New Monkees

New Monkees
Title card
Genre	Sitcom Musical
Based on	The Monkees
Developed by	Matthew Fassberg Victor Fresco
Written by	Rob Fresco R.B. Armstrong Jeremy Bate
Starring	Jared Chandler Dino Kovas Marty Ross Larry Saltis Gordon Oas-Heim Lynnie Godfrey Bess Motta
Theme music composer	Joe Curiale Jimmy Haddox
Opening theme	Turn It Up
Composers	Peter Kaye, Mark Leggett, Edie Robinette-Petrachi
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer	Steve Blauner
Producers	Matthew Fassberg Victor Fresco
Cinematography	Robert Knouse
Editors	Robert DeMaio David Helfand
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Coca-Cola Telecommunications Straybert Productions
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	September 14 (1987-09-14) – December 7, 1987 (1987-12-07)
Related
The Monkees

New Monkees is the name of both an American pop rock music group and a 1987 syndicated television show featuring the group.

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. Straybert Productions, headed by Steve Blauner (a former partner of original Monkees producers Robert Rafelson and Bert Schneider), served as the project's producers.

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. Unlike the previous series, however, musical ability was a key factor in the selection process. Ross, a multi-instrumentalist, had earlier been signed to CBS Records, with his former band The Wigs.

Revived interest

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 - Larry
• Jared Chandler - Jared
• Dino Kovas - Dino
• Marty Ross - Marty
• Gordon Oas-Heim - Manford
• Lynnie Godfrey - Helen
• Bess Motta - Rita the Waitress

List of episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Weather the Storm"	E. Von Kelso	Victor Fresco	September 14, 1987 (1987-09-14)
A personal storm cloud follows Dino. It is raining, it is snowing, it is hailing — but only on him.
2	"All My Martys"	Bob Radler	R.B. Armstrong and J.S. Bate	September 21, 1987 (1987-09-21)
When Marty falls asleep on a copy machine numerous duplicate Martys are set loose in the mansion. Wackiness ensues.
3	"Test Tube Tube"	E. Von Kelso	Rob Fresco	September 28, 1987 (1987-09-28)
Dino, Marty and Larry, dressed in ridiculous fruit costumes, are rehearsing for a children's party. Meanwhile, Jared discovers a strange room with only a TV and remote control inside. He zaps himself and a girl from the TV world in and out of various TV programs as the other boys wonder why he has yet to show up for practice in his Amazon costume.
4	"Minister Bob"	Bob Radler	Rob Fresco	October 5, 1987 (1987-10-05)
The boys meet two sumo wrestlers who also want to start a singing group. Meanwhile, Larry's Uncle Bob (a televangelist) causes trouble around the neighborhood.
5	"Ruff Day"	C. D. Taylor	R.B. Armstrong and J.S. Bate	October 12, 1987 (1987-10-12)
It's a dog eat dog world and Jared knows all about it. While walking his dog, Jared has a mind exchange with his pet. High jinks transpire.
6	"Don't Touch That Dial"	Ed Greenberg	Victor Fresco, Julianne Norman	October 19, 1987 (1987-10-19)
Larry and Dino are catapulted into an evil parallel universe when Dino disobeys Jared's warning not to touch a certain red dial in the lab. Their plans to return home are complicated when Larry falls in love with the alternate universe version of their maid.
7	"Monkee Mail"	David Wild	Rob Fresco, Victor Fresco, Matthew Fassberg	October 26, 1987 (1987-10-26)
The boys decide to answer some fan mail. The result? They meet some interesting fans.
8	"Larry Leaves"	Victor Fresco	Victor Fresco	November 2, 1987 (1987-11-02)
Larry takes it upon himself to cast the role of his girlfriend on the show.
9	"King of Space and Time"	Victor Fresco	Rob Fresco, Louis E. Angelo	November 9, 1987 (1987-11-09)
Jared steps through a forbidden doorway in the mansion and enters a "video world", where space and time are controlled by a TV-channel selector.
10	"Meet the Pope"	Bob Radler	Rob Fresco, Victor Fresco	November 16, 1987 (1987-11-16)
Pope John Paul II is in town and the boys are caught up in the Pope-mania. They discover that the Pope has left his guitar at their diner, so they must run downtown to return it to him. Along the way, they begin to wonder if anyone really realizes the significance of the Pope's visit as they encounter shady characters who are exploiting the Pope's image to make a fast buck. Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini portrays a street huckster.
11	"Helen Goes Shopping"	George Bloom	Rob Fresco, Robert DeMaio	November 23, 1987 (1987-11-23)
Helen, the boys' super computer, is addicted to shopping. Unfortunately she has no money of her own so she uses the boys' credit cards.
12	"The Game of Games Show"	Rocky Schenck	Matthew Fassberg	November 30, 1987 (1987-11-30)
The boys are contestants on a game show. Unfortunately they get caught up in the excitement and wager all of their possessions.
13	"My Three Sons"	Rob Fresco	Rob Fresco	December 7, 1987 (1987-12-07)
When the show gets a new soundtrack, the boys dream the whole show is changing. In this version Jared and Helen are the parents of three naughty boys. A clip show with voices dubbed by The Firesign Theatre.

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.

Album

New Monkees - Warner Bros. Records (released 1987)

Track listing:
Side 1:

1. "What I Want" (Eddie Schwartz/David Tyson)
2. "Do It Again" (Julia Downes/John Parr)
3. "I Don't Know" (Michael Cruz)
4. "The Way She Moves" (Denis Keldie)
5. "Boy Inside the Man" (Tom Cochrane)

Side 2:

1. "Burnin' Desire" (Rob Elvis)
2. "Whatever It Takes" (Alan Roy Scott/Arnie Roman)
3. "Affection" (Ken Brown)
4. "Carlene" (Greg Barnhill/Gene Houston/Johnny Hozey/Derrell Brown)
5. "Corner of My Eye" (Larry Saltis/Mike Slamer/Charlie Mitchell)
6. "Turn It Up" (Joe Curiale/Jimmy Haddox)

Single (45 RPM)

Warner Bros. Records (released 1987)

Track listing:

1. "What I Want" (Side A)
2. "Turn It Up" (Side B)

Yulesville By Various Artists (Warner Bros. Records)

B8 "What I Want (For Christmas)"

External links

• New Monkees at IMDb
• Official Facebook Page
• Turn it up: An oral history of the forgotten New Monkees
• Hey, what ever happened to the New Monkees?