My History With... “The Monkees” - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Adamantium · 11-15-2015, 01:58 PM

Being born in December of 1981, I missed Monkee Mania in the sixties. I missed the show’s original 58 episode run on NBC. However, Mike, Micky, Davy and Peter were still a part of my childhood thanks to Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite. I don’t remember the exact year they started airing the program but I was hooked as soon as they did. I used to watch the show with my older sister in the '80s. We bought a record of them. My dad had a green wool hat I liked to pretend was Mike’s. When it came time for me to make a pretend sitcom, I even named myself after the Monkee in the wool hat - “Fireman Mike.” I always wondered if Mike would wear his traditional green hat or his blue hat or no hat at all in the upcoming episode. In fact, I kind of obsessed over it, lol. Yep, I loved me some Monkees. Then for whatever reason the show went away. I wasn’t able to see the show but I got back into their music thanks to CD compilations I had bought throughout the early to mid '90s.

It wasn’t until Block Party Summer 1997 that I got to see the series again. I recorded the episodes and fell in love with the show all over again (I had forgotten just how wacky it was). However, halfway through, Nick at Nite switched Monkee Mondays with Green Acres Mondays. I was furious. VH-1 had a marathon one night and I recorded the episodes I didn’t already have. Then the Screen Gems Network, which aired for an hour a day on my local affiliate would sometimes air a “Monkees” rerun paired with a “Partridge Family” rerun. Again, I’d record the episodes I didn’t already have.

Later (I’m thinking 2000 or 2001), I went ahead and bought the big VHS box set with all 58 episodes plus the television special “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.” It was originally $400 but I was able to get it for $200. I still lived with my parents and so I could make big purchases like that, lol. It was the second complete series I had ever bought on official VHS (the first being “The Honeymooners” Classic 39), so it was a big deal. This was before I started my DVD collection. Anyways, I was able to watch the first season with its original opening credits for the first time on these official tapes. It was great. The episodes were out of order, however, and being anal compulsive about episode order, I copy taped them into their proper order (of course with this show, even the proper order bothers me).

In 2003, I was kind of over “The Monkees” because I was so into my DVD collection. Then in May, the complete first season was released on DVD. I bought it and my love for the show returned. Months later I bought the second season and once again owned the complete series. There’s not much more to say. I still watch this show from time to time. I was of course saddened when Davy Jones passed away in 2012. “The Monkees” will forever have a warm spot in my heart.

dakert · 11-15-2015, 03:18 PM

nice memories--thanks for sharing

Adamantium · 11-15-2015, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dakert

nice memories--thanks for sharing

Thanks and you're welcome.

I want to do more of these "My History With..." and this was my first one.

I'm curious to hear anyone else's story about their history with the show.

dakert · 11-16-2015, 12:57 PM

I watched The Monkees in the early 70s when it was on saturday morning. It was the summer of 1976 and the show was on 5 days a week and I was hooked. The record store had just got in some used lps so I got those for 1.00 each. I lived above a junk store and someone sold their old 16/tiger beat magazines to old man Strauss, he would buy magazines and comics for a nickel and sell them for a dime, so I bought all he had. 1976 Arista records had released a greatest hits album.
The Monkees had their reunion in 1986 and they played in LaCrosse WI at the convention center just blocks from my house.
Been a fan since 1976

um · 02-18-2016, 11:50 PM

I was maybe 3 or 4 years old when The Monkees was first broadcast on TV.
I may have a teensy bit of a memory of seeing some episodes back then, but mostly I recall seeing the rerun episodes that were broadcast on Saturdays slightly before noontime. By then, it was the late 60s and I think The Monkees were strictly in reruns, no new episodes were being produced anymore.

I don't think that The Monkees did as The Partridge Family did and "Jumped The Shark" and was taken off the air because the music was not as good as in the first episodes.
However I have some recollection of reading things about The Monkees'
disagreements with certain TV execs and such who did not want them playing their own music even though they actually could play their own music.

um · 02-19-2016, 12:06 AM

To continue a bit more, The Monkees then essentially faded by the mid 70s. They did not perform together anymore, their original fans who watched their show in the mid 60s had grown older , and each former Monkee went into some aspect of music that was more obscure , such as Mickey did some directing, Mike made music videos, Peter did some performing with a band, and Davey went about still singing but as a solo artist and of course he made an appearance on The Brady Bunch. It was not until the 80s with MTV did their TV show make a significant resurgence . There was all this talk about how The Monkees preceded the music videos that were some "new phenomenon" at the time. Three of the Monkees were persuaded to tour again . They were all in their early to mid 40s at this time.
Their concerts did not get the crowds that they originally got in the mid 60s even though they then had fans who were not even born when their TV show debuted . It had to do with the "MTV generation" watching old Monkee reruns and also older Monkee fans turning on their kids to The Monkees.
Yet, when the Monkees came to New York City to play at the "Millertime Concert" that was a summer concert on a stage built along the Hudson River near a neighborhood known as Hell's Kitchen (which is where I grew up and lived all my life) I heard that there weren't a lot of people attending the concert and even scalpers were selling the tickets at face value.
I still decided to see them live when they played in Great Adventure Amusement Park in New Jersey back in 1987. The crowd to see them was sizable and yet overall small.

I still enjoyed the show. It was the only live concert I ever saw .

OH Nuts! · 02-19-2016, 12:13 AM

I was about 12 when The Monkees originally aired. While I loved their songs, esp. Daydream Believer, I didn't really get into the show as a kid. But as an adult I truly enjoy it - their wackiness is, in it's own weird way, quite endearing. And I really like Mike Nesmith in the show; he is, HANDS DOWN, my favorite Monkee.

Antenna did a touching memorial marathon when Davey Jones passed-they aired all 58 eps in a 29 hr marathon. Antenna is just wonderful in my book, but that's another thread.

IllinoisTVFan · 03-27-2016, 03:57 PM

Great stories. Mine is a bit different. I remember being quite small (3 or 4)and my mom telling about the show. Now, if I recall, I received their albums before this from a neighbor and loved them (they were my first pop albums as compared to classical or kid albums)and that is why my mom told me about the show. Loved it. This would be the mid 70's when they weren't hip at all. The local UHF station (now a Fox station) would run it every summer and I looked forward to it. Then they stopped for a few years until the early 80's. Around Christmas 1980 they started running the show again and I happened to get a tape recorder to tape the show. Loved taping the songs and would jump on my bed to them. That following Christmas I got a greatest hits album. If I recall they went back to playing it on summers but that summer they played it a lot. They then stopped later that summer for no reason. This would be the fall of 1982. By this time I had moved on musically since MTV by now was becoming important and I started paying attention to British New Wave Bands. Of course came the reunion and MTV playing the show in early 1986 and watched that. They became popular again and it was cool to like them.

Flash forward to 2000. I joined a music club and for my free selections got the Monkees Greatest Hits. Then in 2006 I made the most Monkees purchases. I got a good paying professional job so I was able to buy the series on DVD for the first time (I couldn't afford the VHS set). I bought the CD box set and all of the remastered double CDs of the first four albums. I bought Head on DVD and the soundtrack. When I played the DVD for the first time (the Christmas Show)I remembered then how funny the show was and it helped with my severe depression caused by my horrific job where I was bullied. I lost my job and so I couldn't buy any more of the albums (I really wanted the Birds, The Bees The Monkees being the first album I received). I listen to the music often and watch the show. I don't watch head as much but still do. When Davey Jones died I watched the tribute on Antenna TV and watch the show when it's on.

11-15-2015, 01:58 PM	#1
Adamantium TVAdam No More Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 11, 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 7,820	My History With... “The Monkees” Being born in December of 1981, I missed Monkee Mania in the sixties. I missed the show’s original 58 episode run on NBC. However, Mike, Micky, Davy and Peter were still a part of my childhood thanks to Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite. I don’t remember the exact year they started airing the program but I was hooked as soon as they did. I used to watch the show with my older sister in the '80s. We bought a record of them. My dad had a green wool hat I liked to pretend was Mike’s. When it came time for me to make a pretend sitcom, I even named myself after the Monkee in the wool hat - “Fireman Mike.” I always wondered if Mike would wear his traditional green hat or his blue hat or no hat at all in the upcoming episode. In fact, I kind of obsessed over it, lol. Yep, I loved me some Monkees. Then for whatever reason the show went away. I wasn’t able to see the show but I got back into their music thanks to CD compilations I had bought throughout the early to mid '90s. It wasn’t until Block Party Summer 1997 that I got to see the series again. I recorded the episodes and fell in love with the show all over again (I had forgotten just how wacky it was). However, halfway through, Nick at Nite switched Monkee Mondays with Green Acres Mondays. I was furious. VH-1 had a marathon one night and I recorded the episodes I didn’t already have. Then the Screen Gems Network, which aired for an hour a day on my local affiliate would sometimes air a “Monkees” rerun paired with a “Partridge Family” rerun. Again, I’d record the episodes I didn’t already have. Later (I’m thinking 2000 or 2001), I went ahead and bought the big VHS box set with all 58 episodes plus the television special “33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee.” It was originally $400 but I was able to get it for $200. I still lived with my parents and so I could make big purchases like that, lol. It was the second complete series I had ever bought on official VHS (the first being “The Honeymooners” Classic 39), so it was a big deal. This was before I started my DVD collection. Anyways, I was able to watch the first season with its original opening credits for the first time on these official tapes. It was great. The episodes were out of order, however, and being anal compulsive about episode order, I copy taped them into their proper order (of course with this show, even the proper order bothers me). In 2003, I was kind of over “The Monkees” because I was so into my DVD collection. Then in May, the complete first season was released on DVD. I bought it and my love for the show returned. Months later I bought the second season and once again owned the complete series. There’s not much more to say. I still watch this show from time to time. I was of course saddened when Davy Jones passed away in 2012. “The Monkees” will forever have a warm spot in my heart.

11-15-2015, 03:18 PM	#2
dakert Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 10, 2007 Location: Altoona PA Posts: 3,411	nice memories--thanks for sharing

11-16-2015, 12:57 PM	#4
dakert Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: May 10, 2007 Location: Altoona PA Posts: 3,411	I watched The Monkees in the early 70s when it was on saturday morning. It was the summer of 1976 and the show was on 5 days a week and I was hooked. The record store had just got in some used lps so I got those for 1.00 each. I lived above a junk store and someone sold their old 16/tiger beat magazines to old man Strauss, he would buy magazines and comics for a nickel and sell them for a dime, so I bought all he had. 1976 Arista records had released a greatest hits album. The Monkees had their reunion in 1986 and they played in LaCrosse WI at the convention center just blocks from my house. Been a fan since 1976

02-18-2016, 11:50 PM	#5
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 906	I was maybe 3 or 4 years old when The Monkees was first broadcast on TV. I may have a teensy bit of a memory of seeing some episodes back then, but mostly I recall seeing the rerun episodes that were broadcast on Saturdays slightly before noontime. By then, it was the late 60s and I think The Monkees were strictly in reruns, no new episodes were being produced anymore. I don't think that The Monkees did as The Partridge Family did and "Jumped The Shark" and was taken off the air because the music was not as good as in the first episodes. However I have some recollection of reading things about The Monkees' disagreements with certain TV execs and such who did not want them playing their own music even though they actually could play their own music.

02-19-2016, 12:06 AM	#6
um Member Forum Regular Join Date: Oct 26, 2015 Posts: 906	To continue a bit more, The Monkees then essentially faded by the mid 70s. They did not perform together anymore, their original fans who watched their show in the mid 60s had grown older , and each former Monkee went into some aspect of music that was more obscure , such as Mickey did some directing, Mike made music videos, Peter did some performing with a band, and Davey went about still singing but as a solo artist and of course he made an appearance on The Brady Bunch. It was not until the 80s with MTV did their TV show make a significant resurgence . There was all this talk about how The Monkees preceded the music videos that were some "new phenomenon" at the time. Three of the Monkees were persuaded to tour again . They were all in their early to mid 40s at this time. Their concerts did not get the crowds that they originally got in the mid 60s even though they then had fans who were not even born when their TV show debuted . It had to do with the "MTV generation" watching old Monkee reruns and also older Monkee fans turning on their kids to The Monkees. Yet, when the Monkees came to New York City to play at the "Millertime Concert" that was a summer concert on a stage built along the Hudson River near a neighborhood known as Hell's Kitchen (which is where I grew up and lived all my life) I heard that there weren't a lot of people attending the concert and even scalpers were selling the tickets at face value. I still decided to see them live when they played in Great Adventure Amusement Park in New Jersey back in 1987. The crowd to see them was sizable and yet overall small. I still enjoyed the show. It was the only live concert I ever saw .

02-19-2016, 12:13 AM	#7
OH Nuts! Member Forum King Join Date: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 133,383	I was about 12 when The Monkees originally aired. While I loved their songs, esp. Daydream Believer, I didn't really get into the show as a kid. But as an adult I truly enjoy it - their wackiness is, in it's own weird way, quite endearing. And I really like Mike Nesmith in the show; he is, HANDS DOWN, my favorite Monkee. Antenna did a touching memorial marathon when Davey Jones passed-they aired all 58 eps in a 29 hr marathon. Antenna is just wonderful in my book, but that's another thread.

03-27-2016, 03:57 PM	#8
IllinoisTVFan Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 22, 2011 Location: South of Chicago Posts: 4,072	Great stories. Mine is a bit different. I remember being quite small (3 or 4)and my mom telling about the show. Now, if I recall, I received their albums before this from a neighbor and loved them (they were my first pop albums as compared to classical or kid albums)and that is why my mom told me about the show. Loved it. This would be the mid 70's when they weren't hip at all. The local UHF station (now a Fox station) would run it every summer and I looked forward to it. Then they stopped for a few years until the early 80's. Around Christmas 1980 they started running the show again and I happened to get a tape recorder to tape the show. Loved taping the songs and would jump on my bed to them. That following Christmas I got a greatest hits album. If I recall they went back to playing it on summers but that summer they played it a lot. They then stopped later that summer for no reason. This would be the fall of 1982. By this time I had moved on musically since MTV by now was becoming important and I started paying attention to British New Wave Bands. Of course came the reunion and MTV playing the show in early 1986 and watched that. They became popular again and it was cool to like them. Flash forward to 2000. I joined a music club and for my free selections got the Monkees Greatest Hits. Then in 2006 I made the most Monkees purchases. I got a good paying professional job so I was able to buy the series on DVD for the first time (I couldn't afford the VHS set). I bought the CD box set and all of the remastered double CDs of the first four albums. I bought Head on DVD and the soundtrack. When I played the DVD for the first time (the Christmas Show)I remembered then how funny the show was and it helped with my severe depression caused by my horrific job where I was bullied. I lost my job and so I couldn't buy any more of the albums (I really wanted the Birds, The Bees The Monkees being the first album I received). I listen to the music often and watch the show. I don't watch head as much but still do. When Davey Jones died I watched the tribute on Antenna TV and watch the show when it's on.