50 For Monkees 50th Post 17: Commentaries
I enjoyed getting to hear the Monkees discussing their series. Between their behind the scenes knowledge and their occasional tendency to discuss other things, I learned a lot about the series from listening to them.
While it’s been a while since I watched the commentaries, I do have several distinct memories of watching them.
I remember Mike laughing during the Pilot episode when Micky rips off the bass drum’s head to reveal the Monkees’ logo and laughing because he’d forgotten that detail, and in one commentary completely getting distracted by the episode.
Peter never introduced himself like the others. I might have mentioned this before, but more than once I put on the commentary, got confused when I didn’t hear him, and hit the menu button to make sure it was on just as he started to speak. I also remember him talking about an awful dentist Davy recommended to him, wondering if his dislike for the nickname Pete came from the Monkees vs Machine episode, and talking about a friend of his and a saying about harps in the afterlife.
When I first heard Micky’s commentary, I hadn’t heard any clips of his voice, or, I think, seen pictures of him present day. It came as a shock to hear him sounding almost exactly like he had in the show in the commentary. I enjoyed hearing him talk about the process of filming, and some things that happened while filming. I loved his story about Peter’s (I think?) “retirement” watch. I loved watching his commentary of 33 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee because he keep joking about it and did sort of explain a little more about what it was intended to be.
