TVSquad

(S01E11) "Now, run, rabbit." - Sock

Nothing like starting the second half of the season with a bang, even if it was only from a BB gun. I have to be honest, if Reaper wasn't already on my DVR's schedule, I probably would have forgotten to watch it. More importantly, if I hadn't been reminded by my blogging buddy Brett, I would have missed the review as well. Once again, technology has made me a better TV viewer.

I wasn't too crazy about Sock's hangup with his Mom's new husband. Am I the only one a little creeped out by the Oedipal implications? I guess that would help explain why Sock had that sex dream about Gladys a few episodes back.

A lot has been said about The Monkees since their show premiered over forty(!) years ago. The main thing, of course, is that they weren't really a band of musicians who rehearsed and played together on a regular basis. In order to refute that argument I present the following evidence.

The video you will see after the jump is from The Monkees one and only Christmas episode, which actually aired on Christmas day, 1967. The song that Peter, Mike, Davy and Micky are signing is "Riu Chiu", a 16th Century Spanish carol. Although some say that the voices on this live performance were dubbed, it sure sounds like they were performing the song right there and then, especially when you hear Davy sing a bit louder towards the end of the song.

Back before Micky Dolenz the actor played Micky Dolenz of the made-for-television band The Monkees, he was known as Mickey Braddock, child actor. Oh yes, ten years before he joined Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork in one of the most popular shows of the late 1960's, Micky had a television career of his own, starring in the series Circus Boy, where he portrayed Corky, a 12-year-old boy who's adopted by a travel ling circus. He also starred in a number of commercials, including a few for Kellogg's cereals. Who knew that, a decade later, he would be shilling for the same cereal company on The Monkees.

For your viewing enjoyment I include samples of both the younger and older versions of Micky in Kellogg's cereal adds. In the first one, filmed in 1956, he promotes the always-healthy Sugar Pops, and in the second, made 10 years later, he promotes Rice Krispies. Even though a number of years have passed between the two commercials you can definitely see older Micky's mannerisms in the younger version of himself.

You'll be able to find the videos after the jump.

This post is for my brother and fellow Squadder Rich more than anyone else, since he seems to be one of the few people on the planet who is interested in anything and everything having to do with The Monkees:

Out of the four guys who appeared on the Beatles-inspired CBS NBC show (and played in the band the show created) , the one that seems to have managed to stay in the spotlight the most has been Micky Dolenz. Think about it: Peter Tork is nowhere to be found, Mike Nesmith is busy counting his Liquid Paper money, and Davy Jones can only seem to get infomercials for Time-Life oldies collections.

One day, while sitting around the palatial TV Squad offices, a notion came to mind. What would happen if you took all of today's technology and applied it to classic television shows of yesteryear? Would The Fugitive's Richard Kimble be acquitted of his crime after the DNA evidence proved that he didn't kill his wife? Or, would The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter be a better anchor if he had access to all of the day's news via the Internet?

Taking that notion one step further, here are five shows that would have been vastly different if modern technology were applied to them.

The Dick Van Dyke Show: No more schlepping into the city for Rob Petrie; not when he could write his scripts from his home desktop computer. And, if he got tired sitting at his desk, he could grab his WiFi laptop and continue to write from the local Starbucks. He would still need Buddy and Sally, of course, but he could pass ideas to them via Instant Messenger. When they were all done with that week's script they could have a video conference with Alan where changes could be made via NetMeeting.

On September 12th, 1966 a debate ignited that continues even to this day. It wasn't on whether or not we should stay in Vietnam, or if there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll, or who was the cutest Beatle. No, the age old debate begun on this date was: did the Monkees actually play their own instruments?

Well, they did, but that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that the debate was initiated this particular evening because it was the night that The Monkees television show premiered on the NBC fall schedule. For the next two seasons, fifty-eight episodes, nine albums, one television special, and one major motion picture, Monkeemania swept America and the world.