User Reviews

I was 9 or 10 years old when The Monkees debuted on NBC. I have been a fan ever since. I even saw them in concert during the summer of 1967. I was very peeved at not being able to hear them due to the screaming girls. I thought girls must be the dumbest creatures on earth, but of course I changed my feelings before long. They were still dumb as far as I could tell, but they were cute, too. I saw the Monkees again when three of them (minus Nesmith) reunited in the mid-eighties and late nineties. The Monkees have been unfairly ostracized for decades. "They don't play their own instruments", their critics complained. They were not allowed to play on their first two albums. Don Kirshner, their egomaniacal producer, wanted total control. This ultimately got him fired by the band. He released More of The Monkees without permission from the band. If that weren't bad enough, the album's liner notes were pure Kirshner. Kirshner's egomania is all too apparent. He shamelessly name drops and barely mentions The Monkees at all. Michael Nesmith put his fist through a wall when the band met with Kirshner later. According to Micky Dolenz, Nez snarled, "That coulda been your face, motherf-----!" In any event, that was it for Kirshner as far as The Monkees were concerned. They finally had creative control of the music. For their third album, The Monkees Headquarters, they played on every song with minimal outside accompaniment. They credited the extra 2 or 3 musicians in the liner notes, something other bands (Beatles included) were not so forthcoming about. Micky Dolenz has never gotten the credit he deserves as a great rock vocalist. Just listen to No Time, Randy Scouse Git, Going' Down, Words, Pleasant Valley Sunday, etc. Each Monkey had talent. Micky had a great voice, Mike Nesmith was a good singer and musician, Peter Tork played about a dozen instruments, and Davy Jones was a superb showman and a pretty good singer. About 20 years ago, there was talk of a Monkees TV special. Davy was explaining how it would be set up. "Mike would produce, Micky would direct, and Peter would be in charge of the music." "But what would you do?" Davy was asked. "I would be the star, of course, and get all the girls!" When I see some of the acts who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the Sex Pistols?!) there is no doubt The Monkees deserve to be enshrined. They certainly are more deserving than many who are already in.

The Monkees may have been created as a Beatles-of-America series, but like The Fab Four the show and the group within had a pivotal role in pop music history. While the concept of quick-edit rock music pieces began with A Hard Days Night and its sequels, it was The Monkees that really fleshed out the concept that today is known as the music video.

The power of television proved itself with Monkee-mania, and seeing the series and listening to the records four decades after their debut reveals how fresh and engaging both still are. The sit-com concept was basically parodied, and the free-wheeling styles of Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and David Jones made the parodies all the more cutting and funny. There is a magnetism to Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy that still shows in the show and the music; the use of session hipsters in the backing tracks certainly created a strong baseline at the beginning, but in concert with session help or all on their own (in the album Headquarters and the songs from which the show made use), it was Micky, Mike, Peter, and Davy who gave the music a stamp that was undeniably theirs.

The same is true of the show - other singers have shown engaging humor (Alison Krauss is one of the funniest), but none show the magnetic zaniness of The Monkees (if anything, Ms. Krauss' sense of humor is more like Mike Nesmith's than anything).

This is why the show and the group will always endure.

The show is hard to watch today, but the music -- and the individual personalities -- remain eternal. Many of their hits were penned by great writers of the period, including Carole King, Harry Nilsson and Neil Diamond. And famous musicians of the era, including some members of the Byrds, played with them. While the show was a knockoff of HELP!, and the boys were not allowed to perform on their first two albums, the fact is that in real life, Nesmith and Tork were bona fide musicians and former TV child stars Dolenz and Jones could sing reasonably well. Their music lives on. Other fabricated singers of the era such as Fabian are long forgotten. But not the Monkees.

I have enjoyed watching this show for years since I first saw it in syndication on local television back in the late 1970s. From the first time I watched The Monkees I was hooked and have watched the show ever since. Whenever it would be shown over the years I was there to watch it, including the revival in popularity that arose in 1986 when MTV ran a Monkees marathon that exposed their antics to a new generation of fans. The show had a great zaniness that blended a unique mixture of music and comedy, which made the show a delight for me. As a kid I enjoyed the entertaining plots and thought it would be cool to hang around with these 4 guys. I did, though, always look forward to the musical numbers that occurred in each episode.

The music on the show was what really appealed to me and made me a fan in the beginning. Their albums from the 60s still make up part of my music collection. The show was never that popular when it was originally airing on commercial television, but the music really helped push the popularity of the band giving The Monkees a cult-like status similar to The Beatles at the time. I especially like the music of Michael Nesmith. The songs that appeared in the show by Nez were most appealing to me and this carried over to his solo career as well. Another thing that was a great part of the show was the comic timing of Mickey Dolenz. He always cracks me up with his wacky style of voices and improvisation. All four were talented in their own way, but Mickey Dolenz was the funniest to me.

It is still one of my all time favorite shows and has left a lasting impression on me that will stay with me my whole life. One of the more memorable shows was the parody of Faust called The Devil and Peter Tork. It had some seriousness, but that helped the comedy to play. Some episodes played out better than others with the second season being a little more reflective of the 60s culture that was growing popular during that period in America.

Was it a TV show? Was it a rock n' roll group? It was neither, and it was a little of both. Mickey Dolenz equated their becoming a group to Leonard Nimoy becoming a Vulcan. No matter what you believe, we can all agree that The Monkees, although brief in its original run, was about a group that did play, that did perform their own music and the way they did it left an impact on generations both young and old and will do so for years to come.

No-one has ever tried to pretend that 'The Monkees' were anything more than a pop group specifically created for a television show, and to sell bubblegum music to kids. That said, it should also be noted how talented Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, David Jones, and Micky Dolenz were as comedy performers, far more so than the members of 'Herman's Hermits' and 'The Dave Clark Five', both of whom tried and failed to reach the same audience. The show took its cue from the Beatles' movie 'Help!', with the band constantly running across rooftops, chased by screaming girls, and famous actors hamming it up for all it was worth in cameo roles. John Lennon likened The Monkees to the Marx Brothers, and its not hard to see why. The show caught the mood of the time; it was colourful, daft fun, just what the world needed as the Vietnam war raged. And the songs were good too, particularly 'Last Train To Clarksville'. Such was the show's popularity in Britain that it was being rerun long after the group disbanded.

In 1963, producer Bob Rafelson came up with the idea while vacationing on tour with a band in Mexico for a television series about the adventures of a musical act. The exception of this idea was hard to come by,but by 1964 all of that changed with the music of the British invasion. "The Beatles" was all the rage and it changed the course of the American pop scene very quickly. Developing the idea for this series would be hard to come by not to mention a hard sell. Teaming up with the executive producer Bert Schneider at Screen Gems-Columbia Pictures,work was set out to develop the concept of the show which was loosely based on "The Beatles". Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider under there production company Raybert Productions with a script that was written by Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker sold the series idea to the head of Screen Gems in August of 1965 with a pilot script called "The Monkeys". The idea for a television series about a fictional rock and roll group was developed as early as 1960,but had a hard time interesting anyone until 1965,by which time rock and roll music and the phenomenal success of "The Beatles" two movies "A Hard Days Night" (1964),and "Help!"(1965), was entrenched in pop culture with the British invasion of music scene sweeping the country. In September of 1965, trade publication newspapers ran and ad seeking "Folk and Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in a new television series". As many as 400 hopefuls showed up to be considered as one of "4 insane boys". Fourteen actors from the audition pool were brought back for screen tests and after audience research, Raybert Productions chose their final four.

The final four that were selected for this series were Mickey Dolenz(who had prior screen experience),Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith,and Peter Tork. The overall part of the show followed the adventures of a folk-rock band forever on the verge of stardom in which these four talented musicians lived together in a crazy apartment and were frequently drawn into the lives of California's many eccentrics. These adventures in which the boys were involved with were interrupted by songs(the songs were written by the best songwriters in the business consisting of Neil Diamond, Harry Nilsson, Carole King, and Boyce & Hart among others). As for the development of the series producers Rafelson and Schneider wanted the style of the series to reflect avant-grade techniques such as improvisation, quick cuts, jump cuts, breaking the fourth wall, and free-flowing loose narratives which was new to audiences at the time this television series premiered which included new techniques in editing and production.

Created by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider(who also served as executive producers of the series),and produced by Ward Sylvester(Season 2 only), the television series "The Monkees" premiered on NBC's Monday night schedule in prime-time on September 12,1966 at the 7:30pm eastern/6:30pm central time slot in color and was produced Screen Gems/Raybert Productions. The show's sponsors throughout it's run were Kellogg's of Battle Creek(Kellogg's Cereals),and Yardley Fashions of London. Season 1 of the series aired on Monday nights preceding "I Dream of Jeannie" and opposite "The Iron Horse" and "Gilligan's Island" for 32 episodes in color airing from September 12,1966 until April 24,1967. Season 2 of the series also aired on Monday nights preceding "The Man From UNCLE", "Rowan and Martin's Laugh- In",and "The Danny Thomas Show" and opposite "Gunsmoke" and "Cowboy In Africa" for 25 episodes in color airing from September 11, 1967 until March 25,1968. A total of 58 color episodes were produced from September 12,1966 until March 25,1968 with repeated episodes airing from April 5,1968 until September 1, 1968. Only Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith were the only original cast members that stayed with the series throughout it's entire two year prime time run on NBC.

Director James Frawley directed 28 episodes of the series including it's original pilot episode. Other directors for this series included Bob Rafelson, Alexander Singer, James Komack, Bruce Kessler, Russ Mayberry, David Winters not to mention even Mickey Dolenz and Peter Tork directed various episodes of the series. The writers included the team of Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner(21 episodes), Stanley Z. Cherry, Bob Rafelson, Paul Mazursky, Bernie Orenstein, Mickey Dolenz, Stanley Ralph Ross, Larry Tucker, Elias Davis,and Neil Burstyn among others.

The guest stars that appeared on "The Monkees" were Bobby Sherman, Melody Patterson, Julie Newmar, Rose Marie, Peter Whitney, Lon Chaney, Jr., Arch Johnson, Vic Tayback, Heather North, Jeanne Arnold, Barton MacLane, Ben Wright, Stan Freberg, Harvey Lembeck, Henry Corden, Chips Rafferty, John Hoyt, Frank Zappa and a cameo appearance by Milton Berle. The best episodes from "The Monkees" were "The Devil and Peter Tork", "Monkey Versus Machine", "Dance, Monkey, Dance", "Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers", "The Monkees Paw", "The Christmas Show","The Monkees On Tour"(which was a documentary style episode),"Monkees Manhattan Style", "I've Got A Little Song Here" among others. "The Monkees" won two Prime Time Emmy Awards in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy(James Frawley). After NBC canceled the series in the Spring of 1968 enjoyed a resurgence on Saturday morning television in repeated episodes. First it aired on CBS' Saturday morning schedule from September 13,1969 until September 2,1972. Then went over to ABC's Saturday morning schedule in repeats from September 9,1972 until August 8,1973. After it's run on network television the 58 original episodes aired in local syndication from 1975 until 1981. The cable music channel MTV brought back all 58 episodes in repeats on February 23,1986. The success of the original series rebooted a new version titled "The New Monkees" that premiered on MTV in 1987 and later in national syndication. Even after more than 50 years..."The Monkees" are still rock and rolling thanks to a new audience and a new generation who are hooked.

While not great television it's still entertaining television. With the success of the Beatles, the creators of this show wanted something similar. Namely a band of four young men who could sing and act in a weekly television series. In the end what they got was a singer who also happened to be British, two folk musicians and a former child star. They became known as "The Monkees" because, as the theme song says, they liked to "monkey" around.

The show itself is a rather fictionalized aspect of their lives in which they romp and play, get into strange situations and play a couple musical numbers which may or may not include hijinks. Of course they all play their parts. Davey was the cute one. Mike was the serious one. Mickey was the goofy one. And Peter was the stupid one. A lot like that other group of four musicians from Liverpool.

And while the boys were talented in what they did, they weren't allowed to actually play their own instruments or write their own songs at least at first. It took some time, some convincing and a lot of hard work on their end to finally get the green light to do so. After all, they went on tour and came out with albums so they needed to be at least competent at what they did.

But they never got the recognition that they deserved because they were never seen as a "real" band hence the pejorative "Pre-fab" Four. After all they were created as a response to the Beatles, known as the Fab Four, but they didn't come together organically hence the idea they were constructed. And honestly that's pretty unfair all things considered that today all we have are manufactured pop stars that, in some cases, don't even sing their own works.

This show is just fun and if you happen to like their music, as I do, it's even better.

My dad didn't install an outdoor TV antenna on our house, until the spring of '69. So, our family was stuck watching shows on CBS until then, since we couldn't pick-up other networks 'til the antenna was installed. As a result, I had to watch the "Monkees" on Saturday mornings, when they were in re-runs on CBS, starting in 1968.

The "Monkees" was a cutting-edge sitcom for its time. The 60s were a new era in pop-culture, television included. So, the "Monkees" fit right in to the new generational zeitgeist, that took over America during the mid-60s.

The show was meant to be a spoof of a rock-band, who lived together in a cool beach house. The "Monkees" were 4 young, good-looking dudes on-the-loose. They never had to answer to any authority figures, such as parents, teachers, etc. That factor alone, made them popular with their youthful viewer-ship. And this was a show aimed right at the under-22 demographic, during the swinging 60s.

The "Monkees" consisted of Mike Nesmith on guitar, Peter Tork on bass, Mickey Dolenz as their drummer, and Davey Jones as their lead-singer (a role he shared with Mickey Donlenz). It was always fun to watch their zany, Marx-brothers-like brand of slap-stick antics. They had a wonderful, on-screen chemistry going on between them all. Instead of relying on funny dialog, the "Monkees" series ran on the strength of the group's highly energetic performances. Each episode revolved around the group getting into hilarious misadventures, but coming-out unscathed in the end.

The group also performed their hit songs in every episode. Most of the "Monkees" songs were written by some very talented composers, including Neil Diamond, and Boyce & Hart. And so, the Monkees had many chart-topping hits during the 60s.

Some have said that the "Monkees" were an insignificant part of the 60s music scene. I disagree. Their show was the early template that paved the way for later sitcoms about rock music, such as the Partridge Family. Most importantly, the "Monkees" series was pioneering, since it linked the concept of visual performances set to pop music. Without this show, there probably never would've been MTV.

As for me, I really looked forward to my sugar-laden bowl of cereal, while watching the "Monkees" every Saturday morning as a youngster. Both the cereal, and the show, always got me stoked with plenty of energy!

The show was an attempt to copy the style of the Beatles in the 1965 movie "Help!" (which came out just a year before NBC brought "The Monkees" to the airwaves), with its wacky mix of absurdist slapstick comedy and pop/rock music.

Truth be told, Mickey, Davy, Mike & Peter actually displayed more on- screen charisma than the Beatles had in that particular film (which wasn't exactly the high point of their career). Both the show and the movie borrowed heavily from the Marx Bros' sense of lunacy, but neither quite managed to capture Groucho's wry, biting humor (although they certainly tried).

The show initially found its niche with teens & tweens at the time who were too young to fully embrace the Beatles, but who liked pop-rock and wanted some group to get excited over. They were, to some extent, a safe embodiment of the '60s social revolution, at a time when long hair was still unacceptable in many parts of the country, and the peace sign competed with "Love It or Leave It" stickers.

It's easy to forget just how big they were at their prime. At one point (in 1967), the Monkees actually outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined.

I've seen Dolenz and Jones in concert together on several occasions over the years, in various reincarnations of the Monkees, and despite early critics' claims, they actually are very solid entertainers - and the Monkees' collection of songs is a great one -- with hit after hit.

The show? Well, it was successful because of the personalities of the four leads, and the music, of course - almost in spite of the sometimes dreadful efforts at comedy. Like its inspiration, "Help!", some episodes of the show can be almost painful to watch... if it wasn't for the music, and the winking sense that Davy, Mickey, Peter & Mike were well aware of the inanity of what they were doing.

Before MTV emerged in 1981, The Monkees were not only TV's answer to the Beatles, they pioneered the concept of rock video to television with the way the songs were factored into each episode. They were either part of a chase scene or a concert scene. Anyway, the sitcoms was one of the most innovative and avant-garde shows of the mid 60s with improvisational humor, since the four Monkees took a six week course in improvisation prior to starting production, different ways of filming, including speeded up photography and offbeat plots. There were also guest stars throughout the show's two year run, including Rose Marie, Stan Freberg and Frank Zappa.

The one episode I remember the most was when Peter was kidnapped by a mad scientist and his memory was erased. I thought the show was a very funny show but as time went on, the plots started to become the same. Davy always got the girl and Peter kept getting into trouble. Eventually, the four decided to quit after the second season since they were tired of the same old same old. But their episodes live on DVD and when they occasionally but rarely rerun in syndication or on cable. The Monkees hits are still alive and well on oldies stations around the nation.

The Monkees, the television series, is a landmark one, despite it lasting only two seasons on the NBC Television network. That's because it directly lead to the what we all know as the MTV concept some thirteen years or so later: stylish videos with quick cuts, special effects, constant motion and having those sequences set to songs.

Sometimes suggested as an attempt to "cash in" on the insane popularity of The Beatles, The Monkees: Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, were collectively referred to by some of the harsher critics of the day as "the Pre-Fab Four," a play on the "Fab Four" reference to the Beatles. The Monkees were a musical group created specifically for the show, which some felt made them inauthentic.

The problem of the program is that it wasn't a video; it was a situation comedy, and a lot of the time the episodes were, if we're kind about it, a little light on scripting. In fact there was at least one episode without any script at all, and a few times where they didn't completely fill out their half-hour and had to pad the episode with other elements.

What that meant was that the series was often an unsatisfying experience as a standard sitcom, because the plots frequently were weak or non-existent! Additionally, when there were solid scripts, they were pretty much lifted from old movies, Vaudeville acts, or parodied other programs being aired at the time - most of which wasn't terribly inspired and often wasn't that funny.

To the good, they did utilize the "psychedelic" elements of the day, with brilliant colors, sets and costumes, which is why their title sequence is still a timeless classic. The visuals were spectacular.

Also, The Monkees, the musical group, had some pretty decent songs (after all, the writers of their tunes were people like Neil Diamond and Carole King!), and those performances were usually the highlight of every episode. If the scripts could have equaled the songs, this show would have been a smash.

But to be fair, the era of the 1960s was a very odd combination of a lot of factors, not the least of which was drugs (hinted at but never directly suggested here), politics (which was emboldened by the programs like "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) and youth and the pop culture movement. And certainly all of this had an impact on the the process of creating the program and the areas covered by the episodes.

In its way, The Monkees captured a lot more of the flavor of that time than nearly every other entertainment program in that tumultuous age and it certainly deserves credit for that.

Most people reading this review know the story of the Monkees by now. Four guys, two musicians and two actors put together for a TV Show that lasted two years on TV. Many of their musical peers like Herman Hermits were critical out of jealousy because two of them had to learn their instruments and as a group they were not allowed to play on the first few albums. But they sang all their own songs from the beginning. Not unlike the boy bands of today. Their music was written by some of the greatest songwriters in the business. And the Beatles hosted them in England and John Lennon himself said he enjoyed the show. The music has lasted more than fifty years and they played concerts together until Davy Jones and Peter Tork died. The surviving members Mike and Mickey, also have continued to tour into 2021. The Monkees sold 75+ million records across the globe, turning the band into one of the hits and biggest-selling groups. Their show is appropriate for children and fun for adults. Their music is played in all the episodes and they are one of the influences of VH1 and MTV. I'm a Believer and Daydream Believer are among the best selling tracks. This show was running the same time as Star Trek. Like Star Trek is is a gem. I was 11 years old when the show premiered and I was a loyal fan. I have enjoyed their work through the years. Start out watching Monkee vs Machine and I think most people will have to admit the show is fun and stands the test of time. Thanks to Davy and Peter (RIP) and Mike and Micky for all the fun and great music. You lasted longer than the critics!

A poor combination of borscht-belt jokes, vaudeville sight gags that were 30 years old even then, a predictable Hanna-Barbera cartoon approach to a show that couldn't quite decide if it was a kid's show or something more grownup. When I watched the show at age 11 I thought it was stupid. I watched this show again recently on Antenna TV and although many of my opinions have changed over the years the original one remains. This is bad slap-stick with songs, performed by characters that were not funny and couldn't act. The surprising part is many of the songs do hold up. Even 55 years later several of the pieces are memorable and well done. I also enjoy the pretty girls and the mid 60s cars I grew up with. However, this is bad TV.

I don't know what to say except that I first saw this series on MTV in 1986 and I was almost immediately hooked on it. It's a great deal of fun to watch because it has plenty of genuinely funny laughs and awesome music. It is very easily the best of the 'fictional band' series of that era.

A few years before he directed "Five Easy Pieces", Bob Rafelson assembled four young men into a musical group based on The Beatles, and thus The Monkees were born. "The Monkees" depicts the band's fictional escapades, consisting of zany antics. This combo of the "cute" Davy Jones, the oddball Peter Tork, the jolly Mickey Dolenz and the folksy Michael Nesmith made for one fun series.

While we could be cynical and note that as a studio band, the Monkees didn't write their own songs or even play their own instruments. But seriously, the point is to have fun! There's no way not to have fun while watching this show. You're bound to love it.

Correction: The country club and its bar sequences in the pilot were shot at the famous Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, which is where most other exterior scenes in the Pilot occurred; nothing was shot in Florida.

The Monkees stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado during shooting of these scenes, which was a treat for them, being they were young unstably working performers.

In-between setups of the Pilot marks the very first time The Monkees played together as a group. While waiting for shots to be ready, they asked crew members if they could hook into the amplifiers and start playing songs. The first songs they tried playing together were folk songs and Chuck Berry numbers.

Regarding the Monkees auditions: Mike Nesmith wore a wool cap to his audition, as seen at the end of the Pilot in the footage of his screen test. Bob Rafelson, co-creator and occasional director of episodes, requested Nesmith to wear the wool cap in every episode thereafter, which Nesmith was against, but did so anyway. Hence, in the beginning of The Monkees, Nesmith was often referred to as "Wool Cap". The cap Nesmith wore took on many alterations throughout the series (i.e., button, color, style). Nesmith is also wearing a harmonica in his screen test because he was influenced by Bob Dylan, who wore one this way. Neil Young saw the harmonica around Nesmith's neck and curiously asked him about it. Also, some 25 years later at a concert a fan approached and surprised Nesmith by presenting him with the original wool cap he wore to his audition.

David Jones also wore a hat during part of his audition, and occasionally wears hats in some episodes.

Previous to the auditions, Peter Tork had met Nesmith a couple of times at the Troubadour in LA, the rest of The Monkees had never met each other prior to the auditions and inception of The Monkees.

Peter Tork has mentioned he was afraid to use marijuana during the 10 days required to shoot this pilot, and, hence, abstained for the shoot of the Pilot.

These guys were hand selected actors to portray a rock band, but in reality, they outdid the Beatles in record sales. The show, in which they played themselves, was hilarious. Full of obscure guest actors who were insanely funny. Fast paced with everything played for laughs... comparable to the 3 Stooges.

Ya usually when I watch a show nd my stomach doesn't like I will fart lots ,and Monkees show make me fart lots but it's good and funny to so I don't mind..! Love from Nigeria .

Whatever you think of their music, it was their 1960's TV show that really stands out. A lot of running around and other crazy antics, but the show was not mere silliness. It featured genuinely clever writing, such as a joke about a robotic Monkee being found to have backwards feet, and he says, "No, yours are." An announcer on this episode then appears and says in dismay how the robot has told them that God's design was wrong. Another episode has the Monkees meet with a girl whose father is a retired military man, and the girl complains how the father runs the household like an army camp. Eventually she confronts him over this, not in a comic manner but a serious one.

The show was subversive for its time, along with "Get Smart" and other TV shows from that era. It even featured guest appearances from Frank Zappa, who rebelled against both American conformity and the counterculture. Definitely a program to learn about the 1960's in America.

Anyone who seriously thought this show was funny must be very easily entertained. It appealed to the average 10 year old and even many of them found it incredibly stupid and mindless. Yes, The Monkees (The American Beatles) had musical talent and made some good music, but their attempt at humor was lame and stinky, a blatant rip-off of the equally stupid and mindless Beatles' movies. Nowadays,The Monkees TV show wouldn't last even one season, if that. Davy Jones always reminded me of a homely 14 year girl, Mike Nesmith was annoying, Mickey Dolenz looked like a monkey, and Peter Tork was the goofy one, the Ringo Starr of the Monkees.

This is definitely one of the most influential shows in television history. The show was so funny and at times surreal but you could see that the boys had a lot of fun doing the shows even if they didn't like a lot of the music they were forced to do in the early shows. Speaking of the songs, this show was also a great showcase for many of the greatest songwriting talents of the 60's including Goffin and King, Neil Diamond, Boyce and Hart, John Stewart and Harry Nillson.

Ho-hum!... Even after seriously cutting this "Anything-For-A-Laugh" pop culture relic from the 1960s some much-needed slack, I could never give it any more than a "below-average" rating.

Believe me - "The Monkees" (and all of its empty-headed nonsense) was a very curios and decidedly dated TV Sit-Com/Musical that certainly left a whole lot to be desired from this viewer's jaded perspective.

And, with that said - I find it really hard to believe that the Monkees (as a music act) were actually as popular (as they apparently were) with the teens back then and that their record sales even rivaled those of the Beatles.

The Monkees was one of the most unique television shows ever created! The show featured great music and comedy that had people laughing for hours. All four of the guys were extremely talented and no one else could have taken their place. The show should be run more often so that today's generation of kids can enjoy them too.

I never cared much for their music. Growing up in Argentina where the Beatles were huge, we all cared little for their music, which was stuck in the Beatles' very early pop years (as early as 1965, they have already turned into a top adult band, with jewels like Yesterday and In My Life, so the Monkees were born already obsolete). But as I had never watched the show, I decided to watch one episode ("Monkees On The Line") in Youtube.

Huge, huge mistake.

The thing is not as bad as I had assumed: it is worse. The canned laughter, the fake youth exhuberance, the jokes as old as dust, the truly dumb guys pretending to play a dumb guy... it's not that I can't enjoy 60s American TV; some things are more than watchable. But certainly not this one.

Something for everyone, the Monkees is still funny and eye-catching today. They exemplified the sixties for a lot of people in my generation and I still love them today. Not only for the nostalgia but just for the fun of it all.