Absolutely Fantastic

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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.

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!

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.

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.