♫ Here we come
Walkin’ down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Every one we meet
Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we’re too busy singing
To put anybody down… ♫
Do these lyrics sound familiar? Chances are if you are around my age (40-something) you’ll recognize them. They are the lyrics to the opening theme song to the series Monkees. The series aired from 1966 to 1968, however it was in syndication for many years after that. I used to watch it in the mid-to-late 70’s.
The quartet featured three Americans, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork as well as Englishman Davy Jones. Many people might remember Davy Jones appearance on another hit TV series back then, The Brady Bunch.
♫ Girl, look what you’ve done to me. Me, and my whole world. Girl, you brought the sun to me. With your smile, you did it girl… ♫
Oh! I’m feeling so nostalgic! ♥
For the record I had a huge crush on Davy Jones and Micky. My sister had a crush on Michael. 🙂 Poor Peter. I’m sure someone had a crush on him.
When I was young I was crazy for the Monkees. I would watch the show and sing along with them because we had their albums. Between the show and the albums I knew the words to all of their songs. Even to this day if I hear a Monkees song I sign right along with it, must to the dismay of my kids. Ha ha.
The Monkees series was inspried by the Beatles Hard Day’s Night in mind. The show’s creators wanted to create a series based on a Rock n’ Roll band. They originally wanted the band the Loving Spoonful, but they were already tied up with other commitments. The shows creators evetually set out to cast each part for the show. That is how Micky, Michael, Peter and Davy became the Monkees.
Here is an interesting bit of trivia. None of the band members could play the drums. Davy Jones could play a little bit but his short stature made it hard to see him behind the drum set. Micky Dolenz was eventually assigned the part of the drummer, but he had never played the drums before. Peter Tork taught Micky a few basic beats which was enough for him to fake his way through the filming of the series. Eventually Micky Dolenz did learn to play the drums. I found that to be very interesting.
When I was younger I used to be mesmerized by the series. I thought it was the greatest thing since “sliced bread”.
I have not seen any episodes of the Monkees since the 70’s. That is until I received The Monkees, Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD.
The season one DVD collection features 32 Monkees episodes on 6 discs. It even includes the pilot episode which was fun to see.
Season two features 26 episodes on 5 discs.
I first need to say that it was a fun trip down memory lane watching these episodes. I used to watch the show faithfully but there were plenty of episodes I don’t remember seeing.
My kids watched a few episodes with me. They think I’m nuts. They found no humor in the show. They couldn’t believe that I used to watch it all the time. Kids… what do they know? Ha Ha.
My husband wasn’t a fan of the show growing up but he watched a few episodes with me too. We had fun critiquing each one. Some were really funny, others were just downright silly.
I LOVED hearing all the songs. That was my favorite part of each show, when they band would sing. I found myself singing along to the songs. I impressed myself that I actually remembered the words to many of them, some of them I have not heard in 30+ years. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, but I can remember the words to a song I haven’t heard in 30+ years. WOW!
I felt like I was transported in time and I was a young girl again. Where are my bell bottom jeans when I need them? Ha Ha.
The “pros” with the DVD collections is getting to see all the shows episodes and being able to see some of my favorite episodes I haven’t seen since the 70’s. It was great to see the episodes I never saw before, including the pilot. Hearing all the songs over again was the biggest thrill to me. I love it!
There are a few “cons” with both collections. For one I was rather surprised that the episodes were not digitally remastered. The quality was as if you were watching TV back in the late 60’s or 70’s. I found that a bit odd. I’m not sure if the makers of this collection wanted to capture the nostalgia of watching the series the way it originally aired, or they just never bothered to digitally remaster the show for the DVD collection.
Sadly you can not just play all of the episodes. After the episode is over it goes back to a screen where you have to choose the next episode you want to watch. I would have preferred a “play all” option.
I found some fluctuations in the sound quality…it was loud, then soft, loud, then soft.
There was plenty of commentary for each episode. The commentary featured all four Monkees band members. There were commentaries by Bob Rafelson and Brian Auger as well. They helped to create the series.
Normally I like commentaries, but I think in this instance it was “overkill”. There was commentary for pretty much every episode. I was hoping that the commentary would have been filled with interesting tid bits and trivia. Instead much of it seemed like senseless babble. Some of the commentary also didn’t make the cast members seem very nice either. I’m not going to specify which ones, because I truly love the Monkees, but a few cast members came off as being not-so-nice in the commentaries.
If you are a true fan of the series and the songs, and enjoy nostalgia, then you will love these DVD collections. If you are someone who is very nit-picky when it comes to sound and video quality and special features, you are going to be disappointed with these collections.
On a scale of one to five stars I’ll give these collections three stars. I still plan on watching them and enjoying every minute of them. I just think that there needs to be some improvements to the video and audio quality.
Look for both season collections on DVD where ever DVDs are sold. These would be a fun holiday gift for the Monkees lover in your life.
Kimberly
*I received free sample copies in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.
** Photos found on the Internet. Copyright unknown. If you know the copyright information please e-mail me and let me know so I can apply the appropriate credit. Thank you.
SHAUNDRA says
I LOVED this show when it was also syndicated in the 80s! 🙂 I’ve always preferred the Monkees to the Beetles 😡
Katie says
My Mom’s favorite was Peter! I used to watch these on re-runs on VH1 when I was in middle school. (Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong decade)
Interesting that you said the commentaries have made some of them seem not so nice. I’ve been reading a lot of books on 50s and 60s rock n roll and one I just read was about Don Kirshner who was involved in the creation of the Monkees. The book made them out to be not so great guys as well!
Betty Baez says
i have never heard of this lol its probably because im in my 20’s (no offense) 😉
Carla says
I was a big Monkees fan and I saw the shows when they originally aired. I had a crush on Peter. LOL I might like these, but I’m not sure I’d like that commentary you mentioned. I’m glad someone thought to bring these out, though. Seems like you can get any other band or series, but not the Monkees. Now you can!
R Hicks says
I can recall seeing them on tv when I was a child. Always thought it was the funniest show. Such simpler times!
Jackie says
I LOVED this show when I was younger. I too had a crush on Davey Jones. I loved the music!
Darlene 'Dee' Bishop says
I LOVED this show! Micky was my favorite, but when I was about 10 (yes, I’m showing my age!), I dreamed Davy asked me to marry him. ;o) Fun stuff!! I still love the music, but haven’t heard any of their songs in ages. Thanks for the reminder, Kimberly!
Dee