Speaking – Page 76 – On Screenwriting and Media with Dr. Rosanne Welch

17: Even More on Micky Dolenz and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (0:38)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Jean Powergirl takes the host reigns and welcomes her guest Rosanne Welch, PhD to the show! They’ll be discussing Roseanne’s book, “Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture.”

Transcript:

Rosanne: …and Micky Dolenz, being an actor said, sure, my character plays the drums, I’ll learn to play the drums. I will do that and he is considered by many people nowadays a very proficient drummer. He might not be the greatest drummer of all time, but he has been a drummer for 50 years in concert and people do appreciate the style. So, also what is interesting about him that I mentioned in the show — this ethnic quotient of the show — he had naturally sort of afro curly hair which they flattened for the first season because they felt that that was inappropriate for a young man in America.

Jean: Because they wanted to keep the whiteness that TV shows need to have at the time.

Rosanne: Exactly. Exactly. It is definitely that story.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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Dr. Rosanne Welch with her WGA Panel Participants from “Crafting Strong Female Characters”

One attendee comment made my evening, “This panel was both inspirational and aspirational!”

Tonight: This panel of rockstar writers shares their process for crafting strong female characters. Thanks for moderating, @rosannewelch! pic.twitter.com/W8FUfWWSz6

— Writers Guild Found. (@WritersGuildF)

August 17, 2017

16: More on Micky Dolenz and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (0:56)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Transcript:

So he had been a child star, but as a child star he didn’t go by the name Dolenz — he used Braddock, which was a fake last name. It sounds very much more American and they dyed his dark hair blond. So if you look that up on YouTube you’ll see this little blond kid, but you can see, in the face, that in 8 years he is going to grow up to be the kid on The Monkees.

So he was already a known actor. He had been in and out of the business going to school but also doing some shows here and there — Peyton Place and what not as a guest actor and then he auditioned for this because, you now, it is what actors do. You audition for pilots and see if they get picked up. The joke about it is that he played guitar when people talk about who did or didn’t play instruments. He played guitar. Actually played classical Spanish guitar and he had gone on a tour around the country as th star of Circus Boy playing classical Spanish music, but when they came to film the show, they needed a “character” who would be the drummer and they originally thought is might be Davy Jones, but he was very short and they thought he would get lost behind the drums.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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15: Micky Dolenz and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (1:04)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Transcript:

Jean: So let’s talk about our second Monkee here. Who’s this guy on the drums?

Rosanne: On the drums, we have Micky Dolenz who came to this audition as a child actor. He’d been in a show called Circus Boy when he was 10, but in that show his father George Dolenz was the star of a show in the 50’s called The Count of Monte Cristo and so they didn’t want to look like nepotism and also Micky Dolenz provides — on this show, believe it or not, because when you look at the pictures he looks like a white boy. He was….

Jean: They’re all white. So there’s an ethnicity here.

Rosanne: The Italians were still a weird ethnic group in the 1960s. We don’t have The Godfather yet. We don’t have any main…

Jean: …Corleones…

Rosanne: No. Exactly, so and it’s interesting to me in studying this, had the show been made 5 years later, they would have had an African-American character. I mean this was the trend in the civil rights movement, but they weren’t there yet. So, to them. the most ethnically odd was this guy because he was Italian.

Jean:…and Rosanne is Italian-American…

Rosanne: Exactly. So, of course, I was drawn to that character because that was representative of my culture on television.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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Dr. Rosanne Welch Moderates WGA Panel: Women Warriors: Writing Strong Female Protagonists – August 16, 2017

I’m so honored to have been asked to moderate this exciting panel coming up next Wednesday August 16, 2017: WOMEN WARRIORS: WRITING STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONISTS with a panel that includes Allan Heinberg (WONDER WOMAN), and Moira Walley-Beckett (ANNE WITH AN E), Amy Berg (COUNTERPART), Liz Flahive (GLOW), Carly Mensch (GLOW).

Unfortunately, this event is sold out.

‘Featuring a Strong Female Lead’ is more than just a Netflix category; it marks an evolution of film and television characters that have shown us the world from varied female perspectives. From Scarlett O’Hara and Norma Desmond to Maude Findlay, Buffy Summers and Wonder Woman, our favorite female heroines (and anti-heroines) have paved the way for modern explorations of the female experience.

On this special evening, our panel of writers explores the process of crafting strong female protagonists, how they navigate through archetypes and stereotypes, and how writers are challenging (and changing) the way female characters are depicted on TV and film.

Panelists:

Amy Berg – Amy is a writer and executive producer for film and television. She’s written for a multitude of shows including DA VINCI’S DEMONS, PERSON OF INTEREST, EUREKA, LEVERAGE, and THE 4400. She also created the award-winning digital series CAPER. Along with her feature work, she’s currently co-showrunning the upcoming Starz series COUNTERPART starring J.K. Simmons and consulting on a series for Hulu.

Liz Flahive & Carly Mensch – Creators of Netflix Original Series GLOW

Allan Heinberg – Allan is the screenwriter of the film Wonder Woman, directed by Patty Jenkins. His television writing and producing credits include The Naked Truth, Party Of Five, Sex And The City, Gilmore Girls, The O.C., Grey’s Anatomy, Looking, and Scandal. Most recently, Heinberg developed, wrote, and ran ABC’s The Catch, starring Mireille Enos and Peter Krause. For Marvel Comics, Heinberg created and wrote Young Avengers and its sequel, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade with co-creator/artist Jim Cheung. For DC Comics, Heinberg co-wrote JLA: Crisis Of Conscience with Geoff Johns (art by Chris Batista), and re-launched Wonder Woman with artists Terry and Rachel Dodson.

Moira Walley-Beckett – Moira is a multiple award winning screenwriter. She is currently the Series Creator and Executive Producer of the Netflix drama “ANNE (with an E).”

Recently, Moira created “Flesh and Bone,” a critically acclaimed Limited Series for STARZ. The drama received multiple nominations (including a GOLDEN GLOBE and a WGA nod) and won a SATELLITE AWARD, a GRACIE AWARD, and a WOMEN’S IMAGE (WIN) Award. Before creating “Flesh and Bone,” Moira spent six years as a writer and Co-Executive Producer on the critically acclaimed AMC series “Breaking Bad.” For her work on that show, Moira has won a total of three EMMY AWARDS, three WRITERS’ GUILD AWARDS, three AFI AWARDS, three SATURN AWARDS, two PGA AWARDS, a GOLDEN GLOBE, a PEABODY, and received a PEN LITERARY AWARD nomination. Before her tenure as a writer on “Breaking Bad,” Ms. Walley-Beckett wrote on the NBC dramas “Raines” and “Eli Stone,” and “Pan Am” for ABC.

Currently, Moira has a feature film, The Grizzlies, in post-production with Kennedy/Marshall and Northwood Productions. Ms. Walley-Beckett hails from Vancouver, Canada but resides in Los Angeles.

14: More On Michael Nesmith and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (1:00)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Transcript:

Rosanne: One of the interesting things — it was the first show that had a set of teenagers who didn’t have a father figure or a mother who looked over them and watched over them. And Peter Tork has often said that that’s one of the things that attracted teenagers that they saw teenagers living independently and out current teenagers think of themselves as 16 and 17. These guys are 18-19 — those are still considered teenagers because you still had to wait until you were 21 to vote. You were not a full adult and…

Jean: …and if kids didn’t go to college or join the military, they still lived with their parents in American culture and they have a job and they have to do things.

Rosanne: So they were teenagers.

Jean: Isn’t he the one whos mother invented Liquid Paper? Yes, that’s always…so, the funny thing was he wasn’t going to get that inheritance till later in life. So he didn’t have much cash as a young man. He got on the show and made a ton of cash and has admitted in other interviews that he spent it all on cars and pretty much bankrupted himself when everything was done and had to revive — he began a video company in Northern California that was very successful and so he’s quite well off these days.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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13 : Michael Nesmith and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (0:35)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Transcript:

Jean: So let’s talk about the individual Monkees, all right. Again, here they are again. So tell us — who is this guy right here.

Rosanne: On the end there you see Michael Nesmith. he was from Texas and had come to Los Angeles to be a rock and roll singer. He hosted at a couple of clubs in town. He would host open mic nights and whatnot for local rock bands and he had written Different Drum which is the song Linda Ronstadt msde famous. So he was looking for a job and a career as a singer-songwriter.

Jean: …and already had the talent obviously.

Rosanne: Exactly….when the audition came up and basically hey, who doesn’t want extra cash. So he auditioned and he was cast.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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Conclusion and Acknowledgements from Why The Monkees Matter Book Signing [Video] (1:48)

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

Watch this entire presentation

Transcript:

For me, the book is hoping to contribute to the significance of The Monkees. That’s why it’s called “Why The Monkees Matter.” What is it that we learn from them and those are just a few of the thing that strikes me. I think that if we meet this group of early television writers and performers and directors — all of them who made television back in the day — it’s going to help us understand what I call the magic of The Monkees and how much The Monkees have contributed to the myths we have about the magic of the 1960s. So, for me, that was the purpose of putting the book together along with getting to interview Micky Dolenz. That was always underneath it all.

While I have the chance, of course, I want to thank a lot of people that were involved with helping me with the book. My friend, Mia — who’s not here tonight, but she copyedited for me and that was really important to have somebody look at all my spelling. I’m not bad at spelling, but you know, when you’re in a hurry and see things it was great to have someone do that. Of course, I want to think my Mom for letting me watch TV so much when I was a kid, because, geez whiz, I grew up to be a TV writer and write books about TV. So I was actually studying back in the day. Nobody was really paying attention. So I think that’s really important. Some people said you shouldn’t let your kids watch TV. It will be bad for them and it turned out to be very good for me. So, I have to say, I have to thank my husband and my son, because I spent many nights just typing on my computer ignoring them and they seemed to be fine with that and, in fact, i also have to thank my son for coming to Monkees concerts with me and for reminding me that they have something else yet to teach which is that when he was 15 and saw them perform at the age of 70, yet he had seen them in television at the age of 18, because that is when they are forever saved in these programs, he said that what he learned from watching them is that he should find something he loved to do in life because he wanted to be able to do it as long as they were doing what they loved and to me that’s a huge lesson and I think they just continue teaching us lessons over and over and over.

Buy “Why The Monkees Matter” Today!

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

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

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12 : Women and The Monkees : “Why The Monkees Matter” Interview with Jean Power [Video] (1:04)

Rosanne Welch talks about “Why The Monkees Matter” with Jean Hopkins Power

Watch this entire presentation (45 mins)

Transcript:

Rosanne: Even in the very first episode of the series, called “Royal Flush”, Davy, of course, falls in love with a princess from an unknown country and you think princes that’s silly and non-sensical, but near the end of the episode he asks her to stay in America with him and she says no because she has an obligation to her people. Of course, every girl’s dream was to have Davy Jones ask them to do that, but she didn’t pick the boy. She picked her — and she didn’t pick “I’m a princess . I want to wear pretty dresses and go do that.” She picked a duty. A job that had been given to her that she was going to do well.

Jean: Like Princess Leia from Star Wars. It ties back!

Rosanne: …or even The Crown is very big on Netflix now. You know that’s all what Queen Elizabeth was about. I have an obligation. So, I thought it was hilarious that I found no girl who was useless among all the girls that ended up guesting on the show so my theory, if you will, that as a 6-year-old and 8-year-old watching the show, learned that if I wanted to marry a Monkee I had to be a woman of substance.

Get your copy today!

A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy. Capitalizing on the show’s success, the actual band formed by the actors, at their peak, sold more albums than The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined and set the stage for other musical TV characters from The Partridge Family to Hannah Montana. In the late 1980s, the Monkees began a series of reunion tours that continued into their 50th anniversary.

This book tells the story of The Monkees and how the show changed television, introducing a new generation to the fourth-wall-breaking slapstick created by Laurel and Hardy and the Marx Brothers. Its creators contributed to the innovative film and television of 1970s with projects like Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Laugh-In and Welcome Back, Kotter. Immense profits from the show, its music and its merchandising funded the producers’ move into films such as Head, Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

Rosanne Welch, PhD has written for television (Touched by an Angel, Picket Fences) and print (Three Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work and Kids and The Encyclopedia of Women in Aviation and Space). In the documentary world she has written and produced Bill Clinton and the Boys Nation Class of 1963 for ABC NEWS/Nightline and consulted on PBS’s A Prince Among Slaves, the story of a prince from West Africa who was enslaved in the 1780s, freed by order of President John Quincy Adams in the 1820s and returned to his homeland.

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Rosanne Welch talks “The Invention of the Teenager” on Pop!: The Pop Culture Podcast

I had quite a good time when Ken Mills interviewed me about the ‘invention’ of the teenager – something I teach in my classes and spent a whole chapter on in my book, Why The Monkees Matter!

Marketers created teenagers in the same way The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon helped spread the term Tweeners for their shows.

The whole episode is fun – I really like the coverage of Anne Moses and her time editing Tiger Beat Magazine (but if you’re pressed for time my interview starts at 18:22).

Listen to this show