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When viewed through the rose-colored glasses of happy nostalgia, these four well-chosen episodes of The Monkees TV series (1966-68) provide 100 minutes of shameless anarchy, courtesy of Mike, Davey, Mickey, and Peter. The show--and the Monkees themselves--were conspicuous attempts to capitalize on the Beatles (by copping their Help! and A Hard Day's Night formula of pop music and comedy), but these episodes demonstrate the show's emerging identity, from its original pilot (filmed a full year before its November 1966 broadcast) to the casual lunacy of two above-average episodes ("The Picture Frame" and "Hillbilly Honeymoon") from the series' second season. The pilot (which features cowriter and series developer Paul Mazursky as a TV reporter) shows the Monkees in embryonic form; their hair's much shorter, and you can even spot a Beatles poster in their Monkee-pad. But it wasn't long before the group's distinct personalities emerged (Davey was always molded as the heartthrob), and by the time "The Picture Frame" aired on September 18, 1966, the show's combination of silly slapstick, groan-worthy punch lines, and catchy pop tunes had become a ratings smash. (Indeed, that episode's featured song, "Pleasant Valley Sunday," had recently topped the Billboard pop chart.) And while "Alias Mickey Dolenz" is clearly a Mickey showcase (in which he aids police by doubling as a wanted killer), it also features two songs ("Mary, Mary" and "The Kind of Girl I Could Love") that established Mike Nesmith as a talented songwriter. All in all, these four episodes neatly summarize what the Monkees were--a marketing ploy that took flight as a legitimate pop-cultural phenomenon. --Jeff Shannon
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