!9#: The Monkees - Our Favorite Episodes (in Metal Lunchbox) [VHS]
Whether you're indulging nostalgia or experiencing the Monkees for the first time, Our Favorite Episodes--chosen by Davey Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork, and Michael Nesmith--is a curious time capsule. Even for veteran Monkeephiles, it's obvious that the TV series, totaling 58 episodes from 1966 to 1968, hasn't aged very gracefully. It's fun as a pop-cultural artifact, and original fans will fondly recall the eagerness with which each week's episode was anticipated. Looking back, however, the shows are marginally amusing, and their improvisational, low-budget strategy tends to limit their lasting appeal. For die-hard fans it won't matter a bit; any chance to own and archive the Monkee phenomenon (with brief latter-day interviews included) is going to be welcomed and thoroughly enjoyed.
Because Jones's favorite episode was actually the Emmy-winning "Royal Flush," the inclusion of "Hitting the High Seas" is a conspicuous blunder, but it's compensated by Peter's "Monkee vs. Machine." Directed by series producer (and then-budding filmmaker) Bob Rafelson, and featuring comedian Stan Freberg as a stodgy toy-company executive, this early episode was a first-season highlight. Mickey selected (and directed) the series finale, "Mijacogeo (The Frodis Caper)," which is noteworthy for a filmed performance of Tim Buckley singing a rare acoustic version of "Siren Song" (further proof that the Monkees were hipper than their TV personas). Mike's favorite "Fairy Tale" is a wild romp indeed, with Nesmith in drag (as a fairy princess), sounding shockingly like Cher from her later TV variety show. They're semi-inspired at best, but these vintage episodes still capture the lunacy that accompanied the meteoric success of the "Pre-Fab Four." --Jeff Shannon
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