Video: “A Long-Haired Weirdo…” from”Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers



Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

This is a particularly fun quote. Timothy Leary has a long quote I won’t read you about all the things — the silly nonsense going on — and at the very end an actor like Micky Dolenz would look right at the screen — right — so we’re doing this metatextual — I’m “fourth-walling” you — “that’s pretty good talking for a long-haired weirdo, huh, Mr and Mrs. America?” So he was right there telling them we’re laying something out here, but you don’t even notice. Shh. Don’t watch. And so I think that’s really interesting. Also, what’s interesting is look at Mr. Dolenz’ hair. It’s all afro. This was a huge new thing to show on television. First of all, long hair, but this is ethnic hair. This doesn’t belong on TV so, in fact, on the first season they had him iron his hair. They would not allow this vaguely white, although he’s actually Italian and Native American — no. no and afro? No, no, no, that;s not allowed on television. Not until the second season, when they get a little more power that they start looking like they do in normal life.

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: “A Jolly Buddha Laugh at Hypocrisy” from”Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers




Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

In their film, “Head”, they wrote a song that riffs on their opening theme which was “Here we come, walking down the street…” right? They wrote, “hey, Het we’re The Monkees, We’ve said it all before, The money’s in, we;re made of tin, We’re here to give you more!” So, they were admitting their own plasticness and I think that’s their mistake. The fell for what was being said about them and forgot what they, themselves, were contributing. Right? Someone who didn’t miss out on that is Timothy Leary. He was the big, famous, so of hippy doctor and in his book, “Turn on, Tune In and Drop Out” he discussed the importance of The Monkees and this is in their very own time period. Right in the early — late Sixties, excuse me, 67. He’s discussing how important they were. In fact, he says the show is much more than a comedy. It’s all these things together. My favorite one is “A Jolly Buddha Laugh at Hypocrisy.” Which, in fact, is what is going on. These boys are commenting on hypocrisy of the parents of their customers — of their viewers — and they’re doing it right on mainstream American television.

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Using Film Adaptation Techniques to Teach Classic Books with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Using Film Adaptation Techniques to Teach Classic Books with Dr. Rosanne Welch

In this segment from a longer presentation, Dr. Rosanne Welch speaks on “Using Film Adaptation Techniques to Teach Classic Books” at the Critical Questions in Education Conference 2015 held february 16-18 in San Diego, California.

Panel Description:

Using the arts in real student centered teaching: Reawakening a mytho-poetic consciousness in students lost in scientific literalism

  • Dorthea Kahena Viale, Cal Poly Pomona
  • Peg Lamphier, Cal Poly Pomona
  • Andrew Davis, Cal Poly Pomona
  • Rosanne Welch, Cal Poly Pomona

Using student centered learning strategies to integrate the arts into general education promotes creativity, critical thinking, historical and multicultural consciousness and articulation of values. Join us for practical “how-to” demonstrations.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

Video: Were The Monkees “Plastic Hippies”? from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers




Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

…And their parents think the program is just a bunch of wild boys goofing around. And they are doing a lot of old vaudevillian stuff, so it seems very tame and very safe. In fact, I think, that Aniko Bodroghkozy mistakes The Monkees for being “plastic hippies” or fake hippies and brining this fake hippie culture to TV, but, in fact, the actual actors and musicians were men of their time. They were “real hippies” and so they were demonstrating their new beliefs in a new culture tot he children. So, I largely disagree with here in my book.

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Dr. Rosanne Web Site and Bloghttp://rosannewelch.com

Follow Dr. Welch on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/rosannewelch

Follow Dr. Welch on Tumblrhttp://drrosannewelch.tumblr.com/

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

Video: Introduction to The Monkees from “Why Monkees Matter” with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A Clip from this longer presentation: Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers



Dr. Rosanne Welch presents Why Monkees Matter: How The Writing Staff of The Monkees Brought the 1960s Counter Culture to Mainstream Pre-Teen Viewers at the 2014 Cal Poly Pomona Provost’s Symposium on Faculty Scholarship (http://www.cpp.edu/~research/)

Transcript:

Welcome everybody! We’re talking today about “Why Monkees matter?” Please notice the spelling. I am not talking about this kind of monkey — that’s in a different class. I’m talking about these Monkees. In case you don’t know who they are, Davie Jones, Micky Dolenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith who, in 1967, their albums outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones combined. They had more albums sales due to their exposure on television. So, what I talk about — I’m doing a book right now on them — and so I am talking about what we learned from them. Particularly, I focus on the writers of television programs and authorship. That’s my thing, because we focus on directors as auteurs of film and we don’t realize — or we forget — that writers, are just like the writers of books. A director can’t direct 20 empty pages. Somebody put these thoughts down and what are these thoughts. So, “How the writing staff of The Monkees brought the 1960’s counter-culture to mainstream pre-teen viewers.” These are the children whose older brothers and sisters already love The Beatles and they’re learning about hippy culture from The Beatles, but these kids don’t have access to buying their own albums yet, but they have access to television, because it’s free and they can watch it all the time.

View photos from this presentation 

Dr. Rosanne Welch presents on "Why Monkees Matter" at Cal Poly Pomona - 21

Description:

Based on a chapter in my upcoming book The Metatextual Menagerie that was The Monkees, which includes a series of interviews conducted with surviving writers and performers of the 1960s television program, The Monkees I will discuss how the writers and actors used the show as a platform for their own emerging counter culture/anti-war messages.

Worth studying for its craft and place in television history (the show won an Emmy as Best Comedy Of 1967) the program’s true importance may come from its impact on the politics and culture of the era. Considered innocuous by the network, thepress and the parents of the era, the storylines and jokes created by the writers and the actor’s ad-libs brought the emerging counter-culture to the attention of young teens whose parents might not have appreciated the message. Cultural icons such as Timothy Leary recognized the subversive nature of the program, seen through the writing and in choices made about costuming, hair length, musical guests (Frank Zappa, Tim Buckley, Charlie Smalls) and songs performed by the band brought issues of Vietnam, voting and civil rights to the ‘young generation’ for whom the show clearly had ‘somethin’to say.

Dr. Rosanne Web Site and Bloghttp://rosannewelch.com

Follow Dr. Welch on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/rosannewelch

Follow Dr. Welch on Tumblrhttp://drrosannewelch.tumblr.com/

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

About the Symposium:

The 2014 Provost’s Symposium is a forum to learn about each other’s scholarly work, make new friends, renew old acquaintances, and enhance our appreciation of the rich and diverse array of professional endeavors pursued by the faculty at Cal Poly Pomona.

‘Bye Al – and Thanks for All the Orange Juice…

‘Bye Al – and Thanks for All the Orange Juice…

The writing world lost Al Martinez today – a beloved columnist from the LA Times who taught me about all the nooks and crannies and characters in Los Angeles when we first moved here. I had the pleasure of having breakfast with him many times at Jerry’s Diner after I began publishing reflections on my neighborhood in the Times. I had the audacity to email him about a column of his I particularly liked and then ask his opinion on one of mine that had recently been published. Al invited me to lunch to chat of TV (since he had written for a few shows) and life in general and it became an irregularly scheduled event for a few years.

He would bring me autographed copies of his latest books and ask MY opinion of HIS writing. The best thing he ever told me/taught me was that he always conducted interviews withOUT a tape recorder. He figured when he went to write the article or column, whatever he remembered was the most interesting part of the interview so that would be all that he needed… That’s the sign of a natural reporter. What I loved about his columns was that he covered real people from all over the city for all those years. AND when the LA Times first let him go after 25 years the outrage from readers was sooooo strong, they instantly rehired him for another few years.

Then I had the guts to ask him to write the Back of Book Blurb for the book Dawn and I co-edited in 2004, Three-Ring Circus: How Real Couples Balance Marriage, Work, and Family. THAT was a compliment and a great honor. Guess now it’s time to start rereading all his work again. Believe me, it’s worth the read. And Al was sooo worth getting to know.

Al Martinez dies at 85; Times columnist chronicled Southern California life from The Los Angeles Times

Books by Al Martinez

My book, for which Al wrote the blurb:


News: WGA Presentation to students of FAMU Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts of Prague

On Wednesday January 7th I had the great pleasure of attending a special lecture given by writer-producer Jeff Melvoin to the students of Pavel Jech, Dean of the world renowned FAMU Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. What fun to spend a morning discuss the differences in how our two countries prepare writers to work in these areas!

News: WGA Presentation to students of FAMU Film and Television School of the Academy of Performing Arts of Prague

Jeff gave a great presentation on A Day in the Life of an American Showrunner, based on lectures he gives for the Showrunner program he helped found at the Writers Guild of America, West. Then we all walked over to the 3rd Street Farmers Market for lunch and casual conversation.

I was particularly interested because my father was Czechoslovakian but since he left when I was so young, I’ve never learned much about the country or its history (in fact most of what I learned I learned from reading the memoir former Secretary of State Madeline Albright wrote – Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War, 1937-1948). So it was interesting to meet with students who could have been me had my father’s parents never emigrated to the U.S.

The whole day was arranged by Ken Lazebnik, Director of the new MFA in TV and Screenwriting for Stephens College, with whom I am proud to be working to get this new program up and on its feet.

Video: Who is the most feminist companion? from Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse

A clip from this longer presentation – Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Watch this entire presentation – Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch (http://rosannewelch.com) speaks on “Feminism in the Whoniverse” of Doctor Who, the BBC television program now in its 50th year. She reviews each of the Doctor’s female companions and speaks on how they are represented in the program and how they represented the women of their respective periods.

Transcript:

First of all, the question of the day is going to be — who is the most feminist companion ever on Doctor Who? Right? We have to think about that. Everyone’s going to have an idea. We are going to come and see if we all come to the same one. Be thinking. Who it might be. We’ll see if we all agree or not. We’ll have a little expert discussion here online about someone, an expert, who has an idea. Meanwhile, you’re not going to find out until then. Y’all have a personal opinion and with any media your personal opinion is probably correct, because you have given your own evidence for that opinion, but I am going to show you some ideas along the way. Now, first we have to define feminism. Which, if you saw Emma Watson’s speech to the UN, it was a very lovely thing and if you haven’t you should watch it. It is nice short thing and it’s a very good explanation of the fact that feminism does mean that we hate dudes. We happen to like dudes, very much. We would just like to make the same amount of money they making doing the cool jobs they do. So, it’s not any kind of crazy man-hating thing and we don’t see that evidence in The Doctor either.

Feminism in the Whoniverse was presented at the Cal Poly Pomona University Library where Dr. Welch teaches in the IGE (Interdisciplinary General Education) program.

This is the 4th talk on various aspects of Doctor Who that Dr. Welch has presented. You can find these talks using the links below.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

Video: An Introduction – Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A clip from this longer presentation – Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Watch this entire presentation – Doctor Who: Feminism in the Whoniverse with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Dr. Rosanne Welch (http://rosannewelch.com) speaks on “Feminism in the Whoniverse” of Doctor Who, the BBC television program now in its 50th year. She reviews each of the Doctor’s female companions and speaks on how they are represented in the program and how they represented the women of their respective periods.

Transcript:

Well, it’s lovely to see all of you folks here to talk about The Doctor and this particular aspect. We’ve done this a couple times. We’ve talked about culture. We’ve talked about race on Doctor Who. Today, we’re talking about the “F” Word, but not the four letter one, but some people treat it that way. So we need to think about that. We need to think about what messages we get from the television that we watch and the films that we watch. In this case, it’s Doctor Who. Something I happen to adore and have adored for a long time. If you notice on the back table there, I’ve got books that date back to the 1970’s. Because you used to be able to watch this program on PBS like 4 years after it aired in England, because that was before everyone got very cool with how things are done, right? Now, you can watch it the day that its aired and, if course, when they did the 50th Anniversary Special, you could watch it the moment — the very time — it was aired. So it has really been something that’s spread across this cultural divide we used to have with England and so today I want to focus on the concept of the women who’ve travelled with The Doctor and what they tell us about feminism across the years that this program has been on the air.

Feminism in the Whoniverse was presented at the Cal Poly Pomona University Library where Dr. Welch teaches in the IGE (Interdisciplinary General Education) program.

This is the 4th talk on various aspects of Doctor Who that Dr. Welch has presented. You can find these talks using the links below.

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

Video: It’s all about heart from Doctor Who Regenerated with Dr. Rosanne Welch

A short clip from the longer presentation, “Doctor Who Regenerated”

Dr. Rosanne Welch, Cal Poly Pomona Faculty from the Department of Interdisciplinary General Education is back by popular demand with a new lecture on Doctor Who and Television!

This time, the Doctor will focus on a deeper look of the themes of the writers behind “Doctor Who.” Above and beyond race and gender, they include social justice and the power of childhood.

View the entire presentation

It's all about heart from Doctor Who Regenerated with Dr. Rosanne Welch

Subscribe to Dr. Welch’s YouTube Channel

 

Transcript:

Now, I laugh because I think between these two writers, it’s all about heart. It’s all about being interested in the emotions of these characters. That’s what writers do. The best stuff is not about the fancy monsters and the explosions and all that stuff. It’s about watching human beings learn to feel and be comfortable with their feelings. That’s what both of these writers, I think, do very well. Inside the trappings of everything else that they are trying to do, I think that really shows up and, I think, that is the last things I intend to say about the two of them.

“Natalie Lopez at the CalPoly University Library invited me to do a presentation for National Libraries Week on Doctor Who and Culture so that’s why a group of Whovians from both CalPoly and CSUF gathered in the Special Events room on April 16th.  It was wonderful to look out over a sea of t-shirts and other Doctor paraphernalia present among the crowd as I pontificated about what makes Who great – mostly giving me a chance to present a case for the fact that writers make Doctor Who and therefore writers make culture.”