Remember When: ‘The Monkees’ Debuts on NBC

Here we come
Walkin’ down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Everyone we meet

It was 7:30 pm, Monday, September 12, 1966. The flourish of strings accompanied the colorful shapes that soon revealed the network’s glorious peacock: “The following program is brought to you in living color on NBC.” 

It was time for a new show. The Monkees debuted six weeks after their single “Last Train to Clarksville” was released to radio. In a synergetic cycle, the television show boosted the song’s popularity, which, in turn, boosted the show’s ratings. The song would eventually top the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week ending November 5, 1966.

The Hype

In an ad campaign for the show, an animated sequence in the style of Mad magazine was used in combination with footage of the four performers themselves. The voiceover then came in, “Man, they’re the most. Man, they’re The Monkees. Take the wildest ride of your life with the world’s zaniest string quartet. Swing with The Monkees at 7:30 / 6:30 Central time. Followed by I Dream of Jeannie and The Roger Miller Show.”

Another promo featured the comedy team of Jack Burns & Avery Schreiber. Burns says, “Here are the comedy adventures of the least-known quartet in America. Right now, they may feel unloved, unappreciated, and unwanted.” Schreiber retorts, “But soon they’ll be wanted … in all 50 states.”

The footage shows the four musicians in wacky situations as they romp around and seem to be anything but traditional. This was heady stuff for the times.

The Concept

Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider dreamed up the idea of the show inspired by A Hard Day’s Night. They wanted it to be a subversive, half-hour comedy with avant-garde film techniques centering on a hippie band and the problems they faced as they searched for success. Their first choice was to use The Lovin’ Spoonful. When they weren’t available, they decided to cast their own group, and an ad was placed to find four musicians, “Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running Parts for four insane boys, age 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank’s types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview.”

Getting cast were Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz, and Davy Jones. The Monkees were born. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart put together a few songs for the pilot episode, and NBC picked it up.

The Reaction

When we watch the show today, it seems tame. A lovable pop group looking for success and always coming up short. This was the first primetime show not to have a “father figure.” But, the music! These songs were pure gold. “Last Train to Clarksville,” “I’m a Believer,” “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You,” “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” “Daydream Believer,” and “Valleri” all reached the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Don Kirshner had been brought in to be the music director, and he was putting the right songs with the group. The episodes would always feature at least two songs, usually including the current hit. 

The Formula

Four broke musicians live in a beach house in Malibu. You must let go of reality to accept this, but go with me here. They are just looking for their big break, which never arrives. Along the way, they encounter spies, shady music business types, the devil, pirates, hillbillies, foreign dignitaries, kidnappers, gangsters, haunted houses, heiresses, mad scientists, crooked promoters, and a never-ending list of ridiculous situations. There was always time for a montage of wacky situations and visual gags interspersed with footage of the band performing to accompany the song. The four individual characters were fleshed out during the first season as well. Jones was the British heartthrob who fell in love in every episode, and Dolenz was the hyper, cranked-up cut-up. Took was the “dumb one” with a heart of gold, while Nesmith was the sensible leader of the group. These were actors playing these roles. Tork wasn’t dumb, although Jones was British. The actors became weary of the formula by the second season and even poked fun at it themselves.

The First Show to Say “Hell”

In Season 2, the episode The Devil and Peter Tork pokes fun at the NBC sensors. When it comes time in the story to refer to “hell,” the word is replaced by a cuckoo sound effect. The word is repeated multiple times, bleeped out each time.

Micky: “You know what is even more scary?”
Peter: “What?”
Micky: “You can’t say *cuckoo* on television.”

The Monkees often pushed boundaries and used their newfound celebrity to state their political views. 

The Success

The Monkees won two Primetime Emmy Awards in 1967. The show won Outstanding Comedy Series, and James Frawley was awarded the Directing Comedy Series award for the “Royal Flush” episode. The original run of 58 episodes aired on NBC. From 1969 through 1972, the show was rerun on CBS with new songs edited in to promote the band’s more current releases. In 1973, the show moved to ABC before it moved to syndication in 1975. AXS TV currently airs the show on Friday nights.

The Revival

In 1986, MTV began airing the shows, leading to a nostalgic resurgence in the band’s popularity. A whole new generation of viewers tuned in, and “Daydream Believer” even returned to the charts with the help of a “music video” pulled directly from an old episode of the show. Rhino Records secured the rights to the original albums and rereleased them, and the band reformed in various combinations to tour and record again. In 1996, all four members appeared in a television special and recorded an album, Justus.

Today, Dolenz is the only surviving member of the group.

For a fictional, nonsensical television show that lasted two seasons, The Monkees sure gave us a lot of great music. Bubblegum, garage rock, psychedelia, pure pop, country, comedy, folk, political, experimental, and vaudeville music all make appearances in The Monkees’ catalog.

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Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images