User Reviews

"The Case of the Missing Monkey," with Bob Rafelson back at the helm, is one of the standout first season entries, with veteran scene stealer Vito Scotti in fine form, kidnapping rocket scientist Schnitzler (Norbert Schiller), who slips Peter a note revealing where he's being taken; when Peter also disappears, his three bandmates try to infiltrate the clinic by posing as patients. Best remembered as the 'Japanese Sailor' in two episodes of GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, Scotti even hilariously impersonates a Chinese restaurateur (Micky: "do you have Schnitzler here?" Scotti: "no, we have fried rice, chicken chow mein, won ton soup!"). Nancy Fish gets plenty of laughs as a helpful nurse who slips everyone powerful 'cough drops,' but Vincent Gardenia is sadly wasted in a throwaway thug henchman role. The lone song is Boyce and Hart's "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (its second airing), the B-side to the current single, "I'm a Believer." Broadcast no. 17, "The Case of the Missing Monkey" was 22nd in production, filmed Nov 10-11 1966. At this point, the group had basically shot 21 straight episodes with nary a break; filming only resumed following their debut concert performance in Honolulu on Dec 3, future shows sandwiched around live concert dates for most of the next year (their second LP, MORE OF THE MONKEES, was issued one day after this Jan 9 airing, the first of the new year).

The amazing Vito Scotti guests in this episode (and if you'd like to know just HOW amazing, check out his filmography on IMDb). Without giving anything away, Scotti plays the Bad Guy with aplomb. He seems to really enjoy being the Bad Guy.

In this episode, Peter Tork (Thorkelson is his real last name), who always played the "dumb guy" actually complains about being the dumb guy! And for a moment, in a hospital scene, he actually plays "smart". But that moment is very short. There's only one song featured in this episode, the "flip side" of their recording of Neil Diamond's "I'm A Believer", (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone, written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Some years later, when Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart went on tour, since Columbia Pictures owned the name "The Monkees", the tour was billed as T.G.H.O.T.M.B.T.G.W.W.E.A.T.G.W.S.E. (Which stood for "The Greatest Hits Of The Monkees By The Guys Who Wrote 'Em And The Guys Who Sang 'Em".) Anyway, if you like The Mokees, you'll love this episode.