Wherever you go, you find Monkees fans and the Denver Popular Culture Con was no different. Amid rooms full of caped crusaders and cosplay creations, I was initially not sure how many folks would attend a talk on a TV show from the 1960s – but happily I was met by a nice, engaged audience for my talk on Why the Monkees Matter – and afterward they bought books! What more could an author ask for?
Transcript
So these folks changed I say the face of television. Before 1966 we’re having a lot of fairly — for small very white folks — but also very sort of middle-of-the-road. — Very gentle and there’s nothing wrong with that but it’s all one flavor. There’s not a whole lot of difference there right? If you’ll notice in the bottom corner, who do you think that is? Micky Dolenz was a TV star. People think they were nobodies coming to the show but Micky Dolenz had himself had a show for three years because his parents were performers right and they had a friend who said they’re doing this show called Circus Boy. Would your kid die his hair blonde to be in it? and his parents were like “Yeah that’s good. That’s his college fund right there.”
A hit television show about a fictitious rock band, The Monkees (1966-1968) earned two Emmys–Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Acheivement 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 Riderand Five Easy Pieces.
Ida May Park began and ended her life and career in Los Angeles, California, credited as a writer of approximately five hundred scenarios and fifty features, having had a successful career as a director with fourteen films under her belt. Unfortunately, as a woman of early Hollywood, she falls into a category of women who were notable enough to have some of their work survive and be remembered, but not notable enough for many history books or archives to chronicle her career.
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** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
† Available from the LA Public Library
Based on the film he also wrote – The Prince of Egypt – the play is headed for a West End premiere early next year with plans to move to Broadway after that run.
This one allowed me to riff on some of my favorite female science fiction writers across time, whether they be novelists or television writers. It also opened up a good conversation on what art we support and include in our lives – and what that art says to us and about us. — Rosanne
Transcript:
…On a book that for years and years Hollywood wasn’t making into a movie because it starred a little girl and they really didn’t think enough people would pay money to see the story of a little girl having this wild crazy adventure. Even though Alice in Wonderland has been around a long time okay. So it’s interesting. We really we sort of censor before we even put things out into the audience for them to really tell us what they’re gonna watch right? So we have to think about that.
* A portion of each sale from Amazon.com directly supports our blogs ** Many of these books may be available from your local library. Check it out!
Rosanne grabbed this book “The Secrets We Kept” at The Book Soup store at the Bradley International Terminal before we took off on our trip to Porto. She finished it on the trip home.
I think Rosanne uses books as a sort of time travel. She dives into the book and wakes up wherever she needs to be. This is very useful when flying 9.5 hours East and 12 hours west.
![05 Writers Changing The Face of TV from “Why The Monkees Matter: Even 50 Years Later [Video] (40 seconds)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/monkees-popcon-2019-05.jpeg)
![17 “A Wrinkle In Time” and The Movies from The Sisterhood of Science Fiction – Dr. Rosanne Welch [Video] (28 seconds)](https://rosannewelch.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/scifi-rmw-cpp-17.jpeg)
