 |
Season Two
(1967-1968)
|
| 33. A Nice Place to Visit |
| gs:
Cynthia Hull
(Angelita) Nate
Esformes (Jos) Pedro
Gonzales Gonzales (Lupe) Nacho
Galindo (Pedro) Arthur
Ambrosio (Bandit) Peter
Whitney (El Diablo) |
...but you
certainly
wouldn't want to be kidnapped there! The Monkees' second season opener
finds The Monkeemobile breaking down in El Monotono, Mexico. While
Lupé, a mechanic, looks her over, the boys go into Pedro's
Café, where Davy falls in love with Angelita, the pretty
waitress, but her father, Pedro, the café's namesake
proprietor, orders him to leave. José, a bandito, backs him
up with a knife because Angelita is the woman of El Diablo, a.k.a. The
Bandit Without A Heart. The boys stack up their chairs on tables and
get Davy away. To earn money (all $14.95 of it) to finance the repairs
to their vehicle (replacing her whole engine!), The Monkees persuade
Pedro to hire them for the cafe and are a huge success, with their new
tune "What Am I Doing Hangin' ‘Round?". As Davy is kissing
Angelita goodbye, El Diablo and his band of banditos burst in. E.D.
humiliates Davy by shooting at his feet but Angelita still claims her
love for him. As a result, the bandits drag Davy to their camp while
the other Monkees watch helplessly. Unable to get help from the
townsfolk, who fear El Diablo, they set out to rescue Davy.
Posing as El Dolenzio (a.k.a. The Bandit Without A Soul), El Nesmito
(a.k.a. The Bandit Without Any Conscience), and El Torko (a.k.a. The
Bandit Without A Nickname), the boys crash the bandito camp and suggest
joining forces. El Diablo proposes a series of tests—of
strength, skill and determination, and bravery—but warns of
the consequences should they fail. Using their wits Micky, Mike and
Peter meet every challenge. While the others celebrate Peter sneaks
away to free Davy but can't undo the rope binding his wrists, as it is
tied in a square knot. Micky and Mike arrive to free Davy and the boys
escape in the Monkeemobile—they first pay a parking lot
attendant four bits—but this time she runs out of gas and
they are forced to push her to town. Realizing they have been tricked,
El Diablo sends a messenger to "the musician who claimed himself to be
El Dolenzio" and deliver an ultimatum: he has been challenged to a duel
of honor at 12:00! Angelita warns that El Diablo will punish the whole
town if The Monkees leave, so, loaded down with guns,
Micky—now a cowboy clad in white—goes to meet El
Diablo at high noon. As they sing "What Am I Doing Hangin'
‘Round?," The Monkees, during a furious battle with water
pistols, bazookas and darts, The Monkees overcome the banditos, while
Davy kisses Angelita.
|
b:
11-Sep-1967 w:
Treva
Silverman d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"(What Am I Doin') Hanging Round."
"For
Pete's Sake," a Peter Tork/Joseph Richards tune from The Monkees' 3rd
LP The Monkees' Headquarters
replaces the "(Theme From) The Monkees" as the show's second season end
title theme.
This
second season premiere took place almost a full year after the NBC
telecast of the premiere episode, "The Royal Flush". Filming on the TV
series resumed on the same day as this telecast.
"It's
A Nice Place To Visit..." was originally the ninth episode produced for
The Monkees' second season, but was chosen by NBC to open it.
This
was Treva Silverman's fourth and final Monkees script, aside from it
being her lone contribution to The Monkees' second season.
Ward
Sylvester is now Production Executive of The Monkees, and remains so
for half of its second season. (Gerald S. Shepard replaces Ward as
Associate Producer.)
The
harpsichord rendition of the Monkees theme, which graced the submain
titles (writer[s] and director) of the show throughout its entire first
season, would slowly be phased out in the early stages of its second
season, in favor of new submain title ditties which were instituted to
fit in with the feeling of the episodes. Incidentally, part of the
submain title theme for "It's A Nice Place To Visit..." was reused as
the submain title theme for Episode No. 45, "The Monkees In Texas" and
it briefly can be heard again in Episode No. 53, "The Monkees Race
Again" (a.k.a. "Leave The Driving To Us").
The
Michael Martim Murphey-Owen Castleman tune "What Am I Doing Hangin'
‘Round?" has been inadvertently listed as "Hangin'
‘Round" in the end credits of every episode of The Monkees in
its second season which featured it: this and Episode No. 40, "Monkees
Marooned", and No. 53, "The Monkees Race Again" (a.k.a. "Leave The
Driving To Us").
The
Monkeemobile makes her debut appearance in this episode with The
Monkees' guitar logo as door decals.
The
late Peter Whitney (El Diablo) participated in many film & TV
activities, including Sgt. Buck Sinclair on The Rough Riders (ABC,
1958-59), Lafayette 'Lafe' Crick on The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS,
1962-71), and George Courtney in the Oscar-winning In The Heat Of The
Night (United Artists, 1967).
The
late Godfrey Cambridge cameos as the parking lot attendant. (Cambridge
appeared with Monkee guest actor Severn Darden in the 1967 Paramount
picture The President's Analyst.)
El
diablo is Spanish for "the devil" (which foreshadows The Monkees'
nemesis in Episode No. 52, "The Devil And Peter Tork"). Angelita is
Spanish for "little angel."
Although
the climactic showdown between El Diablo and Micky was to take place at
the center of town at high noon, the church bell peals only 11 times!
The
tag sequence "It's A Nice Place To Visit…" has surprisingly
vanished; from syndicated repeats, and the October 1995 release of the
Rhino Monkees Deluxe Limited Edition Box Set [R3 2960]. Not since its
original airing has "It's A Nice Place To Visit…" rerun with
its tag sequence intact! According to its entry in the Screen Gems
Storylines, "Visit…" originally ended with David tearing
away from kissing Angelita long enough to knock out El Diablo.
This
episode's original synopsis also indicated the chase climax involved "a
furious battle with water pistols, bazookas and darts."
"It's
A Nice Place To Visit…" was seen only once during the
Saturday Afternoon run of The Monkees: at noon (EDT) on November 22,
1969 on CBS.
"For
Pete's Sake," the Peter Tork/Joseph Richards tune from The Monkees' 3rd
LP The Monkees' Headquarters newly recruited as a replacement for the
"(Theme From) The Monkees" as the show's second season end title theme,
appears during the end credits of "Visit..." and Episode No. 52, "The
Devil And Peter Tork", in a slightly different edit than the other
second season segments. The tune first appeared on the series in a
redubbed June 26, 1967 repeat of Episode No. 12, "I've Got A Little
Song Here".
Look
for David Jones briefly carrying around a copy of The Beatles' album
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band---which bumped The Monkees'
Headquarters from the #1 spot!!!!---during the "What Am I Doing Hangin'
‘Round?" romp sequence.
Also
notice that Michael Nesmith now has a new voice, due greatly to a
tonsillectomy he had on May 23, 1967. This is the first filmed Monkees
episode to feature Nesmith and his new voice. Also, a new feature is
added to Nesmith's wool hat: 6 buttons! This would be the very last of
the 4 wool hats Michael Nesmith adorned on The Monkees TV series.
The
following scenes from "It's A Nice Place To Visit..." are edited into
The Monkees' second season opening: David as a cowboy pulling a fast
draw and his gun holster belt falls down; and Micky and Michael dressed
as cowboys, their hats flying up into the air. Incidentallly, the start
of the showdown climax features a brief clip of David rising up and
hitting his head on a test-your-strength device's bell (from Episode
No. 10, "Here Come The Monkees") which is the first thing you see in
The Monkees' first season opening! Also notice in the second-season
opening titles that David, Micky and Michael (from clips of them seen
in Episode No. 35, "Everywhere A Sheik Sheik", No. 52, "The Devil And
Peter Tork", and No. 30, "The Monkees In Manhattan" [a.k.a "The Monkees
Manhattan Style"], respectively) are all miscredited as "Peter," which
is an indication of The Monkees TV show's off-the-wall zaniness that
would transpire in this season.
When
Michael (El Nesmito) wonders whether they should carry a club card or
some badges, Micky (El Dolenzio) sneers, "Badges?! We don't need no
steenking badges!," taking a cue from the character Gold Hat, which was
portrayed by Mexican character actor Alfonso Bedoya in The Treasure of
the Sierra Madre (Warner Bros., 1948).
Check
out the snazzy sheepskin vest worn by El Diablo. This vest was first
seen in Episode No. 5, "The Spy Who Came In From The Cool", in which
enemy agent Boris (the late Jacques Aubuchon) wears it as part of his
disguise as protest singer The Bear, and in No. 16, "The Son Of A
Gypsy", it was worn by gypsy Marco (Vincent Beck). It will be reused
twice, in Episode No. 52, "The Devil And Peter Tork," in which it is
worn by Atilla The Hun (Lee Kolima), and in The Monkees 1968 feature
film HEAD in which it is donned by Lord Hign 'n' Low (the late Timothy
Carey).
Monkee
stand-in/roady David Pearl can be seen amongst the townsfolk in Pedro's
Café in the scene where Micky tries in vain to gain their
assistance.
The
exterior knifefight scene was shot on the set which would later be used
as The Weskitts' farmyard in Episode No. 39, "Hillbilly Honeymoon"
(a.k.a. "Double Barrell Shotgun Wedding"). It will be reused as the
exterior of Aunt Kate's ranch in Episode No. 45, "The Monkees In
Texas".
Cynthia
Hull (Angelita) later played Ann in Here Come The Brides (ABC,
1968-70).
This
episode features a gag used occasionally in The Monkees. The villains
go into a huddle and when they all look up, everyone except the leader,
has been replaced by The Monkees. It's used again in Episode No. 35,
"Everywhere A Sheik Sheik".
Pedro
Gonzales-Gonzales (Lupe) first came to notice as a contestant on
Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life (a.k.a. The Groucho Show,
NBC, 1950-61) His highly amusing personality won him bit parts in
films, and he continued to work as a minor supporting player for years.
This
episode features a gag in which The Monkees start fighting on the side
of the villains during the romp, as well as fighting against them. This
would be used again in Episode No. 45, "The Monkees In Texas".
For
the third time on the show a Monkee is featured as "the good guy in
white": Micky. Michael and David can be seen portraying similar roles
in fantasy sequences seen in Episode No. 7, "The Monkees In A Ghost
Town", and No. 31, "The Monkees At The Movies", respectively.
"It's
A Nice Place To Visit..." was repeated on NBC December 18, 1967, making
it one of only two Monkees episodes to be repeated on The Peacock
Network while the first run episodes were still being aired before the
summer repeat season, aside from the March 18, 1968 repeat of No. 39,
"Hillbilly Honeymoon" (a.k.a. "Double Barrell Shotgun Wedding")
(sponsored that week by Twiggy Lashes/Eye Paint and Londonderry Hair by
Yardley Of London™).
|
|
| 34. The Picture Frame
(a.k.a. The Bank Robbery) |
| gs:
Elisabeth Fraser
(Judge) Henry
Beckman (D.A.) Jonathan
G. Harper (Harvey) Dort
Clark (Sergeant) Donald
Foster (Vice President) Art
Lewis (Lawyer) Joy
Harmon (Cashier) Robert
Michaels (Cop) Cliff
Norton (J.L.) |
David, Michael
and Micky
go the old, abandoned Mammoth studio lot, where J.L., a sly con artist
posing as a director, hires them for a movie. He dresses them as hoods
and sends them to rob a bank, telling them he is using hidden cameras.
The Monkees snap a picture of themselves and J.L. with his henchman,
Harvey, for publicity, but J.L. discards it. J.L. tells Harvey his
scheme is foolproof: either they will get rich, or The Monkees will be
caught and go to jail! The boys enter The Ninth National Bank with
Thompson submachine guns—scaring everybody in
sight—get 50 grand, and return to the studio, amazed at the
quality of their acting. Peter goes to the wrong stage at the wrong
time, and so is too late to join his pals for the great holdup scene.
J.L. pays them $100 each and then tips off the cops. When police
converge upon the pad, The Monkees think it's another shooting; the
Sergeant orders one of his officers to go in after the boys. The
nervous cop enters the pad clutching a machine gun and attempts to
apprehend the boys, stammering and shaking; Micky criticizes the cop on
what he thinks is bad acting and gives him direction on how to be
ruthless and steely-eyed. The cop leaves and reemerges to shoot up the
place with a stream of bullets---which convinces The Monkees that their
situation is real!
At the station house, shown the pictures of them taken by the banks
automatic cameras, Micky, Michael and David—surprised the
film print is black and white instead of color—still think
it's just a movie, but are booked with armed robbery and incarcerated.
Peter arrives and even he thinks they're guilty; so does their lawyer,
who asks for $40,000 (plus carfare!) because they just robbed a bank.
In court, Micky, Michael and David, acting on their own behalves,
crossexamine witnesses, all Monkees in disguise and creating chaos at
their arraignment. Meanwhile at the studio, Harvey sees Peter taking a
photo out of a waste basket. Fearing it's the incriminating picture
taken earlier of Micky, Michael, David and the hoods and it would blow
their cover, Harvey informs J.L. over the phone, and the two give chase
all over town set to "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and finally into the
courtroom. Peter shows the photo, but it happens to be the wrong one: a
baby picture of David. Won over, the lady judge decides to exonerate
the boys, and they celebrate with a rousing rendition of "Randy Scouse
Git."
|
b:
18-Sep-1967 pc:
4759 w:
Jack
Winter d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "Randy Scouse Git." During the
police interrogation, Micky, Michael and David run through an impromptu
rendition of "Zilch" (a track from the album The
Monkees' Headquarters written
by David Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz and
produced by Douglas Farthing Hatlelid).
This
was the first episode of The
Monkees to be produced for its
second season, a good nine days after The Monkees finished recording
their third album The Monkees' Headquarters. It was also one of 10
second-season segments to be filmed from leftover first-season scripts!
Goffin
& King's "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and Micky Dolenz's "Randy
Scouse Git" make their first appearances in a firstrun Monkees episode
in "The Picture Frame" (a.k.a. "The Bank Robbery"), having first
appeared in redubbed summer 1967 repeats ("Pleasant Valley Sunday" in
"Captain Crocodile" [7-10-67] and "The Case Of The Missing Monkee"
[7-24-67] and "Randy Scouse Git" in "The Spy Who Came In From The Cool"
[6-19-67] and "The Monkees On Tour" [8-21-67]).
A
different edit of Tork and Richards' "For Pete's Sake" makes its first
appearance in "The Picture Frame"'s end titles; this is the most
commonly-heard edit of the tune, which will be used for the duration of
The Monkees' second season.
This
is the first of 5 season-2 Monkees teleplays composed by Jack Winter,
including the next episode, "Everywhere A Sheik Sheik", and Episode No.
36, "Monkee Mayor", 44, "Hitting The High Seas", and 45, "The Monkees
In Texas".
This
is one of many occasion which finds David squeaking out, "Oh!" Listen
for him to say it again in the previous episode, "It's A Nice Place To
Visit...", the next episode, "Everywhere A Sheik Sheik", Episode No.
38, "I Was A 99-lb. Weakling", No. 44, "Hitting The High Seas", and No.
52, "The Devil And Peter Tork".
During
the police interrogation, Micky, Michael and David run through an
impromptu rendition of "Zilch", a track from The Monkees' Headquarters
written by David Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz
and produced by Douglas Farthing Hatlelid. Note that only Micky and
David are "singing" their lines from "Zilch" ("Never mind the
furthermore, the plea is self defense." and "China Clipper calling
Alameda.") whereas Michael "sings" Peter's line ("Mister Dobalena,
Mister Bob Dobalena.").
The
rooftop set where J.L. and Harvey supposedly have Peter trapped during
the "Pleasant Valley Sunday" number was used again in Episode No. 37,
"Art, For Monkee's Sake," in the scene where the boys, decked out in
catburglar garb, climb on top of the roof to break into the museum and
switch paintings.
Here
Micky Dolenz gets to exhibit directing skills for the first time in
coaching Robert Michaels (Cop); he would direct Michaels again in his
second showing as a "Cop" on The Monkees in Episode No. 58, "Mijacogeo"
(a.k.a. "The Frodis Caper"), The Monkees' series finale--and Dolenz's
directorial debut! Little did Micky suspect that this little chore
would later on set the pace for his newfound career behind the camera
as a director!
When
The Cop (Robert Michaels) riddles The Monkees' pad with bullets, the
scene is intercut with a succession of old film clips which exemplify
destruction. Brief snippets of the following episodes of The Monkees
can be seen: Episode No. 24, "Monkees A La Mode" (a chicken flapping
its wings in midair during the musical romp for "Laugh") and Episode
No. 37, "Art For Monkee's Sake" (a statue which David accidentally
knocks over in the museum where the boys attempt to switch paintings).
According
to its Screen Gems Storyline, "The Picture Frame" (a.k.a. "The Bank
Robbery") originally ended with David scolding Peter for using their
$20,000 reward for bail money for J.L. and Harvey. (Peter announces
they own 50% of J.L.'s next movie!) It also stated that the baby
picture which got Micky, Michael and David off was that of David Jones.
The
late Cliff Norton (J.L.) was a regular on Garroway At Large (NBC,
1949-54), portrayed The Boss on It's About Time (CBS, 1966-67),
provided the voice of Ed Huddles on Hanna-Barbera's Where's Huddles
(CBS, Summer 1970/1971), and played Harry on Dream On (HBO, 1990-96).
He succumbed to lung cancer at age 84 on Saturday, January 25, 2003.
Elisabeth
Fraser (Judge) played Sergeant Joan Hogan in The Phil Silvers Show
(CBS, 1955-59), which also starred Monkee guest actors Harvey Lembeck
and Karl Lukas (both in "Monkees A La Carte"). Fraser previously
appeared with pre-Monkee guest star Diana Chesney ("The Chaperone") in
a December 16, 1965 episode of Bewitched (ABC, 1964-72), "Speak The
Truth."
A
second reference to the late actor Sonny Tufts is made on this series
in this episode; the first was made in Episode No. 12, "I've Got A
Little Song Here".
About
the same time of this episode's original telecast, The Monkees appeared
on the front cover of TV Guide for the second and final time, on its
Sept. 23-29, 1967 issue.
Paintings
of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln can be seen hanging on the
courtroom wall. Other Monkee references to America's 16th President can
be found in Episode No. 36, "Monkee Mayor", No. 40, "Monkees Marooned",
and No. 51, "The Monkee's Paw", and "Monkee Mayor", Episode No. 24,
"Monkees A La Mode", and No. 41, "The Card-Carrying Red Shoes", boast
references to the first President.
A
unique, yet ersatz rendition of the 3-note NBC chime can be heard
during the police interrogation scene where Micky hands out 3 degrees
to Michael, David and himself.
This
episode marked Michael Nesmith's celluloid debut in his blue-green wool
hat adorned with 6 buttons.
For
those of you who were just as bewildered as the bank V.P. (Donald
Foster) by the questions given in Micky's crossexamination, here's a
quick rundown: the capital of Nova Scotia is Halifax, Hamasaka is a
Japanese term literally translated as "little angel", and it was Beau
Bell of the St. Louis Browns who led The American League in doubles in
1937 by, in 642 at-bats, hitting 51 doubles, 14 homers, and 117 RBI.
The
set used here as the interior of Mammoth Studios was previously used
for the "Mary, Mary" romp in Episode No. 12, "I've Got A Little Song
Here". It will be used again in No. 41, "The Card-Carrying Red Shoes",
as a theater for The Druvanian National Ballet, No. 58, "Mijacogeo"
(a.k.a. "The Frodis Caper"), as Wizard Glick (Rip Taylor)'s sinsiter
arsenal in the KXIW-TV studio.
In
the wake of The Summer Of Love, "The Picture Frame" (a.k.a. "The Bank
Robbery") marks the first utterance of the word "psychedelic." Other
mentions occur in Episode No. 41, "The Card-Carrying Red Shoes", No.
45, "The Monkees In Texas", No. 49, "The Monkees Watch Their Feet", and
No. 57, "The Monkees Blow Their Minds". And the black and white musical
number of "Daily Nightly", which appears at the end of "The Monkees
Blow Their Minds" and Episode No. 48, "Fairytale", ends with Micky
Dolenz saying, "Psychedelic!"
The
sign on The Monkees' table in court says, "Vote Innocent."
Notice
Peter with a Sherlock Holmes hat, pipe and magnifying glass as he
attempts to uncover the evidence that will eventually exonerate his
mates. Micky was previously disguised as Holmes in a dream sequence in
Episode No. 2, "Monkee See, Monkee Die".
|
|
| 35. Everywhere a Sheik, Sheik |
| gs:
Noam Pitlik
(Shazer) William
Bagdad (Curad) Cherie
Latimer (Maiden #1) Anne
Randall (Maiden #2) Lisa
Mitchell (Maiden #3) Monte
Landis (King) Arnold
Moss (Vidaru) Donna
Loren (Colette) |
In a lavish
hotel,
oil-rich King Hassar Yaduin of Nahudi informs Princess Colette, his
beautiful daughter, that Vidaru, his sinister prime minister, has
consulted the stars, and they say she must marry at once. He suggests
Vidaru, but Colette rejects him and picks Davy out of a magazine. Abdul
and Shazar appear at the pad, leave Davy's gold in weight, and carry
him off in a sack, presenting an invitation to Micky, Mike and Peter
for Davy's wedding to Colette Yaduin. Davy balks but changes his mind
about marriage when told that Colette visits the grave of a boy who
turned her down. Micky, Mike and Peter are thrown out when they try to
find Davy. As Davy and Colette fall in love at first sight she pleads
that he keep her out of Vidaru's clutches. In disguise, Micky, Mike and
Peter get rid of Abdul with a phony bomb scare. The boys don't think
that Davy should marry Colette but are won over by the beautiful harem
The King presents to them. Swarmed by beautiful harem princesses, Davy
assigns Micky, Mike and Peter to positions as ministers in his sheik
cabinet: respectively, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of
State, and the Director of Forests—while Vidaru plots to
dispose of them by ordering Curad to kill each by a different means, so
that the murders won't be connected. Poison, knives, cement blocks and
darts miss their mark and convince the boys they are in peril.
As a last resort, Vidaru rigs goblets set to explode when clinked for a
toast. Because she is prohibited by law to see her groom on the eve of
her wedding, rendering her unable to give a warning herself, Colette
sends a warning that "Golden Grecian goblets guarantee graves." But
when Peter passes on this message, Micky thinks it's a tongue twisting
game and Mike thinks it's a song for Davy's wedding. During King
Hassar's speech, Peter's glass flies from his hand and detonates
prematurely, and Vidaru reveals that he is an oil baron from Innas,
Oklahoma recently arrived only to get the King's oil, and he summons
his followers. A mad chase set to "Love Is Only Sleeping" ensues with
Vidaru's gang winning in a scimitar duel, but The Monkees and The King
are saved by the exploding goblets. Grateful, King Hassar grants
Davy‘s wish for freedom for him and his mates. Unfortunately
for Colette, this also means him calling off their wedding. Davy tells
Colette she might find someone else she likes better than him to marry,
and she points to Peter!
|
b:
25-Sep-1967 w:
Jack
Winter d:
Alexander
Singer |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Love is Only Sleeping" and "Cuddly Toy."
Tag:
Clad in Vaudevillian gear, The Monkees sing "Cuddly Toy", which
features Davy dancing with a lady, and, flaunting new psychedelic-'60s
duds, are interviewed about their summer activities.
|
|
| 36. Monkee Mayor |
| gs:
Monte Landis
(Zeckenbush) Peter
Brocco (Mr. Swezey) Violet
Carlson (Mrs. Homer) Queenie
Smith (Mrs. Filchok) Walker
Edmiston (Publisher) Bill
Benedict (Skywriter) Kathy
Wakefield (Secretary) Irwin
Charone (Mayor) David
Price (Cameraman (uncredited))
|
The Monkees and
Mr.
Swezey, Mrs. Homer, and Mrs. Filchok, their elderly neighbors, face
eviction to make way for a parking lot. "Private Citizen" Michael
protests to Mayor Motley's office, unaware that the mayor is being paid
by Wilbur Zeckenbush, a corrupt construction tycoon bent on tearing
down the whole city for parking lots, so that no one may enter or exit
without paying him a toll. Swezey, Homer, and Filchok are then forced
to move into The Monkees' pad until they find new places. Convinced he
must run for mayor himself (he's the only one with a hat to throw in
the ring!), Michael searches for a public image, trying out as George
Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Lyndon Baines Johnson, but finally
settles on his own little wool hat. Micky, David and Peter act as
campaign manager, campy aide, and aide-de-camp, respectively, as they
launch an outrageous campaign singing "No Time," but all their little
political tricks go wrong because Zeckenbush pays everybody off. To
make matters worse, the boys return home to find it completely
ransacked. Suspecting the perpetrators responsible were goons from
Mayor Motley's office, and realizing their only chance is to get
evidence of dishonesty, The Monkees set out for City Hall.
Once there, they find a skeleton in the closet (literally!!), retrieve
a key from its pocket, open the file cabinet, and rifle through the
Mayor's files and snap photographs of The Master Plan to turn the city
into parking lots before Zeckenbush and the Mayor discover them. But as
they process the photos in their secret darkroom, they find the photos
are not of The Master Plan but of the file cabinet from which they
came! With 2 days left until election, The Monkees are ready to give up
for lack of funds and evidence when a flood of small contributions
arrives in the mail. Micky, David and Peter plan to use it to finance a
headline in The Typesetters' Union newspaper, skywriting, and a TV
broadcast for Michael exposing the whole racket—until
Zeckenbush appears at their pad, revealing the money came from his
employees and warns of the consequences should Michael continue with
his campaign. At the WXIU-TV studio, Michael goes on the air and,
admitting he was tricked, announces his withdrawal from the mayoral
race, but Mayor Motley, impressed with his honesty, promises to follow
his example. Swezey, Homer, and Filchok move back home, and The Monkees
feel everything is perfect, what with Zeckenbush behind bars, the
people back in their homes, and the Mayor's pledge not to build a
parking lot…until the roof falls in and a wrecking ball
appears! The Monkees finish by singing "Pleasant Valley Sunday."
|
b:
02-Oct-1967 pc:
4760 w:
Jack
Winter d:
Alexander
Singer |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "No Time" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday." |
|
| 37. Art for Monkees' Sake |
| gs:
Arthur Malet
(Curator) Vic
Tayback (Chuche) Michael
Bell (Artist) Monte
Landis (Duce) |
Peter's
paintings of a
door is so realistic that Micky bombs his head when he tries to go
through it, and Mike suggests that he goes to the museum for
inspiration by the real painters. There, Chuche, a guard bumps his head
as he tries to walk through one of Peter's paintings of a door near a
classical picture. He grabs Peter and makes ready to slug him when his
boss, Duce, suggests they switch one of Peter's copies with a
masterpiece and make a fortune. While the thieves wait impatiently,
Peter copies the 1624 Franz Hals' masterpiece, The Laughing Cavalier,
but can't stop adding finishing touches. To avoid the curator, Duce and
Chuche hide Peter in the basement, where they, declaring that artists
must suffer, gag and bind him. During breakfast, Micky, Mike and Davy
realize that Peter is in trouble come to his rescue. At the museum they
search through all sorts of studios, where they encounter a finger (and
a foot!) painting artist and Liberace making a smashing cameo
appearance as a piano assailant. They finally find Peter bound and
gagged in the basement, where they give him kudos on his beautiful copy
of the Cavalier—until Peter tells him a brilliant man did the
painting, and they decide the painting was switched!
They try to convince the curator there has been a switch by showing
Peter Tork's signature on the painting, but the curator ignores their
charges and demonstrates a cage that descends to trap thieves once they
penetrate invisible beams that can only be seen with special
goggles–eventually trapping himself in the process. Armed
with a flashlight, a blowtorch, superduper X-ray glasses and three hot
mustard and cheese on rye sandwiches, The Monkees deck out in cat
burglar garb and return to the museum late that night.
Mike's Prelude To "Mission: Ridiculous."
"Gathering
our team of
experts from the four corners of the earth, we'll be a task force of
deadliness, efficiency and teamwork: The Manchester Marauder (Davy).
The Connecticut Counterspy (Peter) combines nerves of steel, cool-eyed
perception, and some fancy footwork. Their abilities to make quick,
irreversible decisions show why they were picked for this group. The
modest but towering Texan (Mike) needs no introduction; his stoiclike
ability to endure pain prove why he's the leader among men. Last, but
not least, is The Los Angeles Leopard (Micky), known in Peoria as The
Pantherman, and somewhat hampered by low resistance to the night air;
he is the only weakling in our chain."
There at the
museum,
after a clumsy break-in, the boys commence with their plan. With the
aid of his super duper X-ray goggles, Davy easily sneaks over the beams
to remove the phony painting. Peter realizes he left the real painting
on the roof, and he clumsily goes up on the stepladder to get it; when
Chuche arrives, Micky, Mike and Davy make like statues. Micky and Peter
follow Chuche to see that he doesn't double back, while Mike and Davy
succeeds in putting back the real painting. The Monkees attempt to
escape up their stepladder when Duce and Chuche catch up with them. A
wild chase set to "Randy Scouse Git" ends with all three of them in the
cage, where they are all found fast asleep the next day. Back at the
pad, Peter announces his new hobby building collapsible furniture. The
Monkees finish by singing "Day Dream Believer"—and Liberace
completes his assault on his piano.
|
b:
09-Oct-1967 w:
Coslough
Johnson d:
Alexander
Singer |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Randy Scouse Git" and "Daydream Believer." |
|
| 38. I Was A 99-lb. Weakling |
| gs:
David Draper
(Bulk) Venita
Wolf (Brenda) Gary
Waynesmith (Intellectual) Benny
Levine (Benny) Monte
Landis (Shah-Ku) |
At the beach,
Micky is
trying to impress Brenda, a beautiful, yet empty-headed blonde girl. As
Bulk, a muscleman, overpowers Micky and walks off with Brenda, Shah-Ku,
a physical cultist, hands him a card advertising his bodybuilding
course. Shah-Ku takes Micky to his gym, where he does his level best to
see that Micky fails the 3 tests given to him (a greased rope, pulleys,
and weightlifting), so he can con him into joining his $150 health
plan. Micky is bewildered as to how he, an unemployed drummer, can
conjure up such cash; Shah-Ku suggests he hock his drums. At the pad,
the other Monkees, Davy and Peter, try to convince Micky to save money
(and his drums) by using their own physical program. The next day,
Micky feels ready to take on Bulk, but Davy and Peter decide to handle
it without violence. On the beach, Davy dares Bulk to step over a
series of lines, while Peter paint spots on his back. When Davy runs
away, Peter returns, garbed as a doctor, to try to convince Bulk he's
wasting away. Later, Bulk tries to lift Davy and Peter's ball, but it's
too heavy for him, as it is loaded with lead. Davy lures Bulk into
holding a kite string, and Bulk is pulled into the sky by a dirigible.
Micky, weighed down by shoulder pads concealed by a heavy jacket,
collapses at Brenda's feet. He almost wins her when Bulk learns the
truth and regains his confidence. After Bulk humiliates him again,
Micky grudgingly decides to join Shah-Ku's "Weakling's Anonymous."
Following Shah-Ku's example, Micky fasts to purify his tissues - so
much so that he keels over from hunger. Peter puts through a call to
Shah-Ku to voice his concerns over Micky's condition: Shah-Ku suggests
he use green rice to fix him up. Later, Micky throws away all the meat
in their pad and the boys go on a weird diet. Shah-Ku enters The
Monkees' pad, views its surroundings and its inhabitants with extreme
distaste, and takes hunger-weak Micky to the gym for a meeting with WA.
Peter returns to the pad and claims to Davy he has seen Shah-Ku at a
hot dog stand. Suspicious that Shah-Ku is a fake, Davy and Peter go to
the gym, don sweat suits, and join in the "WA". Although the
"Weaklings" testify to Shah-Ku's help, Peter and Davy protest the ill
effects on Micky with false stories, and Shah-Ku orders his heavies to
work them over. When Davy accidentally rams Shah-Ku, who doubles up in
pain, the "Weaklings" spot Shah-Ku as a phony and Micky realises Bulk
was a mere shill for Shah-Ku. In the chase set to "Sunny Girlfriend"
that follows, the superhero-clad Monkeemen and the "Weaklings" get the
best of Shah-Ku and his cronies. Later at the beach, Micky is united
with Brenda again, when a scrawny intellectual with his nose buried in
a book, kicks sand in his face. As Micky prepares to attack him,
Brenda, attracted to a man with a mind, walks off with the bookworm.
|
b:
16-Oct-1967 pc:
4757 w:
Gerald
Gardner
and Dee
Caruso
and Neil
Burstyn d:
Alexander
Singer |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Sunny Girlfriend" and "Love is Only Sleeping."
Mike
does not appear in this episode as he was having his tonsils removed.
Tag:
Mike joins the trio in a concluding musical number: "Love Is Only
Sleeping."
|
|
| 39. Hillbilly Honeymoon
(a.k.a. Double Barrel Shotgun Wedding) |
| gs:
Dub Taylor (Paw)
Billy Hayes (Maw)
Jim Boles
(Preacher) Lou
Antonio (Jud) Melody
Patterson (Ella Mae) |
The Monkees
drive to
Swineville (having missed Highway 101 by 2 blocks!), where The Weskitts
and The Chubbers have been feuding for generations. They force the
quartet to stand on a white line dividing the two, because they both
hate strangers. As David—all guns upon
him—nervously walks down the middle of the street on the
white line in hopes of finding some help, Ella Mae Chubber grabs David,
yanks him into a haystack, and kisses him. Paw Chubber holds a gun to
David's head and tells him they're engaged, but Judd Weskitt, who loves
Ella Mae, enters and guns start popping all over. During the fusillade,
Judd and 155 year-old Maw Weskitt (who was born during the Civil War
and her need for vengeance is the reason for her longevity) kidnap
David, while Paw Chubber finds Ella Mae in the haystack with Micky and
greets him as his new son-in-law. Since Ella Mae is turning 16 years
old the next day and doesn't want anybody calling her old maid, he
doesn't care who she marries, and captures Michael, Micky and Peter.
Back at the Weskitts, Judd prepares to put David in a vat and grind him
into sour mash, and keeps him tied up in a gunnysack until that time;
while at The Chubbers, Paw allows Michael and Micky to go rescue David,
but keeps Peter as a last-minute bridesgroom should they fail to
return. The two garb up as hillbillies and allay the Weskitts'
suspicions by playing on washboards, noses and pigs and singing "Papa
Gene's Blues" to prove they are hillbilly cousins. As Michael show Judd
how to play a nose, Micky diverts the Weskitts' attention by freeing
the pig. When Judd and Maw go after it, Michael and Micky free David
and go back to The Chubbers' for Peter. There affront of the Chubbers'
cabin, the three sqeal pig calls which lure the Chubbers outside. But
as Micky and Michael rush inside the cabin, David catches his pants on
a nail, and Ella Mae spots him again. By the time Micky and Michael
have freed Peter, Paw has forced David to propose at double-barrel
shotgunpoint.
Michael and Micky alert Judd that Ella Mae is getting married to David.
When Judd angrily reaches for his gun, Michael calms him down and
persuades him that he could win Ella Mae if he were a real gentleman.
Micky introduces Peter, dressed as a Davy Crockett-type trapper, as
Uncle Raccoon. While Paw dirties up David for the wedding, "Uncle
Raccoon" Peter and the boys give Judd lessons in etiquette, good
manners and affection. At the beginning of the ceremony, David is led
to the wedding in handcuffs. The proceedings are interrupted by
Gentleman Judd Weskitt, who appears in formal attire. When Paw takes
aim at Judd and pronounces him dead and gone, Micky tells him the've
been "feudin' in this town too long," but changes his mind when the gun
is pointed at him, and the feud is on again! During the raging feud
David lends Judd two bucks—seventeen shillings and six pence
in English currency—for the preacher, and Judd and Ella Mae
secretly get married, with David as best man. When Ella Mae tells Paw,
he announces to both feuding families that The Big Feud is over and
"the House of Chubber and the House of Weskitt has bin joined!" The
feud then digresses into a wedding hoedown.
|
b:
23-Oct-1967 w:
Peter
Meyerson d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Papa Gene's Blues." |
|
| 40. Monkees Marooned |
| gs:
Burt Mustin
(Kimba) Rupert
Crosse (Thursday) Don
Sherman (Sheldon) Georgia
Smith (Jane) Allan
Emerson (Policeman) Monte
Landis (Pshaw) James
Frawley (Dr. Schwartzkov (cameo))
John London
(Gorilla) Nyles
Brown (Press Photographer) David
Pearl (Press Photographer (cameo))
David Price
(Unknown (cameo)) |
Leonard
Sheldon, a con
artist, tries to sell Peter the city of San Diego. Peter refuses to buy
it but swaps his $108 guitar for Blackbeard's treasure map. The Monkees
row out from their set on the Columbia Pictures lot to the island to
search for treasure. In the underbrush, they set off an alarm, waking
up Major Pshaw. Pshaw, who has been hunting for the treasure for a
decade, tells his man Thursday that a fate worse than death awaits
Peter, Micky, Mike and Davy. Having captured them in a net hoisted by a
crane driven by Thursday, Pshaw invites them for tea and crumpets, and
declares to the boys that he shoots all trespassers. Davy asks for a
fair chance and Thursday persuades his master to give The Monkees a
head start. At the beach, The Monkees find their boat missing,
hampering any chance they have of escaping! After a brief encounter
with eccentric German Dr. Schwartzkov, The Monkees hear a Tarzanesque
jungle yell and a leopard skin-clad octogenarian swings into view and
falls down. Peter translates from the man's strange lingo ("Kretch!")
that he is the original Kimba of the Jungle, but was abandoned by his
movie company in 1916, while his Jane ran off with the casting director
who promised her a new career.
Kimba promises to help The Monkees but gets stuck in quicksand. After
getting him unstuck, he calls his jungle friends, in hopes that they
will help, but The Monkees are left holding a cat, a puppy, a chicken,
and a rabbit. Kimba suggests that they swing on vines, but he crashes
to the ground and mutters that his swinging days are over. Thursday
defects to the boys and Kimba and leads the way to Pshaw's hut,
thinking they will be safe there, but Pshaw captures them all at
gunpoint. He threatens torture with polyunsaturated oil, bamboo under
their fingernails, exposure to the a(u)nts, and a severe tongue
lashing, but he decides to kill The Monkees, Thursday and Kimba
outright and resume his treasure hunt. Peter gives Pshaw his map, which
shows Blackbeard's treasure has buried under the hut all this time. The
Monkees dig up the chest, out of which pops Jane, now a little old
lady, who knocks Pshaw unconscious and hugs Kimba. During a romp set to
"Daydream Believer", the group is joined by a gorilla, the 3 aunts, and
2 press photographers (both of whom pop out of the chest) as they
frantically caper about all over the island. Returned to civilization,
Peter is confronted once again by Leonard, who this time tries to sell
him the city of Liverpool. Convinced that he is a crook, Peter calls a
cop, who offers him the city of Cleveland. Peter storms off pouting.
|
b:
30-Oct-1967 w:
Stanley
Ralph Ross d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Daydream Believer" and "Hangin' 'Round."
The
director James Frawley has a cameo in this episode, along with Monkee
stand-ins, John London, David Pearl and David Price.
Tag:
The Monkees finish by singing "What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round?."
|
|
| 41. The Card Carrying Red
Shoes |
| gs:
Vincent Beck
(Ivan) Ondine
Vaughn (Natasha) Robert
Cornthwaite (Nyetovich) Gene
Otis Shane (Dancer) Jerry
Stevenson (Blindfolded Man) Leon
Askin (Nicolai) |
Davy, Micky and
Peter
are engaged to play really weird native instruments for the Druvanian
National Ballet. Ivan slips microfilm in the toe of the slipper of his
dancing partner, Natasha Pavlova. Natasha can't bear dancing and
rehearsing twenty-four hours a day, and hides in The Monkees'
instrument trunk, unbeknownst to the boys, who are kicked out of the
theater by Nicolai, the ballet master, and Ivan, who can't bear the
sound of their weird music. The Monkees grab their
trunk—Natasha hidden inside—and carry it with them.
Ivan declares Natasha and the microfilm gone, but Nicolai insists
Druvania will get it back at all costs, even at the expense of human
life. Back at the pad, Natasha pops out and threatens Davy and Micky at
gunpoint, while she falls in love with Peter. Micky gets hold of the
pistol and threatens Natasha and Peter. Crying and sobbing, Natasha
declares that this was her final chance to stay in America. Micky and
Davy report to Nyetovich, the Ambassador, who denies of hearing of
Natasha and has them thrown out. Nyetovich alerts Ivan by phone, who,
along with Nicolai, comes to the pad, where Peter frantically avoids
Natasha's maniacal infatuations. Natasha hides in the trunk, while
Peter opens the door and the spies, bent on breaking the door down,
rush in and knock him down. He slumps unconscious, and they take him to
the theater to be questioned.
Natasha warns Davy and Micky that Peter will be tortured and forced to
talk. Micky replies, "Talk? Never. They can torture him, beat him, drug
him; he'll never talk! There's only one torture he can't withstand, oh,
I pray they don't use that…The Direct Question!" The boys
overcome the risks of going on home territory and go to Peter's rescue.
In the guise of detectives, they declare to Nyetovich that they are
from The BVD and investigating the disappearance of Natasha Pavlova,
only to find that Nyetovich's assignment coincides with theirs.
Meanwhile, Ivan and Nicolai proceed to brainwash Peter, who advises
that they use a good detergent ("New Reebersober's Brain Detergent
doesn't fade, bleach, or shrink your brains!"); later, disguised as
Cossacks, Micky and Davy are involved in a wild Russian dancing
rehearsal, barely eluding Ivan. Recognizing who they really are, he
send an ultimatum saying Peter Tork will die unless Natasha is returned
for the night's premiere, sending Natasha, Micky and Davy to the
rescue. There at the theater, Micky puts a glass to the wall and the
three discover that Nyetovich has recovered the film and is preparing
to do away with Peter at the end of Natasha's solo. Ivan will leap into
the air and a cymbal crash will be heard as soon as he lands, at which
time Peter will be shot! Natasha prepares to don her chicken costume
and mask for her "Dance of The Chicken" when she suddenly sprains her
ankle, forcing Micky to take her place. Soon, three different romps
commence: Davy jumps into the orchestra pit and does all he can to
prevent the cymbalist from crashing his cymbals; Peter escapes Nicolai
and takes on all comers, including Nyetovich, and a girl wrapped in a
bath towel, with swords, chalk, and a butterfly net; and Micky gives a
hilarious performance onstage with Ivan, whom he prevents from taking
that final leap into the air. The romps end with Nyetovich tied up and
Ivan and Nicolai knocked unconscious. At the pad, Davy tells Natasha
that the government has decided she can stay in America. Peter is happy
to resume their romance, but Natasha, deciding that they are too
different, presents her new love, Alexi—a Russian who looks
just like Peter!
|
b:
06-Nov-1967 w:
Lee
Sanford d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"She Hangs Out." Mike
doesn't appear because he is still recovering from his tonsils.
Tag:
Mike joins the trio in a rendition of "She Hangs Out".
|
|
| 42. Wild Monkees |
| gs:
Henry Corden
(Blauner) Norman
Grabowski (Butch) Carol
Worthington (Nan) Christine
Williams (Jan) Ginny
Gan (Ann) David
Price (Construction Worker) David
Pearl (Man with Featherduster)
Ric Klein (Race
Official) |
On the way to a
job as
hotel musicians, a motorcycle gang buzzes The Monkees. They soon book
up at the Henry Cabot Lodge and Cemetery ("If You're Dying To Have A
Good Time…See Us"), where they learn from Mr. Blauner, the
owner, that they are to double as waiters, bellhops and groundskeepers.
Hidden under helmets and goggles, the motorcycle gang shows up at the
hotel. The boys try to leave but Blauner makes them stay to take care
of their guests—who prove to be four beautiful girls: Nan,
Jan, Ann, and the leader, Queeny. The boys make a play for them but are
rebuffed at every turn. Deciding they must be rough to win them, The
Monkees imagine a School Of Hard Knocks And Bruises, under the tutelage
of Micky. When the girls see the boys in Marlon Brandoesque-leather
gear as motorcycle freaks, they turn them down because their
boyfriends, "The Black Angels," a for-real motorcycle bunch comprised
of Big Frank, Big Neal, Big Bruce, and the leader, Big Butch, and
responsible for a massacre in Pismo Beach, were too tough. When The
Angels break in and sneak up behind The Monkees, the boys keel over.
Butch tries to force the boys into a fight because they stole his
woman, but the boys, who claim themselves to be The Chickens, decline
as it is against their club regulations. Then Butch challenge them to
an Annual Best Riders Contest, where first prize is a chance for the
contestant to destroy everything in sight, including himself! At a
meeting, Mike moves that they take some immediate course of action:
leaving! The boys try to escape but Butch blocks their path, and, the
next morning, a wild motorcycle race set to "Star Collector" follows.
Having won the race, Butch grabs Micky and decides to either tear him
apart single-handedly or crush him with his bike, but is stopped by
Queenie. Tired of the open road, she tells Butch she wants to settle
down, build illegal motorcycles and "raise little scooters!" Blauner
offers to give him room and board and a job at his hotel if he promises
not to destroy anything, and, through Queenie, Butch consents.
|
b:
13-Nov-1967 pc:
4765 w:
Stanley
Ralph Ross s:
Stanley
Ralph Ross
and Corey
Lipton d:
Jon
C. Andersen |
NOTE: This
episode is an
affectionate parody of The
Wild One,
a 1954 Columbia picture starring Marlon Brando as Johnny Strabler,
ringleader of a gang of 40 motorcyclists, The Black Rebels, who
gatecrash a legitimate motorcycle race.
Features
the songs: "Goin' Down" and "Star Collector."
Micky
performs an alternate take of "Goin' Down" at the beginning of the
show.
The
Monkees' fourth album, Pisces,
Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.
(#COM/COS-104) was relased the day after this episode's broadcast.
|
|
| 43. A Coffin Too Frequent |
| gs:
Ruth Buzzi (Mrs.
Mildred Weatherspoon) George
Furth (Henry Weatherspoon) Mickey
Morton (Boris Weatherspoon) |
As The Monkees
prepare
for bed, they are frightened by mysterious noises downstairs. They go
downstairs to find Henry Weatherspoon preparing for a
séance. Henry orders them to leave by 12:00, because it is
in his lease. The Monkees attempts to escape are foiled by Henry's
aunt, old Mildred Weatherspoon, and by Henry's cousin, Boris
Weatherspoon, a giant over whose mind Henry has total influence,
bearing a coffin which contains the corpse of the late Elmer
Weatherspoon. The boys make up their minds and stay to witness Elmer's
return form the dead, and they imagine a courtroom, with Mike as The
Witness and Micky, Davy, and Peter as the barrister, the defendant, and
the judge, respectively. Henry reveals that Elmer will return at dawn,
heralded by a trumpet; The Monkees' make up their minds again and
reattempt to escape but are once again stopped by Boris, bearing
suitcases full of his lunch. Peter sneezes and Mildred piles him with
all sorts of remedies. Davy does a dance with Boris to the tune of "Tea
For Two," but is stopped by Henry. When they hear Peter's screams for
help, everyone rushes upstairs to break Peter out of an oxygen tent set
up by Mildred. When Henry declares The Monkees are disbelievers and
will drive Elmer away, Davy calls Henry a fraud and Boris begins
choking him; Mildred halts Boris and orders him and Henry out of the
room. As the two plotters listen on the other side of the door, Davy
learns Mildred will give all of her money to Henry's foundation should
he succeed in bringing Elmer back, as it is the only way to protect her
interests. Davy opens the door and Henry and Boris come crashing down
to the floor—and Mildred disappears. Everyone finds her
bashing Micky with her umbrella to keep him from disturbing Elmer.
When Mildred learns that the boys are trying to protect them, she calls
them angels, and they imagine bouncing on a cloud in sweat socks,
extra–large white undershirts, and fake wings. Micky's
determined not to stand around and allow the old lady see her money
stolen, but both his attempts to subdue Boris fail miserably, and he
gets a migraine. Mildred remedies it with her Old Egyptian Head-Banging
Cure: a stomp on the foot. At the séance, The Monkees and
The Weatherspoons join hands. Henry declares that Elmer will be amongst
them in a few moments, and when a few elements shake and rattle, Mike
thinks it's his teeth. A trumpet sounds and Elmer is commanded to
speak. A voice calls Henry a crook, cheating the dead and running off
with his aunt's money, and declares that he must pay. Henry confesses,
but the voice commands him to try pleading and begging. Henry obliges
and Micky pops out of the coffin; outraged, the former sics Boris on
the boys, triggering a wild chase from the pad to the fantasy courtroom
to the fantasy cloud set to "Goin' Down". The chase ends as Mildred and
the boys shut up Henry and Boris inside the coffin. Later, the boys
receive a call by the Boy Scouts who want to offer Micky an officer's
commission. Mike and Peter compliment him on his groovy trumpet and
suggest that he tries it with a group, but Micky replies that he
doesn't play the trumpet! The boys turn to find Elmer rising from the
coffin, and they all start coughing.
|
b:
20-Nov-1967 w:
Stella
Linden d:
David
Winters |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Goin' Down" and "Daydream Believer."
Tag:
The boys finish with a rendition of "Daydream Believer".
|
|
| 44. Hitting the High Seas |
| gs:
Ted de Corsia
(Frank Reynolds) Noam
Pitlik (Harry Hooker) Leslie
Randall (Mayberry) Chips
Rafferty (Captain) David
Price (Seaman) |
When half their
audience—one patron—walks out, The Monkees lose
their jobs as musicians at a waterfront café, and Micky,
Peter and Davy drown their sorrows in buttermilk. Then they overhear
two tough sailors, Harry Hooker and Frank Reynolds, declaring they need
strong guys with the ability to use their hands and knowledge of the
Seven Seas. Presenting themselves as sailors, the boys sign on with the
sailors and are ordered to report to Pier 3 at 6 in the morning. Once
aboard the schooner with Mike, The Monkees wreck a mainsail trying to
hoist and unfurl it. Then Mike gets seasick on seasick pills and goes
to the galley to rest (where he stays for the remainder of the
episode!), and the boys' ignorance during roll call lands them in all
in serious trouble. As punishment for disobeying orders to cut their
long hair, the tyrannical captain orders Micky, Peter and Davy to be
keelhauled and lashed 10 times for insubordination, plus 10 more
strokes if they laugh. Davy harshly criticizes this cruel punishment,
as it defies naval law, and The Captain spares him when he learns of
his name ("Davy Jones?! As in Davy Jones's Locker?!?"). He orders Davy
to be his cabin boy, while the others swab the deck. In the galley,
Davy brings the Captain his lunch, but he is ordered out of his cabin
for interrupting a conference. Since there is no one else but the
Captain in the cabin to necessitate a conference, Davy is curious.
Peeking in, he sees the Captain consulting his parrot, Horace, about
two million dollars in gold. Davy thinks the captain is
"crackers"—English slang for "crazy"—but wants to
learn more.
That night, the boys sneak into the Captain's cabin. While the Cap is
taking a snooze, Peter tapes Horace the parrot's beak shut, while Micky
imitates the bird and Peter and Davy hide under a table. They learn
that the Captain was fired from his command of the Queen Anne after 30
years, and he plans to hijack the ship and make off with its gold in
revenge. The Monkees think this is all a fantasy, until the Captain and
crew, dressed like pirates, unsheathe sabers, hoist The Jolly Roger,
and unwrap a cannon! Unable to escape, the boys decide to incite a
mutiny. Peter whispers to the crew, and Micky tells the Captain that he
is taking over the ship and orders for his sword. When the Captain
refuses, Micky tells them to seize him, but the men do nothing!
Discovering the plot, the Cap finds Peter, Davy and Micky guilty of
insubordination to a commanding officer, inspiring to mutiny, and
impersonating a parrot, and prepares to make them walk the plank. The
execution ceremony is stopped by the arrival of the Queen Anne, and the
pirates load the cannon. Just as they prepare to fire, Micky, Peter and
Davy step in and snatch the cannon away, setting off a wild musical
romp. Singing "Daydream Believer," The Monkees engage captain and crew
in mad swordplay and finally catch them in a fishnet. Grateful,
Mayberry, the captain of the Queen Anne, congratulates the three for
saving his ship, and promotes them to first mates of his schooner. He
presents their new captain—Horace, the parrot—who
immediately begins to bark out orders.
|
b:
27-Nov-1967 w:
Jack
Winter d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: At one
point, Davy
exclaims, "Peter's so tough, 'e loves the sight of blood, 'e pours
ketchup on everythin' 'e eats; even Cornflakes!", which is, of course,
a satirical swipe at Kellogg's, one of The Monkees TV series' main
sponsors. Features
the songs: "Daydream Believer" and "Star Collector."
Tag:
Mike recovers from seasickness long enough to join Micky, Davy and
Peter in the closing musical number: the stimulatingly psychedelic
"Star Collector."
|
|
| 45. Monkees in Texas |
| gs:
Jacqueline
DeWitt (Kate) Len
Lesser (Red) Rex
Holman (Sneak) James
J. Griffith (Marshall) Barton
MacLaine (Black Bart / Ben Cartwheel)
David Price
(5000 Man) Richard
Klein (3500 Man) Nyles
Brown (1000 Man) |
After a 3-day
drive on a
golf cart, The Monkees arrive in Texas, at the ranch owned by Mike's
Aunt Kate Nesmith, who orders them to grab rifles - Micky takes a
Winchester '73, Davy chooses a Colt .45, Mike picks a Smith and Wesson
.38, and Peter grabs a bottle of Vintage '66 - and help drive off Black
Bart and his masked riders Red and Sneak, who are trying to drive Kate
and her daughter Lucy off and take over the ranch. Bart, Red and Sneak
set a kitchen sink afire and wheels it towards the Nesmith ranch, but
Davy saves the day by turning on the sink's faucets, dousing the
flames. Frightened, Black Bart and his minions beat a hasty retreat.
Peter, Davy and Micky want to cut out, too, but Mike insists they must
stay, simply because "a man's first obligation is to his kinfolk, and
because it's better to have a brave death than a cowardly life. And
besides that, they killed our golf cart!" Mike and Davy hold the fort
at the ranch with Kate and Lucy, while Micky and Peter, incognito as
The Lone Stranger and Pronto, respectively, ride to the town to ask the
Marshall for help; he advises them to hire their own outlaws at the
local saloon, just as he does. Meanwhile Ben Cartwheel, who owns half
the valley, and his sons Mule and Little Moe, asks Kate to sell out to
him, but she rebukes his offer. In the saloon, Micky and Peter
encounter Red and Sneak, and before either knows what's happened, they
have been inducted into Black Bart's posse. Davy finds that Kate's
cattle have been dying because of the filthy dirt on her ranch; Mike
takes a sample of the dirt to town to be analyzed. Later, Micky sends
Peter to warn Kate that Black Bart is about to strike; Red threatens to
kill him if Peter isn't back in 10 minutes!
At Aunt Kate's ranch, Peter brings his horse into her kitchen ("Well, I
was bringing it to the barn, but there wasn't anybody there!") and
warns them of the imminent attack; Kate sends Davy to the Cartwheels
for help. Meanwhile at the saloon, an assayer tells Mike that the dirt
contains the highest grade of black gold: a.k.a. crude oil! Black Bart
returns to his henchmen in his hideout and demands to know which one of
them is a traitor for going over to the Nesmith ranch to give a
warning; Red and Sneak point to Peter, "the Injun!" Peter tries to
escape, but he is trapped and Micky is ordered to kill him. He is
unable to bring himself to do so, and they are immediately covered. At
the Nesmith ranch, Mike attempts to contact John Wayne by phone; given
a rifle by Aunt Kate, he and Davy prepare for another imminent attack.
Meanwhile, outside, Micky and Peter, in desperado gear, secretly listen
in on Black Bart, Red and Sneak plotting to give Kate one final chance
to sell out or kill her and fake her signature on the mortgage.
Convinced well beyond the shadow of a doubt that Black Bart and Ben
Cartwheel are one and the same, Micky and Peter ride off to the Nesmith
ranch to warn Davy, Mike, Kate and Lucy about Black Bart's attack and
of his true identity. Bart and his cronies follow not too far behind,
and a see-saw musical battle set to "Words" ensues, with The Monkees
defeating the bad guys in black one by one, driving them away for good,
and the ranch is saved.
|
b:
04-Dec-1967 w:
Jack
Winter d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Words" and "Goin' Down."
Tag:
Micky performs "Goin' Down."
|
|
| 46. Monkees on the Wheel |
| gs:
Pepper Davis
(Biggy) Rip
Taylor (Manager) Dort
Clark (Policeman) Joy
Harmon (Zelda) Sharyn
Hillyer (Della) David
Astor (Boss) David
Price (Nose Tweaker) David
Pearl (craps player) |
Prologue:
Las
Vegas. Pleasure capital of the world, where each man seeks the things
he loves most. [Peter follows a
girl.] The things he loves
most. [Michael follows a girl.]
The things he
loves most! [David follows a
girl.] But all is not fun and
games in the gambling capital of the world: while some pursue their
pleasures, others pursue their greed. A hideaway on the other side of
town...
The
Monkees go to Las Vegas on an engagement. The Boss, a top mobster and
crooked gambler, tells his man Biggy that he has a Roulette wheel
automatically fixed to land at 16-Red for five minutes starting at
8:00. Micky plays the slot machines with Zelda, a showgirl, and wins a
bagful of coins, and Zelda says he has "magic fingers." While
explaining to Mike, Micky accidentally puts the bag on the Roulette
table on 16-Red—in the place of Biggy, standing next to
him—and keeps winning until he breaks the bank. The Boss
orders Biggy to get Della The Decoy to swipe the money away from Micky.
Posing as a maid, Della gets into the boys' room as a diversion while
Biggy, masquerading as a maintenance man, vacuums up all the cash. In
the casino room, the manager finds the wire attached to his Roulette
wheel and sadly relates the events to the police. Finding their
winnings stolen right from under their noses, The Monkees shout for the
police; when the police arrive, the manager of the casino comes with
them. Micky unwittingly signs a confession that they stole the money,
which eventually gets them all arrested. During an interrogation, Micky
is depressed upon learning he didn't win at the Roulette wheel because
it was rigged, but the manager releases them on a 24-hour reprieve on
condition they get back the money or face a 20-year jail term!
Peter, Micky, Mike and Davy don disguises and sunglasses (with the
exception of Peter, who wears normal glasses) and pose as crooked
gamblers—The Professor, The Insidious Strangler, Vicious
Killer and Muscles The Mauler, respectively—with a system to
beat the Roulette table. Biggy brings them to the Boss, who orders
Peter The Professor to reveal the system. He gets the mobsters drunk
while explaining the system, and The Monkees attempt to search for the
money when suddenly they trip the alarm. The alarm revives The Boss,
who orders the boys to gamble with their system and his cash. At the
tables, Insidious Strangler Micky, bothered at every turn by Zelda, who
thinks she recognizes him, tries to lose the money back to the casino
but keeps on winning! When Zelda finally yanks off Micky's shades and
recognizes him as "Magic Fingers," The Boss realizes what is happening
and chases the boys around the room. The romp, which is set to "The
Door Into Summer", ends with the gangsters out on the tables, covered
with their own cash.
|
b:
11-Dec-1967 pc:
4742 w:
Coslough
Johnson d:
Gerald
Johnson |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Door Into Summer" and "Cuddly Toy."
Tag:
Davy and Peter do a "Here We Go Again Tag" involving Micky; The
Monkees, clad in Vaudevillian gear, sing "Cuddly Toy"; six outtakes of
Micky and Mike from the soon-to-be-telecast "Monstrous Monkee Mash"
(#4767, 11-2-67) are shown.
|
|
| 47. The Christmas Show |
| gs:
Butch Patrick
(Melvin) Burt
Mustin (Butler) Larry
Gelman (Sales Clerk) Jeannie
Sorel (Mrs. Vandersnoot) Regis
Cordic (Doctor) Jill
Chandler (Salesgirl) |
At the
Vandersnoot
mansion on Christmas Eve, Mrs. Vandersnoot pays The Monkees $100 each
in advance to stay with her nephew, Melvin, who refuses to go with her
on a Christmas cruise. A cynical twelve-year-old soured on the whole
Christmas racket, Melvin resists all The Monkees' efforts to entertain
him. Sure the rich kid will enjoy Christmas shopping, The Monkees take
him to a department store. There Peter tries out a motorcycle but goes
too fast, and he almost wrecks the place and knocks himself
unconscious, while Melvin remains a bored onlooker. When The Monkees
are charged $320 for damages by the department store ($20 more for the
stretcher Mike and Davy use to haul Peter) and $19.95 by a doctor for
Peter's examination, Melvin thinks the boys are stupid to feel
Christmas is special. The boys then discover Melvin doesn't know how to
smile, and decide to show him the true meanings of Christmas. The
quartet ventures into a car lot full of evergreen trees to pick one out
for purchase. Mike discovers a small tree and uses it to show Melvin
the distinguishing characteristics of a Christmas tree, when suddenly
he gets into a tug of war battle with a little old lady over the tree,
which ends with the lady pelting him with a Karate Chop. Well, all the
other small trees are gone, and a big tree is too expensive, so Mike
hatches an alternate plan...
The five go to the woods for a Christmas tree, where Mike gets bad
vibrations having struck petrified oak. As if all this weren't bad
enough, Micky mistakes poison ivy for holly and mistletoe and breaks
out in a rash, and Davy gets a concussion after falling off a ladder
trying to put a star atop the Christmas tree. The boys go for broke,
physically and financially, using the remaining $30 of their Xmas money
to buy a Christmas tree and pay for medical bills, but Melvin remains
aloof and leaves, and they give up. Then they realize they have tried
everything but love. As Melvin sits alone in the Vandersnoot mansion
(the butler and the maid having went to a Christmas Eve Dinner), he
sadly pictures the fun he might have had had he shared the boys'
feelings for Christmas. Then Micky and Davy, as Santa Claus and his
elf, respectively, emerges from the fireplace covered with soot. Mike
and Peter, with a Christmas tree, run through a clumsily harmonized
chorus of "Deck the Halls." Melvin begins to laugh, get hysterical and
cry. Mrs. Vandersnoot returns and Melvin, finally caught in the spirit
of Christmas, runs into her arms and opens his present (a basketball!)
on the couch with Micky and Davy, while Peter and Mike happily look on
in tears.
|
b:
25-Dec-1967 w:
Neil
Burstyn s:
Dave
Evans
and Neil
Burstyn d:
Jon
C. Andersen |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Ríu, Chíu."
Tag:
After Peter, Mike, Davy and Micky sing an acappella rendition of the
Old Latin Christmas Carol, "Ríu, Chíu".
The
Monkees introduce their soundstage personnel as the end credits
superimpose over them.
|
|
| 48. Fairy Tale |
| gs:
Murray Roman
(Harold) John
Lawrence (Richard) Regis
Cordic (Narrator/Town Cryer) Diane
Shalet (Fairy of the Locket) Richard
Klein (Horseman #1) |
In a Monkee
spoof on
fairy tales (acted out in pantomime), Mike is a cobbler; Davy is a
tailor, and Micky an innkeeper in the town of Avon on the Calling.
Peter is a vagrant, because his concentrations on getting a job are
stunted by his admirations for Gwen, a beautiful, yet selfish,
conceited and overbearing princess. She disdains his offer to carry her
across the mud, but honors his spine with a walk across it, followed by
Harold, a knight, a troop of the soldiers, and Gwen's
fiancé. At Micky's Inn, Peter learns that Harold plans to do
away with his fiancée and tries to warn Gwen but he is
interrupted by Harold's arrival. Just as they prepare to leave, the
princess tosses him a Magic Locket. Peter tells his mates of the danger
of the princess. He bites the Magic Locket, releasing a fairy, in
curlers because she was having her hair done. She tells the boys how to
save the Princess, but warns she'll be killed if Peter drops, crushes,
or loses the locket, because she lives there. While Micky, Davy, and
Mike are preparing a sword, a suit, and a pair of shoes for scaling
walls, respectively, for Peter's battle armor, Richard, Harold's toady,
locks Gwen up in a castle dungeon. On the way to her rescue, Peter
meets Little Red Riding Hood (Davy), Hansel and Gretel (Micky and
Davy), and Goldilocks (Micky). At the castle's gate, Peter unwittingly
answers a dragon's riddle correctly, and the latter orders the
drawbridge (actually a plank) to be lowered for Peter to walk across,
only to have him face the deadly Richard.
The Locket protects him against Richard's sword and mace and chain, and
he scales the castle walls to rescue Gwen, but she demands the Locket
back, and he is taken prisoner. At Micky's Inn, Micky, Mike and Davy
begin to regret sending Peter to save Princess Gwen. Suddenly, they
receive a message from the Town Crier: Peter, Peasant of Tork, is
slated for execution for trespassing on Knight Harold's estate! The
three then set out in search of the castle in hopes of rescuing Peter.
In the forest, the three split up in different directions (leaving a
trail of breadcrumbs behind them), and Micky and Davy meet the
fairytale characters. They finally find the castle "they said no man
could get in alive!", and they answer the dragon's riddle and enter the
castle just in time to stop Peter and Gwen from being shoved over the
precipice by Harold and Richard. A fight ensues, with the opposition
winning. Gwen tosses The Magic Locket to Peter, who overpowers Harold;
he and Richard surrender, and Micky, Mike and Davy break into a
hilarious rendition of the Main Title theme from The Adventures of
Robin Hood (CBS, 1955-60). Princess Gwen agrees to grant Peter any
request, but she refuses his request to marry him and whips off his
hat, wig and makeup, revealing to be Mike, and declares that he can't
marry anyone, because he's already married!
|
b:
08-Jan-1968 pc:
4748 w:
Peter
Meyerson d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Daily Nightly." Tag:
Mike is interviewed about his role as the princess, and Micky, with
Moog synthesizer, sings "Daily Nightly" while Mike, Peter and Davy look
on.
|
|
| 49. Monkees Watch Their Feet |
| gs:
Nita Talbot
(Assistant) Stuart
Margolin (Captain) Clarke
Gordon (Chief) Pat
Paulsen (The Secretary) |
Introduced by
Mike
Nesmith (who makes his only appearance in this episode in its teaser
and its tag), the Secretary for the Dept. of UFO Information (Paulsen)
makes an opening statement:
"I've come
before these
cameras tonight to tell you that you and that we, both human beings and
animals, are not alone. At this very moment, walking upon the face of
Mother Earth, are aliens from outer space. You may pooh-pooh this
statement, but I must say emphatically [He pounds his fist lightly on
his desk.], don't pooh-pooh it! Day by day there is increasing evidence
of the alienation of our planet. Many of us blame our leaders. Many of
our leaders blame us.
But the truth lies, as always, beyond our reach. We are being attacked
by outer space. These invaders, these aliens from outer space, have
cleverly…ly… infiltrated our societies, preying
mostly upon the innocence of our youth, because they know they'll try
anything. I have for you a documented film report. See before you three
average typical young American teenagers, with their own television
series…"
In the film,
Davy, Micky
and Peter are seen in their pad getting ready to play for a gig. The
Captain and his Assistant from Planet Zlotnik have landed on the beach
in their spaceship, with the intent of initiating Plan D: disposing of
Earthlings through the various means of destruction at their command.
They make Micky's tum-tum and clothes disappear, and Mick starts to
wonder, "Could it be that my clothes are putting me on?!?" Leaving a
trail of Micky's clothes and tum-tum on the beach, The Zlotnickians
lure him into the space ship and make an addled robot copy of him in a
duplicating machine. The robotic Micky is sent out to spy for the
aliens. Davy and Peter find the phony Micky on the beach and take him
to their pad. There Peter and Davy become suspicious of the duplicate
Micky when he deems a telephone, Peter's guitar, and a refrigerator to
be a cat, a harmonic destructor, and a lady, respectively. When the
robot Micky tries to dispose of Davy and Peter with dynamite, they work
him over.
At an inspection, they discover his feet are backwards and they decide
he's from outer space. Their attempt to report to UFO Headquarters
turns into a fiasco when The Captain tells them it's a pigment of their
imagination; worse yet, they find The Captain there also has on his
feet backwards—never mind it's only his shoes!—and,
thinking he's one of the invaders, they tie him up. Davy and Peter take
the robot Micky back to the pad to interrogate him under a hot light.
He holds out until Peter accidentally freezes him with seltzer, and
they determine that it's a robot sent to them for espionage purposes.
They operate him and find the wire to his "truth tube," and the robot
Micky finally admits that the true Micky is in the spaceship where he's
being questioned before invasion. He leads them to the ship where they
are beamed aboard by The Zlotnickians, and a wild chase set to "Star
Collector" follows, wherein The Monkees and The Captain take on all on
comers with lasers, seltzer water, and motorcycles. The robot Micky
warns the real Micky and Davy and Peter to leave as the ship is
programmed to take off for Zlotnik in five minutes. He refuses their
invitation to stay with them on Earth as he is due for a date with a
blender back home. The Secretary for the Dept. of UFO Information,
bothered throughout the close of this episode by a fly, makes a closing
statement:
"So there you
have it:
The Ugly Truth. Perhaps you are now asking yourself the question,
‘How menacing are aliens with backward feet?' It is not the
backward feet in themselves—although, seen close up, they are
quite ugly—that are the menace, it is the implication of what
backward feet mean in a frontward-feet society! First of all, let us
examine the phrase ‘Put your best foot forward'.
Our entire society would be moving into the past instead of the future.
Take the plight of the Ordinary Shoe Salesman, who, in order to fit his
customers, will find himself bumping constantly into the back of the
chair. Uptown being changed to downtown. Downtown being changed to
who-knows-where. America, if you let this menace into your midst, you
will not know whether you are coming or going. Doctors trying valiantly
to get to their patients will find themselves stuck against their back
wall while trying to race out the door. Plague and famine will spread
over the land. All chiropodists will be enlisted into the CIA. In
summation, let me say once more, emphatically, we are being attacked by
outer space. The time has come for us to stop sticking our bayonets
into each other, and start sticking our bayonets into space!"
|
b:
15-Jan-1968 pc:
4743 w:
Coslough Johnson d:
Alexander Singer |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Star Collector." A
rerun of this episode aired on September 9, 1968, the last time that The
Monkees was ever broadcast on
NBC in primetime.
|
|
| 50. Monstrous Monkee Mash |
| gs:
Arlene Martel
(Loreli) Ron
Masak (Count Dracula) David
Pearl (Werewolf) |
Loreli lures
Davy to the
castle of her uncle, The Count Dracula from Transylvania, where
Wolfman, The Mummy, and Frankenstein's Monster await fresh blood. The
Drac promises Wolfman someone else and tries to teach Davy how to drink
blood and fly like a bat. Back at The Monkees' pad, Micky and Peter
begin to worry. Davy decides to call the folks at the castle, but when
he hears Dracula's laughter, he declares that once again Courageous
American Youth leaps into the fore..."or five!" Arriving at the castle,
the three plan Davy's rescue, as Drac and Loreli take notes. Davy,
chained in the basement, turns Wolfman against Dracula for not giving
him second billing in the pictures they made together. When Wolfman
leaps at Loreli, she promises him a better percentage of the profits,
cookouts on weekends, and the right to play his own music. Then, up
above in the library, she uses the necklace on Peter. Wolfman pounces,
but Dracula distracts him with a link of hot dogs and drags Peter to
the lab.
Frightened by The Wolfman, Micky barricades himself in the library -
which is exactly where Loreli uses the necklace on him and promises him
to Wolfman. Davy overhears and takes notes as Dracula and Loreli plan
to switch brains from Peter to their monster. In the dungeon, Davy and
Micky, in chains, become Count Dracula and The Werewolf in fantasy,
only to find in their horror that they really have become that way! As
Drac and Loreli prepare to operate, Davy switches wardrobes with
Mummyman and snatches a body right from under Drac's nose. He flees to
the dungeon and rescues Dracula Davy and Wooly Werewolf Micky, but
under Drac's thought control, they turn on Davy. The Count finds the
boys have their monster while he and Loreli have Peter and throws an
energizing switch, setting off a wild romp between monsters and
Monkees, singing "Goin' Down". Returned to reality, The Monkees read
that defeated monsters can't return for a thousand years. Then Peter is
frightened by The Invisible Man, which Davy reveals as merely special
effects.
|
b:
22-Jan-1968 pc:
4767 w:
Neil Burstyn
and David Panich d:
James Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Goin' Down." |
|
| 51. Monkees Paw |
| gs:
Henry Beckman
(Manager) Meri
Ashley (Daughter) Jack
Fife (Taxman) Hans
Conried (Mendrek) David
Pearl (Nightclub Patron (uncredited))
David Price
(Janitor (uncredited)) |
This is a
Monkee takeoff
on the classic William Jacobs horror tale. Having listened to The
Monkees' playing and singing "Goin' Down," the manager hires them and
fires Mendrek, a broken-down magician. Pitying him, The Monkees console
the magician, who relates in flashback - with Mike as The Regular Llama
and Micky as young Mendrek - how, while searching for the unknown
secrets in far Tibet, he acquired a very special monkey's paw, which
the boys buy for $0.25. The paw starts working for The Monkees, who
wish that their union dues were paid and the manager arrives and says
he'll pay their dues with their first week's salary, and a 142%
kickback on the cash loan. Mendrek's daughter reminds him of the paw's
curse, but the magician feels that, having rid himself of the paw, his
luck should immediately change. He suddenly wins $1 million in an
over-the-phone contest! Meanwhile, Micky wishes for a big dinner and is
deluged with spaghetti ("Well, I didn't wish for how it should be
served!"). Backstage, Micky wishes he would stop talking and loses his
voice; the audience boos at Micky lip-synching over the backing track
to "Goin' Down" during The Monkees' performance. When the manager
demands to know what's going on, the boys, to cover up, explains Micky
is singing with his feet, but to no avail. Mike is sure the boys are in
a lot of trouble when the manager threatens to fire them if Mick isn't
singing by tomorrow morning.
At the pad, Micky attempts to recite The Gettysburg Address, but is
still voiceless. The Monkees go to Mendrek for help, but the magician,
wallowing in luxury and business deals offered to him over a plethora
of phones on his desk, turns them away. After bathing Micky in chicken
soup, the boys decide that, in 12 hours, he simply forgot how to talk,
and they remind him via a language lesson, but all Micky can say is
"crayon." The Monkees take Micky to a psychiatrist who goes crazy
because Davy, Mike and Peter keep on interfering with his Rorschach
test. That night, the boys run through an old Marx Brothers act (with
Mike as Groucho, Micky as Harpo [silent, get it?], and Peter, Chico),
but are still fired. It is here that Mendrek finally agrees to help,
since he's devoting all his time to the needy (especially The
Monkees!), and, following the Pocketbook Edition of The Book Of
Mystery, he uses all kinds of torture, but Micky remains mute. They
discover the only cure is to sell the paw to someone really nasty,
meaning the manager. When he comes in to give Mendrek his old job back,
The Monkees go into a musical romp set to "Words" to demonstrate the
monkey paw's power. The manager buys it, wishes for a million dollars
and is deluged with cash, but is immediately arrested for tax evasion,
thus restoring Micky's voice.
|
b:
29-Jan-1968 w:
Coslough
Johnson d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Goin' Down" and "Words."
Tag:
an outtake from this episode wherein guest Hans Conried exhumes
frustration with the boys' on-the-set shenanigans; Peter airs his
feelings about the demise of the hippie movement in the 12th and last
end-of-show Monkees interview segment of the series.
|
|
| 52. The Devil and Peter Tork |
| gs:
Billy Beck
(Judge Roy Bean) Peter
Canon (Billy the Kid) Lee
Kolima (Atilla The Hun) Monte
Landis (Mr. Zero (The Devil))
Ted de Corsia
(Blackbeard the Pirate) |
Based loosely
on Stephen
Vincent Benet's fantasy novel (and the Oscar-winning 1941 RKO movie it
spawned) The
Devil and Daniel Webster.
At Mr. Zero's Pawn Shop, Peter falls in love with a golden harp.
Learning Peter has no money, Zero produces a contract, which Peter
signs. At the pad, Micky, Mike and Davy remind him that he can't play
the harp and urge him to return it. Suddenly, Zero appears in a puff of
smoke, and, at his command, Peter plays beautifully. Zero disappears
and the boys are immediately booked into a harp act, which is an
instant overnight success. The next evening, Zero appears again and,
revealing himself to be Beelzebub, presents the contract, which states
that Peter's soul is to be delivered by midnight. In a musical fantasy
set to "Salesman," Zero, with horns and a tail, and his handmaidens,
with pitchforks, chase The Monkees through smoke and flame into a Hall
of Mirrors. Returned to reality and their pad, The Monkees realize that
the one thing that's scarier than Hell is saying it on television!
Micky tries to exorcise the devil with a stake through the heart, but
it becomes a quill when Zero appears. Frightened, the boys try to delay
Zero (Davy even offers to take Peter's place!), but Zero is adamant on
his contract with Peter. Mike doesn't believe Zero's contract is valid,
and proceeds to take it to court. Zero consents, and with a clap of his
hands, The Monkees' beach pad becomes a bizarre underworld courtroom.
Hanging Judge Roy Bean presides, with a jury consisting of 12 condemned
men from Devil's Island. As witnesses, Zero produces former clientele:
Billy the Kid, Blackbeard the Pirate, and Attila the Hun. When Mike,
Davy and Micky's attempts to cross-examine them miserably fail, Peter
seems doomed until Mike, his defense attorney, puts Zero on the stand
and elucidates to him that Peter's ability to play the harp arose from
his love of music, not Zero's power. When Peter plays "I Wanna Be Free"
as evidence to Mike's claim, the jury and witnesses cry and the judge
decides in his favor.
|
b:
05-Feb-1968 w:
Robert
Kaufman s:
Robert
Kaufman
and Gerald
Garnder
and Dee
Caruso d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Salesman" and "No Time."
Tag:
The Monkees celebrate by singing "No Time."
|
|
| 53. Monkees Race Again
(a.k.a. Leave the Driving to Us) |
| gs:
Maurice
Dallimore (Butler) William
Glover (T.N. Crumpetts) David
Hurst (Baron Von Klutz) Stubby
Kaye (Wolfgang) Don
Kennedy (Official) Robert
Rafelson (World's Oldest Flower Child (uncredited cameo))
|
As The Monkees
work on
The Monkeemobile, Davy gets a call from T.N. Crumpets, his
grandfather's friend and England's major racing driver. At the track,
the quartet meets Crumpets and sees that his car (#54) is blown up;
they immediately suspect it was the work of saboteurs. At their garage,
Baron Von Klutz and Wolfgang, both of whom served as officers in The
Third Reich, work on The Klutzmobile (#13). Through a periscope they
watch The Monkees as amateur grease monkees, clumsily working on
Crumpets' car. Back at Crumpets' garage, The Monkees have nonchalantly
taken Crumpets' engine apart - Micky removes a tiger tail in the
process! - but still can't get it working again. When The Baron and
Wolfgang come over to find out about the sad condition of Crumpets'
car, The Monkees throw the car's engine parts about to allay their
suspicions, saying it's a way to get rid of excess. When, after a
while, Micky starts the engine running again with his hand, Coruthers,
the butler, brings tea to celebrate. As Coruthers sprays London Mist
Spray around, the gas masked villains spray knockout gas and everyone
passes out. They kidnap grease monkee Micky and Crumpets and drag them
to their garage, where they force Micky to work on The Klutzmobile.
Mike, Davy and Peter come to the rescue but don't find Micky or
Crumpets, as they are both hidden in a stack of tires to be disposed of
after the race.
Because he is a British subject, Davy volunteers stand in for Crumpets
in the race, but the racing official doesn't think he'll be able to see
over the wheel, since he is so short. Mike and Peter remedy this
problem with a telephone book, which they give Davy to sit on.
Meanwhile, Micky, an inexperienced mechanic, completely ruins The
Klutzmobile's engine. Through a periscope, they see Crumpets' car
running again, and The Baron announces on the loudspeaker to call Mike
and Peter up to the reviewing stand as a diversion. In the boys'
absence, The Baron and Wolfgang steal Crumpets' car and switch its
engine to The Klutzmobile. Davy resolves to run the race afoot, but,
told he must have a car, he opts to use The Monkeemobile. At the Klutz
garage, The Baron plots to shoot one of the hostages at the starting
gun and the other one at the end of the race, when everyone is
cheering. At the track Davy wonders where the other contestants are;
The Baron declares that they have all been sabotaged. Just before
Wolfgang gets ready to shoot Micky, Mike and Peter burst in and starts
chasing him all over the garage, just as the official fires the gun,
and the race is on. Despite The Baron's efforts to sabotage Davy with
an arsenal of underhanded trickery - a newspaper, and a spare tire -
Davy wins the race. In a musical romp set to "What Am I Doing Hangin'
'Round" The Monkees turn Baron and Wolfgang into flower children and
Robert Rafelson cameos as "The World's Oldest Flower Child," scarfing a
chrysanthemum.
|
b:
12-Feb-1968 w:
Dave
Evans
and David
Elias
and Dave
Pollock d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Hanging 'Round." |
|
| 54. Monkees in Paris (a.k.a.
The Paris Show) |
| gs:
James Frawley
(Himself (uncredited)) |
As Micky, Mike
and Davy
play checkers, Peter runs in with an ultimatum telling them to give up
the secret microfilm and get off the ranch or they will be killed. They
react unenthusiastically when set upon by Artie, the guest villain, and
they express to their key director, James Frawley, their frustration
with the repetitious scenarios. They decide to take their modness to
the French capital for a vacation, and as soon as they arrive, the pace
is as frantic as The Beatles' hardest day's night as Veronique, Karine,
Carole and Francoise pursue them through a meat market over the
melodies of "Love Is Only Sleeping." Meanwhile, on the set of The
Monkees' pad, Jim Frawley phones producer Bob Rafelson over the phone
and informs him of the boys' departure. Back in Gay Paree, Micky, Mike,
Peter and Davy escape on a truck and pile onto a canal barge, which
sails on the River Seine. The girls follow and it seems they have the
boys trapped, but they immediately leap onto the mainland, leaving the
ladies stranded on the barge. They chase The Monkees through an
amusement park and into a garden where each girl pairs off with one of
the boys; over "Don't Call On Me." At the Les Halles Flea Market,
through a rendition of "Star Collector", The Monkees pose as vendors
and musicians, as they type letters and hand them to the girls, who
slap them. They type some more, and the girls, won over, hug and kiss
our heroes. Hounded through downtown Paris' Champs-Elysses by crowds
led by the 4 girls, with gendarmes bringing up the rear to the tune of
"Goin' Down", Davy hides in an old brownstone and Micky climbs up a
flagpole...to no avail.
The rendition of "Goin' Down" is interrupted by the strains of Toccata
and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach as Micky and Davy wander
through a cemetery. "Goin' Down" forcibly takes over again as they land
in the crowd again and drive through on a truck, pulling the four girls
aboard. They romp all over a tour boat, where Peter and Davy topple
into a swimming pool. The group rides through Paris in a broken-down
station wagon to a reprise of "Don't Call On Me," and cause a
gargantuan traffic jam at the Arc De Triomphe. Meanwhile, back on The
Monkeepad set, key director Jim Frawley and villain guest actor Artie
search for new twists in the weekly script. Chased around the Eiffel
Tower, The Monkees land in a "dead" heap at the base. A while later,
back at the pad, as Micky, Mike and Davy play checkers, Peter runs in
with another ultimatum, this one telling them to give up the secret
apple and get off the base or they will be killed. The boys again
unenthusiastically react to Artie, but recognize that it's the same old
thing! They angrily balk to director Jim Frawley and want to leave, but
he settles them down. The Monkees ask the audience to stick around
until next week; they'll try to think of something by then. The boys
find themselves back in the French capital, romping to the strains of
Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky's War of 1812 Overture.
|
b:
19-Feb-1968 w:
Robert
Rafelson d:
Robert
Rafelson |
NOTE: Featured
songs
are: "Star Collector," "Love is Only Sleeping," "Don't Call on Me," and
"Goin' Down." This is the second Monkees
episode to feature a record four songs in a single episode; the first
was "The Spy Who Came In From The Cool." |
|
| 55. Monkees Mind Their Manor |
| gs:
Bernard Fox (Sir
Twiggly Toppin Middle Bottom)
Laurie Main (Mr.
Friar) David
Pearl (Luggage Carrier (uncredited cameo))
David Price
(Luggage Carrier (cameo)) Jack
H. Williams (Customs Man/Real Prop Man)
Richard Klein
(Luggage Carrier (cameo)) Reginald
Gardiner (Butler) Myra
De Groot (Mary Friar) William
Benedict (Old Man) |
As The Monkees
rehearse,
Mr. Friar, who has a habit of fainting, arrives and informs Davy that
Young Lord Malcolm Kibee has passed on and willed him his estate. Davy
and Friar fly to England first class, while Micky, Mike and Peter,
lacking air fare, travel in mummy cases. At English customs, Davy
recognizes the customs man as Jack Williams, The Monkees show's
property master, to which the latter replies, "Look, sweetie, I may be
Jack Williams The Property Man to you, but to 20 million teenagers, I'm
The Customs Man." Then, with a surprisingly convincing impression of
Dean Martin, breaks out a fine rendition of his closing theme,
"Ev'rybody Wants Somebody Sometime," which has him mobbed by Micky! At
Kibee Manor, the nearsighted old butler greets Davy, but shakes hands
with a twig. Sir Twiggly Toppin Middle Bottom, the executor, reads the
will leaving Kibee Manor to Davy on condition he lives there for five
years; if he doesn't, the villagers must buy it for £50,000
otherwise the Lord's nephew, Lance Kibee, will inherit the estate with
plans to sell it to a land developer. The Monkees are then introduced,
by Mr. Friar, to his daughter, Mary, who sees the foursome as "a sister
act!" Twiggly, who envisions a huge commission on the sale, assures
Lance, a chronic drunkard, that Davy will leave in a week out of sheer
boredom. In their room, Mike, Davy, Micky and Peter really are bored,
and Mary Friar reports that moving to the big city and finding lawn
moles in the form of dragons furnish all the excitement.
Mike decides on having a medieval fair to raise the proper funds on
financing the manor's safety. They only raise £200 at first,
but Mr. Friar is sure they'll win the rest betting on the winner in a
grand tournament of 2 out of 3 contests: jousting, dueling, and mace
and chain. Since Davy is the lord to the manor, and the one on whom the
fate of Kibbee Manor lies, he is the one of the main contestants in the
tournament (Twiggly being the other); told this fact, he faints dead
away. At the beginning of the first contest, Twiggly, as challengee,
seizes the right to choose weapons, and orders Davy to pick his lance,
and he does: Lance Kibee! He commands Twiggly to stop poking him with
his lance or lose his commission if he's killed. Davy wins the first
contest by a pun, but Twiggly takes the second duel in fencing. As
Twiggly challenges Davy to a third duel with mace and chain, an Old
Man, actually the butler's father, intervenes and declares the choice
of the contests relies upon the people present at the fair. The crowd
then decides on a singing contest instead. When Twiggly, an
inexperienced singer, bums out, Davy sings the traditional Old English
ballad "Greensleeves" and is declared the winner, but they are still
£40,000 short, thus sealing Kibbe Manor's fate. Outraged,
Mary insults Lance, but he declares his love for her and cancels the
sale.
|
b:
26-Feb-1968 pc:
4751 w:
Coslough
Johnson d:
Peter
H. Thorkelson |
NOTE: Features
the song:
"Star Collector." Peter
H. Thorkelson the director of this episode is better known as Peter
Tork.
Tag:
A belated Christmas message from Peter; The Monkees singing "Star
Collector."
|
|
| 56. Some Like it Lukewarm
(a.k.a. The Band Contest) |
| gs:
Jerry Blavat
(Himself) Deana
Martin (Daphne / William McCochrane)
Charlie Smalls
(Himself) Sharon
Cintron (Maxine) Rob
Rudelson (Pierre) Bill
McKinney (Janitor) |
The Monkees try
to enter
a KXIW Rockathon contest for a $500 prize, but Jerry Blavat, a DJ who
is also the MC, insists it's only for groups of mixed sex, and they
must have a girl. The Monkees then have to decide which one of them
makes the best looking girl, and automatically, it's David Jones! They
change David's appearance and teach him a mincing walk, using a rope,
frying pans, and a heavy book. At the contest, The Monkees present
David as Miss Jones and are officialy qualified. In The Rockathon, the
boys watch The West Minstrel Abbies, 3 girls and a boy respectively
comprised of Harmony, Melody, Caphophone, and William McCochran (who is
actually Daphne, a drag king, who duded up as a dude in order for them
to be qualified for the contest!), do a speedy rendition of "Last Train
To Clarksville" at 78 RPM. The Monkees go on with their act, singing
"The Door Into Summer" and doing everything possible to keep David from
escaping. It is here that Jerry has developed a little crush on "Miss
Jones," and when both bands tie for first place (with a 98.6 on The
Applause-O-Meter!), they must appear for a rematch. That night at the
pad, David is halted from disrobing from his drag outfit by Jerry
Blavat's unexpected arrival; while Micky, Michael and Peter hide, Jerry
offers to take "Miss Jones" out on a date, which David turns down.
Micky, Michael, and Peter go out to dinner, but David stays behind; so
does Daphne when her friends go out, since both of them would have to
dress in drag. Later, each decides to go out alone, and they meet up at
the Southside Branch of the Some Little Out Of The Way Place Where
Nobody Goes Café, where they meet and fall in love. David
sees Micky, Michael and Peter come in and he rushes away, leaving one
high-heeled shoe. The next day, at the KXIW-TV studio, The Monkees
return for the rematch with The West Minstrel Abbies---and David again
masquerades as "Miss Jones," much to his chagrin. David's about to go
on stage, when all of a sudden Jerry Blavat arrives, checking his
watch, so, in order to dodge any impending advances, he ducks into
another dressing room, where he reencounters Daphne. She recognizes
him, because she has his other shoe, and she reveals herself as the
male singer of The West Minstrel Abbies. When David confesses to Jerry
Blavat, he becomes outraged and tries to disqualify The Monkees for not
being a mixed group, but they prove otherwise as The Abbies, now in
black miniskirt dresses, long hair and higheel shoes as backup dancers,
join them as a mixed group, as they perform "She Hangs Out".
|
b:
04-Mar-1968 pc:
4754 w:
Joel
Kane
and Stanley
Z. Cherry d:
James
Frawley |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Door Into Summer" and "She Hangs Out."
Tag:
Davy chats with Charlie Smalls (The
Wiz
- Universal, 1978) about soul in music, and then sing a tune which they
both composed, "Girl Named Love."
|
|
| 57. Monkees Blow Their Minds |
| gs:
James Frawley
(Rudy Bayshore (uncredited)) Milton
Frome (Latham) Monte
Landis (The Great Oracullo) Burgess
Meredith (The Penguin) Frank
Zappa (Mike Nesmith) |
Unable to write
a song
for his mates, Peter consults The Great Oracullo at his House Of
Mysteries. Learning The Monkees are due to be booked at The Club
Cassandra, a nightclub, for a ten-week gig, the hypnotist decides to
take over their spot. He laces a cup of tea with a formula that induces
hypnosis and gives it to Peter, who drinks it and becomes paralyzed
under Oracullo's spell. During The Monkees' audition at The Cassandra,
Peter puts on his bass backwards, thumbs his nose, crows like a
rooster, and breaks one of Micky's drums. Latham, the manager, turns
them down and views Oracullo's act, which he signs up. Learning that
Peter's mind has been freaked, Micky, Michael and David, determined to
rescue him, lure Oracullo to the pad where Michael detains him with a
story about his losing his memory in a horrible accident while carrying
a briefcase containing $50,000 in cash, and is now willing to give half
of it to the person who'll help him find it. In Oracullo's absence,
David and Micky sneak into The House Of Mysteries, where Micky lures
Rudi Bayshore, Oracullo's slave, away from Peter, and they go into a
musical romp set to "Valleri" to break Peter's trance, but fail;
meanwhile, Michael is tricked into drinking Oracullo's
hypnosis–inducing formula, putting him under his spell.
Having exhausted all their efforts to revive Peter, David knocks him
unconscious with a mallet and he and Micky carry him out; just as
Oracullo is surprised at Rudi's sudden arrival at the pad and commands
Michael to admit his ruse. Oracullo orders Rudi to take Michael back to
The House Of Mysteries.
Micky and David, carrying Peter, still in a trance, return to the pad
and find Michael missing. They search hither and yon to find him but
fail, and they deduce that he is in Oracullo's clutches. Micky and
David chain up Peter and show up at The House Of Mysteries. As they
boast that Oracullo has no power and Peter is safe, Rudi knocks them
unconscious. The hypnotist is sure his new act, Oracullo and His Four
Slaves, will be a sensation. Obeying Oracullo's commands, Peter pulls
out of the wall and comes to The Cassandra. That night, at The
Cassandra, much to the viewing pleasure of The Penguin, Oracullo's act
is ruined by a pseudo-David (as a lawyer) and a pseudo-Micky (as a
half-drunken goof); meanwhile the real David and Micky, along with
Peter and Michael, are lined up for the act. Rudi slaps Micky,
unwittingly breaking the spell, and goes onstage to save his master
from the hostile audience. Micky slaps Michael, David and Peter, and
they proceed to go on with their act. They still seem to be in a trance
when they enter the stage; however, they further ruin Oracullo's act by
putting him and Rudy through a dog act over an instrumental backing
track to "Gonna Buy Me A Dog." Nevertheless, it is still a big hit.
|
b:
11-Mar-1968 w:
Peter
Meyerson d:
David
Winters |
NOTE: Features
the
songs: "Valleri" and "Daily Nightly."
Tag:
Micky, with Moog synthesizer, sings "Daily Nightly" while Mike, Peter
and Davy look on. In an opening vignette, a mock interview wherein Mike
Nesmith and the late Frank Zappa reverse roles—and Mike (as
Frank Zappa) self parodies The Monkees by condemning their "banal and
insipid" music—concludes with Mike conducting Zappa in
wrecking a car to the tune of "Mother People."
|
|
| 58. Mijacogeo (a.k.a. The
Frodis Caper) |
| gs:
Tony Giorgio
(Otto) David
Pearl (Henchman) David
Price (Henchman/2-Headed Org)
Richard Klein
(Henchman/2-Headed Org) Rip
Taylor (Wizard Glick) Jack
H. Williams (Stage Hand (uncredited cameo))
Bob Michaels
(Cop) Bruce
Barbour (Henchman) |
One morning, as
the
rising sun triggers a phonograph which plays The Beatles' "Good
Morning", Micky, Michael and David wake up, drop their alarm clocks on
the floor to shut them off and find Peter missing. The three search
frantically around the pad, even going so far as to visit the Lost and
Found Man (Michael). They finally find Peter in a trance, frozen in his
easy chair in front of the TV set, showing a huge eye (disguised as a
test pattern) planted with subliminal triggers, pulsing to strange
music. They nearly freeze, too, but switch off the set in time to get
away. Micky, Michael and David race out into the street to check out
their neighbors: Micky and Michael find The Parkers, their living room
littered with TV dinner trays, in a trance, tuned to the same program;
David finds Nyles gazing at the eye and assumes he's hypnotized, too,
but Nyles replies, "What TV? Man, I'm always like this!" At the KXIW-TV
studio they find the stage hand (Jack Williams!) frozen to the set and
the same program, and they immediately discover the warped, maniacal
mind plotting such a conspiracy: Glick, a mad wizard. They decide it's
a job for Monkeemen, but can't find a place to change into Monkeemen
costumes; using a telephone booth is a moot point, since federal law
prohibits it. Glick is sure the pulsing Frodis, which, at 12:00, he
will release by activating his magnetic Freeble Energizer, will control
the minds of millions, until his henchman reports seeing the boys
coming on The Monkeemen Monitor. They release a Two-Headed Org, but
Micky, Michael and David dispose of it by jumping up and down thrice,
rolling a head of cabbage, and giggling. Squads of TV repairmen with
portable TVs tuned to the eye finally hypnotize our heroes.
Tied up in Glick's warehouse, they summon Peter through mental
telepathy with a chant ("nam myoho renge kyo") Micky learned when
sending in a cereal boxtop. Glick greets Peter at the front
door—and captures him too. Peter phones the police but
Michael tells him it was unecessary, since he is already untied. On
rafters above, The Monkees, armed with megaphones, shout down to the
villains below and tell them not to attemtpt to reach for their
weapons, move, or even write home. The villains discover a way to get
free by chanting Micky's chant, and the cops rush in and free them,
taking The Monkees to the judge. En route to the police station, the
police and The Monkees pass a TV repair shop, which displays in its
window a TV set tuned to the Frodis eye. The boys trick the cops into
watching the TV and the policemen become mesmerised by the eye,
permitting The Monkees to make yet another narrow escape—all
but Peter, who has also seen the eye and is hypnotized once again!
Micky, Michael and David are forced to carry him back with them.
The Monkees sneak back to the KXIW-TV studio to destroy the eye and
save the world. Because they got back in easily, Michael is suspicious
of a Glick trick. His suspicions confirmed, the boys find themselves
back in Glick's warehouse, chained and manacled. Having won the
jailer's key in a rousing card game of "creebage," they hang Peter on a
coat rack and rush into the Frodis Room. Armed with a peashooter, they
prepare to destroy The Frodis, a gurgling one-eyed plant, when they
learn it's a friendly being from another planet who was captured by the
evil Wizard Glick while his spaceship landed on Earth, and is now using
his Frodis power to control men's minds through his machines. To undo
the evil that has been done, he must get back to his spaceship and
recharge his Frodis energy. Moved by his tragic tale, The Monkees
resolve to help The Frodis escape, when Glick and the henchmen cometh.
In a slow motion-paced "Typical Monkee Romp" set to "Zor And Zam,"
Glick and his men chase The Frodis and The Monkees halfway through
town. At the spaceship, which is "parked" on a hill, Glick and his men
are about to capture The Frodis and The Monkees when The Frodis emerges
from his spaceship and emits a strange smoke, and the fiends roll
around the hill, laughing in the midst of a love-in.
|
b:
25-Mar-1968 pc:
4722 w:
Micky
Dolenz
and Dave
Evans s:
Micky
Dolenz
and Jon
C. Andersen d:
Micky
Dolenz |
NOTE: The
official title
of this episode, "Mijacogeo", is an amalgam of the names of Micky
Dolenz's immediate family. The family names making up the title
"Mijacogeo" are: Michael (his middle name), Janelle (his late mom),
Coco (his sister) and George (his late dad). As for where "Frodis" came
from, Micky himself coined the phrase as a sort of code-name which he
frequently used off the Monkees set.
Features
the song: "Zor and Zam."
Tag:
Perched atop a cluttered automobile (wrecked by Frank Zappa at the end
of "The Monkees Blow Their Minds"'s teaser sequence), the late Tim
Buckley sings "Song Of The Siren."
|
|
| Feature
Movie
|
| Head |
| gs:
Bob Rafelson
(Himself (cameo)) Dennis
Hopper (Himself (cameo)) Jack
Nicholson (Himself (cameo)) Teri
Garr (Testy True) Tiger
Joe Marsh (Security Guard) Toni
Basil (Dance ((Cameo))) Toni
Basil (Dancer (segment "Daddy's Song" sequence -uncredited))
Annette
Funicello (Minnie) Timothy
Carey (Lord High 'n' Low) Logan
Ramsey (Officer Faye Lapid) Abraham
Sofaer (Swami) Vito
Scotti (I. Vitteloni) Charles
Macaulay (Inspector Shrink) T.C.
Jones (Mr. & Mrs. Ace)
Charles Irving
(Mayor Feedback) William
Bagdad (Black Sheik) Percy
Helton (Heraldic Messenger) Sonny
Liston (Extra) Ray
Nitschke (Private One) Carol
Doda (Sally Silicone) Frank
Zappa (The Critic) June
Fairchild (The Jumper) I.J.
Jefferson (Lady Pleasure) Victor
Mature (The Big Victor) Helena
Kallianiotes (Belly Dancer) Terry
Chambers (Hero) Mike
Burns (Nothing) Esther
Shepard (Mother) Kristine
Helstoski (Girlfriend) John
Hoffman (The Sex Fiend) Linda
Weaver (Lever Secretary) Jim
Hanley (Siderf) |
A strange
"trip" of a
film. The Monkees make fun of their pre-manufactured image and many
other bizarre things occur.
|
b:
06-Nov-1968 pc:
8888 w:
Jack
Nicholson
and Robert
Rafelson d:
Robert
Rafelson |
|
|
| Special
|
| Thirty-Three
and One-Third Revolutions per Monkee |
| gs:
Julie Driscoll
(Herself) Brian
Auger and The Trinity (Themselves)
Jerry Lee Lewis
(Himself) Fats
Domino (Himself) Little
Richard (Himself) The
Clara Ward Singers (Themselves)
The Buddy Miles
Express (Themselves) Paul
Arnold and The Moon Express (Themselves)
We Three
(Themselves) |
Charles Darwin
the
famous evolutionist takes The Monkees through various stages of
evolution until they are ready to brainwash the world via commercial
exploitation. Hatched in giant test tubes, the four are stripped of all
personal identity and names: Micky Dolenz becomes Monkee #1, Peter Tork
becomes Monkee #2, Mike Nesmith Monkee #3, and Davy Jones Monkee #4.
Each Monkee attempts to regain his stripped personal identity by
thinking his way out of captivity into his own world of fantasies.
Monkee #1 (Micky) performs an R&B up-tempo duet remake of "I'm
A Believer" with Julie Driscoll; Monkee #2 (Peter) reclines on a giant
cushion in eastern garb and, to the lilting backing of sitar and tabla,
performs "I Prithee (Do Not Ask For Love)," a gentle number concerning
spiritual values. Monkee #3 (Mike), in an inventive split screen
number, sings a country tune, "Naked Persimmon (The Only Thing I
Believe Is True)"; and Monkee #4 (Davy) capers about in short pants and
frill collar in fairytale land, singing and dancing to the tune of
"Goldilocks Sometime." But Darwin is alarmed by their fantasies and
tries breaking them down by his own hypnotism via "Only The Fittest
Shall Survive," a slab of swirling psychedelia laden with congas,
drums, jungle noises, cyclonic winds, explosions and heavy breathing.
After The Monkees perform "Wind Up Man" in the stiff-legged form of
robots, and "I Go Ape" disguised in white gorilla costumes, they are
regenerated to Darwin's taste and, hypnotized, plasticized,
psychoanalyzed, and sterilized, they make their debut at the Paramount
Theater on December 7, 1956, dubbed "the greatest rock 'n' roll singers
in the world." The four, dressed in outlandish 1950s vocal group gear,
are then immediately launched into a classic '50s rock medley: "At The
Hop," "Little Darlin'," "Peppermint Twist," and more. Backing them up
are Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, The Buddy Miles Express, and The
Clara Ward Singers. Brian Auger and Julie Driscoll interrupts the
proceedings and announces they have decided to give Davy, Micky, Mike
and Peter complete and total freedom, resulting in a brief snippet of
Davy Jones' "String For My Kite," Peter Tork's harpsichord rendition of
"Solfeggietto" by C.P.E. Bach and all four Monkees performing "Listen
To The Band," with Mike on Black Beauty (Gibson Les Paul Custom), Peter
on keyboards, Micky on drums, and Davy on tambourine as an affectionate
swan song performance by all four Monkees. As the song progresses, they
are joined by hippies and all of 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee's guest
musicians from The Trinity to The Buddy Miles Express, resulting in a
climactic frantic cacophony until Darwin literally closes the book on
them; the book's title is, prophetically, The Beginning Of The End. As
Peter Tork performs "California Here It Comes" (his very last Monkees
recording!), 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee's end credits superimpose
over footage of Southern California being the hapless victim of an
A-bomb blast.
|
b:
14-Apr-1969 w:
Jack
Good
and Art
Fisher d:
Art
Fisher |
NOTE: Features
these
performers singing these songs: Micky Dolenz & Julie Driscoll:
"I'm a Believer"; Peter Tork: "I Prithee (Do Not Ask For Love)"; Mike
Nesmith: "Naked Persimmon (The Only Thing I Believe is True)"; Davy
Jones: "Goldilocks Sometime"; The Monkees: "Wind Up Man"; "Darwin";
Paul Arnold & The Moon Express: "Only the Fittest Shall
Survive"; The Monkees: "I Go Ape"; The Trinity: "Come On Up"; The
Monkees: "At the Hop"; Fats Domino: "I'm Ready"; Jerry Lee Lewis:
"Whole Lotta Shakin Goin' On"; Little Richard: "Tutti Frutti"; We Three
& The Monkees: "Shake a Tailfeather"; Fats Domino: "Blue
Monday"; The Monkees: "Little Darlin"; Jerry Lee Lewis: "Down the
Line"; The Clara Ward Singers: "Dry Bones"; David Jones: "String For My
Kite"; Peter Tork: "Solfeggietto" by C.P.E. Bach; The Monkees &
Entire Cast: "Listen to the Band"; Peter Tork: "California Here it
Comes (end titles). |
|
| Hey,
Hey It's The Monkees |
| gs:
John Brockman
(Lawyer) Bill
Martin (Tour Guide) Sarah
Jones (Woman) James
Williams (Young Boy) Mia
Perez (Driver) Marco
Rea (Date) Joe
Greene (Guard) Chuck
Woolery (Manager) Gillian
Holt (Princess) |
It's thirty
years later
and the guys are in search of a workable plot line. Meanwhile, they try
to get ready for a big gig at a country club.
|
b:
17-Feb-1997 w:
Michael
Nesmith d:
Michael
Nesmith |
NOTE: This was
broadcast
on ABC in stereo. Features
the songs: "(Theme from) The Monkees", "You and I", "Circle Sky",
"Antarctica", "Regional Girl", and a medley of "Last Train to
Clarksville"/"I'm a Believer"/"Daydream Believer"/"(I'm Not Your)
Steppin' Stone" and "Words."
|
|
 |