music critics were upset.
NBC listened to the criticism and the band's own feelings. For the second season, they changed the show. The Monkees started writing and performing more of their own music, which was less "pop" sounding. Also, Don Kirshner, who produced their first hit songs, was let go. This led to a different sound for the band. The clean-cut look from the first season was also replaced with more hippie-like clothes.
By 1968, both NBC and the band felt the show had run its course. Even with the changes, the stories in each episode started to feel the same. So, the series was canceled in 1968.
The very last episode, "The Frodis Caper," was written by Micky Dolenz. It was a funny look at the TV industry. In the story, an evil eye that looked like the CBS logo was hypnotizing TV viewers. The Monkees traced it to an alien plant controlled by a villain who wanted to rule the world. When the plant made smoke, it calmed the villain down. Dolenz said he would let viewers decide what that meant. Tim Buckley was a special guest and closed the series with his song "Song to the Siren."
If the show had been renewed for a third season, The Monkees planned to change the format. They thought about making it a live music show, a variety show, or a sketch comedy series.
In 1968, The Monkees also starred in their own movie called Head. Parts of the TV series were included in the film. The movie didn't do well at the box office, and reviews were mixed.
Reruns and Later Popularity
The Monkees became popular again on Saturday morning and afternoon TV. It aired on CBS from 1969 to 1972 and on ABC from 1972 to 1973. To match new album releases, many episodes replaced older songs with newer ones.
In September 1975, all 58 episodes were sold to local TV stations for syndication. This meant they could be shown on different channels, usually on weekday afternoons.
A huge comeback happened on February 23, 1986, when MTV aired a Monkees marathon. Within months, the episodes were shown regularly across the United States on local stations and on Nickelodeon/MTV. Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Davy Jones, who had already reunited for a "20th Anniversary Tour," started playing in stadiums instead of small clubs. The series became popular again, and the tour received great reviews. This popularity led to a new version of the show in 1987 called New Monkees, but it wasn't successful and was canceled quickly.
The series has also aired on Antenna TV, IFC, FETV, and CHCH in Canada.
From March 2019 to April 2020, restored episodes of The Monkees aired on MeTV on Sundays. This happened after a huge response to Peter Tork's death, when MeTV showed two episodes as a tribute to him in February 2019.
Today, Rhino Records owns the rights to The Monkees' music, TV series, and logo. They bought them in 1994. Sony Pictures Television still distributes the TV show for syndication.
The Monkees' Lasting Impact
The TV show Miami 7, which introduced the British pop band S Club 7 in the 1990s, had a very similar idea. It was the second time a band created for TV had their own show in America. Also, the Nickelodeon sitcom Big Time Rush followed the same basic format. The producers of that show said The Monkees was their main inspiration.
Micky Dolenz said in a 2007 interview that while The Monkees were inspired by The Beatles, their image wasn't meant to be a copy. He explained that The Beatles were always shown as huge superstars with many fans. But The Monkees were always shown as struggling and trying to earn money. This is seen many times in the show. For example, in the first episode, Mike Nesmith throws darts at a Beatles poster. In another episode, The Monkees try hard to see a famous TV producer who is looking for a rock act for commercials. In "I Was a 99-Pound Weakling," Micky is tricked into a fake weight-training program but says, "Where am I gonna get that kind of money? I'm an unemployed drummer." In a screen test, a Monkee asks what The Beatles have that they don't. The answer: "Thirteen million dollars!" The last episode, "The Frodis Caper," even starts with parts of The Beatles' song "Good Morning, Good Morning" from their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
When Davy Jones passed away in 2012, James Poniewozik from Time magazine praised the show. He said that even if the show was just meant to be entertainment and make hit songs, it was still great TV. During a time of simple family sitcoms, The Monkees was a very creative show. It had a unique visual style, a silly sense of humor, and an unusual story structure. He said that whatever Jones and The Monkees were supposed to be, they became true artists. Davy Jones' cheerful British pop presence was a big reason they could create work that was fun, wholesome, and still wonderfully weird.
Home Video Releases
Six VHS tapes, each with two episodes, were released between July 1986 and June 1987. This was to celebrate the group's 20th anniversary.
On October 17, 1995, as The Monkees' 30th anniversary was coming up, Rhino Home Video released the complete series on a special VHS box set. It had all 58 episodes, plus the first test episode and the 1969 special, 33⅓ Revolutions Per Monkee, on 21 videotapes. It also came with a colorful photo book about the show's history, episode details, and many pictures. Early versions of the set even included a special limited-edition wristwatch. A few months before, in May, Columbia House started releasing a Collector's Edition series that also had all 58 episodes and the 1969 special. The only difference was that the unaired 1965 test episode was only in Rhino's box set.
Rhino later released individual VHS tapes with two episodes each between March 1996 and April 2000. These were the last times The Monkees TV show was sold on videocassette.
In May and November 2003, Rhino Entertainment Company released the first two seasons of the original TV series on DVD. Season 1 had six DVDs, and Season 2 had five. Both seasons were released again by Eagle Rock Entertainment on September 27, 2011.
To celebrate The Monkees' 50th anniversary, Rhino released the complete series on Blu-ray on July 8, 2016, after a short delay.
See also
In Spanish: The Monkees (serie de televisión) para niños
