New Monkees

Overview

Background

The 20th anniversary of The Monkees TV series in 1986 generated enough interest that New Monkees, a full reboot of the earlier series with none of the original members of The Monkees involved, was conceived later that year and launched the following year. The show was distributed by LBS Communications in association with Coca-Cola Telecommunications (the successor to original Monkees distributors Screen Gems). Straybert Productions, headed by Steve Blauner (a former partner of original Monkees producers Robert Rafelson and Bert Schneider), served as the project's producers. Blauner had originally hoped to only use New Monkees as a working title.

Steve Blauner’s daughter had originally conceived the series: given that there had been a wave of revivals of existing intellectual properties in the mid-1980s, she asked her father why The Monkees had not received the same. The original proposal would have had the four characters be the sons of the original four characters from the 1960s series.

The group's members were Jared Chandler (guitar and vocals), Dino Kovas (drums and vocals), Marty Ross (bass and vocals), and Larry Saltis (lead guitar and vocals). As it had been with the original Monkees, each had to pass a grueling set of auditions; several prominent musicians' children, including the sons of Bobby Darin (whom Blauner had managed in Darin's lifetime), original Monkee Michael Nesmith, Donovan, and Frankie Avalon, were among those who tried out for the series, as did Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers, who advanced to be one of nine semifinalists. The producers instead chose a group largely consisting of unknown talent; Marty Ross was, at the time, a member of The Wigs, a group that was achieving minor success on the Los Angeles performance circuit, but at 27, he was the oldest and most experienced musician of the group and was recommended to the position by his agent. The others, ranging from 18 to 20, were largely unknown and were recruited through advertisements on MTV, with some working minimum wage jobs at the time; Dino Kovas was working as a video jockey and playing in a band called Snakeout, while Larry Saltis was working for Atlantic Records. Jared Chandler, a waiter with no formal experience, rounded out the cast. Ross recalled being the last person cast, having narrowly edged out an unnamed member of what would become the Blue Man Group for the fourth and final slot.

The original Monkees, then recently reunited, expressed displeasure at having their band's name recycled for a new iteration. Their manager, David Fishof, expressed a grudging willingness to have the two bands tour together, but only if the new Monkees were the opening act. Original Monkees frontman Micky Dolenz bluntly refused the producers' offer to direct the pilot, telling them that he was unwilling to give up the Monkees identity to anyone else. A lawsuit by the original band contributed to the series' cancellation after 13 out of a planned 22 episodes were released.

Premise

The series had little in common thematically with its predecessor and more in common with the then-popular Pee-Wee's Playhouse. Whereas the original series focused on a struggling band trying to break into the business, this series confined its musicians in a large, surreal, boombox-shaped mansion with a live-in butler and a diner with its own waitress. Rounding out the cast was Helen, a decommissioned military supercomputer that was portrayed as a pair of lips on a static background.

The band's musical sound drew comparisons to Walk the Moon, Glass Tiger and Richard Marx.

Revival

All four band members remained friends after the end of the series. On November 11, 2017, all four New Monkees attended a 30-year reunion organized by Amy Collen. They were interviewed for the podcast Deep Dish Radio with Tim Powers, and performed a few songs. On February 16, 2019, the New Monkees performed a concert (arranged by Jodi Ritzen) at the Pig 'n Whistle restaurant and bar in Los Angeles, with an appearance by the original Monkees' Micky Dolenz.

Cast

Larry Saltis as Larry

Jared Chandler as Jared

Dino Kovas as Dino

Marty Ross as Marty

Gordon Oas-Heim as Manford

Lynnie Godfrey as Helen

Bess Motta as Rita the Waitress

Stations

The New Monkees was distributed to independent stations and network affiliates by Colex Enterprises, a joint venture of Columbia Pictures Television and LBS Communications Inc.

The series was rerun in Australia in 1990.

Reception

New Monkees drew swift and harsh negative reception. Instead of fan mail, the band received hate mail and death threats.

Album

New Monkees - Warner Bros. Records (released on August 31, 1987)

Track listing:

Side 1:

"What I Want" (Eddie Schwartz/David Tyson)

"Do It Again" (Julia Downes/John Parr)

"I Don't Know" (Michael Cruz)

"The Way She Moves" (Denis Keldie)

"Boy Inside the Man" (Tom Cochrane)

Side 2:

"Burnin' Desire" (Rob Elvis)

"Whatever It Takes" (Alan Roy Scott/Arnie Roman)

"Affection" (Ken Brown)

"Carlene" (Greg Barnhill/Gene Houston/Johnny Hozey/Derrell Brown)

"Corner of My Eye" (Larry Saltis/Mike Slamer/Charlie Mitchell)

"Turn It Up" (Joe Curiale/Jimmy Haddox)

Single (45 RPM)

Warner Bros. Records (released 1987)

Track listing:

"What I Want" (Side A)

"Turn It Up" (Side B)

Yulesville By Various Artists (Warner Bros. Records)

B8 "What I Want (For Christmas)"