Monkees – Page 31 – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch at Golden Leaves Presentation 2017, Cal Poly Pomona [Video]

We had a great time on Friday April 14th as the Cal Poly Pomona Library celebrated all the professors who published books this year.

People laughed at the fact that I had two books to discuss – the encyclopedia I co-edited with my friend and colleague Peg Lamphier – Women in American History: A Social, Political, and Cultural Encyclopedia — and, of course, my book about The Monkees – Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture.

Each author was asked to describe their book. The encyclopedia came first (since Peg’s last name is Lamphier and the practice of alphabetical discrimination lives on). I let her have the honors since I knew I would speak about The Monkees’ book last. Going last I also had to keep in mind that the rest of the audience had already received their awards and were anxious to get back to the delightful dessert table – so humor came to the rescue as I commented on how odd it was to be speaking about my favorite television show when I was six after other professors had spoken of Immanuel Kant and architectural digs in South America and Mass Spectatorship in Modern France.

Here’s how I closed out the show…

Thanks to Doug for taking all the photos and video – and to Peg for being such a great collaborator – and to all the friends and fans who have read the book and enjoyed learning more about the 1967 Emmy Winner for Best New Comedy Series.

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From The Research Vault: Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard Film Studies)

Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard Film Studies)

During the ’30s and ’40s, Hollywood produced a genre of madcap comedies that emphasized reuniting the central couple after divorce or separation. And the female protagonists were strong, independent, and sophisticated. Here, Stanley Cavell examines seven of those classic movies for their cinematic techniques, and for such varied themes as feminism, liberty and interdependence. Included are Adam’s Rib, Bringing Up Baby, and The Philadelphia Story.

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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Quotes from “Why The Monkees Matter” by Dr. Rosanne Welch – 56 in a series – Manic Micky

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In “Monstrous Monkee Mash” (written by Neil Nephew and David Panich, directed by James Frawley and edited by Pozen) when a frightened Micky piles chairs before the door to avoid the Wolfman, the film is sped up to highlight his fear and sense of panic. The creative team on The Monkees often used the frenetic personality of Micky’s character in this fashion as in “Alias Micky Dolenz” (edited by Stanley Frazen).

from Why The Monkees Mattered by Dr. Rosanne Welch — Buy your Copy today!

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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From The Research Vault: Inspector Lewis, Neil Diamond and The Monkees

You never know when you’ll stumble on a piece of popular culture proof that The Monkees were an entrenched part of the 1960s – and a bonafide world-wide phenomenon of that time. I thought I had found quite a few of them in my research for the book – from the then newest moment on the first season of Grace and Frankie (where Frankie admits she once hung out with Micky) to the couple of Simpsons show references – to the now ubiquitous “I’m a Believer” ending of Shrek (no matter who sings it, that is always a Monkees song).

But watching reruns of the long-running BBC detective series Lewis unearthed a new one I had missed. This moment I’m posting came in Season 3, Episode 3, titled “The Point of Vanishing” in 2009 between characters at a high class Oxford cocktail party. The character properly credits the writer of “I’m a Believer” as Neil Diamond (in my other, non-Monkees-fan life I do teach screenwriting so I’m always pleased to see writers credited) so he does not call it a Monkees song – but we all know that it IS a Monkees song being referenced in this high-end program (it did air in the U.S. on PBS’s Mystery.

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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Quotes from “Why The Monkees Matter” by Dr. Rosanne Welch – 55 in a series – So Many Setups

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To achieve this amount of material to use in the editing bay, directors would have to manage 78 to 100 camera set ups a day, an unheard of number in an era when 30 set ups were considered a long day. They would also have to be free enough creatively to show the audience the metaphorical wizard behind the curtain.

from Why The Monkees Mattered by Dr. Rosanne Welch — Buy your Copy today!

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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From The Research Vault: French Open 2014: Andy Murray will be out to erase memory of Philipp Kohlschreiber drubbing

Yet another research resource for Why The Monkees Matter

French Open 2014: Andy Murray will be out to erase memory of Philipp Kohlschreiber drubbing

Blondie, the Monkees and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: these were Andy Murray’s musical touchstones as a child. As he explained on Friday, “My mum used to drive us a lot to and from tournaments that were five, six hours away, and singing was one way of keeping us amused.”

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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The Monkees and the 50 Year Charm from Why The Monkees Matter Book Signing, Book Soup, Hollywood [Video] (0:57)

This book signing at Book Soup was wonderful – good people, good conversation (before and after the signing). Just another example of the kind of quality positive people who have been drawn to The Monkees across generations – I even met a former head of publicity for ScreenGems who had some fun stories to tell. — Rosanne

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Transcript:

Now, a deep study into anything can teach us much about everything. it’s why we teach critical studies in television in the first place and that’s why I wrote the book for my students, but I also wrote it in honor of — and to honor — all the fans who have loved the show hoping to see these people in concert again when they grow up and that dream was actually realized in the last so many generations and so that is pretty amazing. What’s interesting about The Monkees to me is anything that reaches the 50-year mark tends to get a little bit more respect finally. The Hula Hoop went from a kids craze to a staple in physical education classes. Today, it’s considered a very important thing. War surplus spam has become hip because people in Hawaii started to eat it and then it was cool because that’s where it came from. Now Spam. you can go eat at restaurants. I don’t know why you would, but people do. This book, it tends to show how the 50-year charm has proven true for The Monkees.

Buy “Why The Monkees Matter” Today!

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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Quotes from “Why The Monkees Matter” by Dr. Rosanne Welch – 54 in a series – Metatextuality and The Monkees

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While metatextuality is largely the work of the writers and actors, the examples in the previous chapter also represent the work of many of the other creative craft departments involved in producing a television show, beginning with directors, editors, properties masters and costumers, all hand-picked by producers Schneider and Rafelson. The show even involved detailed work from the transportation department in the form of the design and creation of the Monkeemobile by Dean Jeffries, who had already created the Mantaray for Bikini Beach and Black Beauty for The Green Hornet.

from Why The Monkees Mattered by Dr. Rosanne Welch — Buy your Copy today!

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

McFarland (Direct from Publisher) | Amazon | Kindle Edition | Nook Edition

From The Research Vault: Micky Dolenz on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

Yet another research resource for Why The Monkees Matter

Micky Dolenz on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

In honor of Micky’s performances last weekend at Club 54 here’s a fun blast from the past clip of him being interviewed on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous back before the 1986 reunion tour – when he was working as a director and living in the lovely English home profiled in the show and playing polo.

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture

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The Monkees as Cultural Touchstone from Why The Monkees Matter Book Signing, Book Soup, Hollywood [Video] (1:04)

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Transcript:

What I’m not sure that I should admit — in such an august work of academia — is that I concocted the entire pitch for the original piece in Written By magazine partly for an excuse to interview Micky Dolenz. I’m sorry, but he was the teen idol of my childhood. So, I guess I won’t admit that to anybody. But I can tell you, the mere fact that I, a 50-year-old professional writer and academic, squealed when I hung up the phone that day after the interview and immediately called 3 or 4 of my oldest and best chick friends to say that I had just hung up on Micky Dolenz tells you something about the cultural touchstone that this group was for my generation and interestingly enough, for the next generation and the next generation, thanks to reruns on MTV and today the reruns on Antenna television, which I think is really something special.

Rachel Maddow stated during an interview with Peter Tork that “the teenagers of the 80’s learned what it was like to be a teenager in the 60’s from watching The Monkees reruns on MTV.” And that tells you something important about the show and how it’s resonated across time.