 |
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 | |