MovieChat Forums > Head (1968) Discussion > Did the Monkees screw up a good thing?

Did the Monkees screw up a good thing?

posted 9 years ago by Tuppance76
3 replies | jump to latest

I ask because I was listening to Howard Stern this morning, and he compared the impending break up of a current manufactured boy band ONE DIRECTION to The Monkees, in that he felt they should just ride 'a good thing' out until the end.

I am a long-time, post show, in re-runs fan. But I don't know exactly what transpired that the show (which I always assumed was very popular @ the time in it's time slot) was cancelled after only a few seasons.

I do know that they all wanted to write and play their own songs. Was that it?

[–] james_age 9 years ago

Good question. Even though the 1966 version of The Monkees were very popular, I don't think 5 years of that would've been very meaningful.

Best case scenario for them would have been if Don Kirschner and Mike Nesmith would've gotten along and respected each other's ideas.

The Monkees wanted to tweak the show for a third season, but nobody listened. They wanted a variety style show which Laugh-In heavily capitalized on.

[–] beatlenut8 9 years ago

Truth of the matter is things changed so rapidly in the mid to late 60's, people got tired and looked for something new. Their records weren't selling nearly as much and there was only so much in the way of storylines a group of unknown musicians could have gone on. The variety style show could have been interesting though

[–] ck1-5 8 years ago

Right. There was a HUGE difference between 1966 and 1969.