‘The Monkees’ Band Name and Series Title Was Intentionally Misspelled by Series Creators
When The Monkees producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider conceived what would eventually become the television show, little did they know their wordplay would generate a group of enduring entertainers. The twosome leaned into the success of The Beatles and The Byrds by intentionally misspelling the name of their series. Therefore, a new generation of fans likely never realized the difference.
‘The Monkees’ television show about a band became legendary
When Mike Nesmith, Peter Tork, Davy Jones, and Micky Dolenz auditioned for The Monkees TV show, little did they know the experience would ultimately change their lives.
Most of the final lineup of The Monkees audition came via a Hollywood Reporter ad. The small ad famously read, “Madness!! Auditions. Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series. Running Parts for four insane boys aged 17-21. Want spirited Ben Frank’s types. Have courage to work. Must come down for interview.”
Although the four young men selected to star on The Monkees all had performing and musical experience, they’d never played together ahead of the show.
The Monkees pioneered a television style for American audiences. The series embraced improvisation and jump cuts, and self-referential nature of the show was a hit with viewers, who loved the wacky escapades of its four stars.
‘The Monkees’ was intentionally misspelled
Using wordplay to create a word that becomes commonplace in the American lexicon is nothing new. However, in the mid-1960s, this trickery appeared reserved for bands who tried to differentiate themselves from others by changing the spelling of common words.
The Beatles, therefore, should have been spelled The Beetles. The Byrds’ correct spelling should be The Birds. Therefore, when Rafelson and Schneider decided to come up with a name for their new television show about a band, they jumped headfirst into the wordplay pool.
In an interview with The Saturday Evening Post reprinted by The Monkees Live Almanac, the creators of the series discussed their options.
“The Turtles and The Inevitables were considered,” said the twosome to the publication. “We kind of fooled around with The Creeps, but we decided it was too negative,” Schneider explained.
The Monkees was a name the producers agreed upon. The proper spelling is The Monkeys, but the plural pun changed how a generation of kids spelled the word.
Why was The Monkees the duo’s final choice? “I don’t know why; I’ll have to ask my analyst,” Schneider quipped.
The series married music and video unlike any other of the era
Flash back to #THEMONKEES’ TV show episode, “Some Like It Lukewarm” for this #MonkeesMonday. You can always count on these rascals for a good time! Watch the full episode now: https://t.co/kjQjZKOt8V #Rock #Icons pic.twitter.com/7rFUWsoRJI
— The Monkees (@TheMonkees) April 11, 2022
Ahead of The Monkees’ series, daily television offerings in the mid-1960s were westerns, nuclear family comedies, police dramas, or variety series.
The show was different from other sitcoms of the late 1960s. “It wasn’t Father Knows Best,” Schneider once said of the series, as reported by Letty Rydell.
He continued, “It was the kids know best. The heroes were young people, and the heavies were older people. No parental or authoritative figures were telling the youngsters what to do for the first time in TV history.”
The Monkees series was very different. Not only was it one of the first family sitcoms lacking a father figure, but the characters used their real names and what appeared to be as close to their real personalities as permissible on television.
The series often had musical segments, a predecessor of the popular music videos commonplace in today’s entertainment industry.
