In honor of the loss of Tom Petty, I was reminded of his love for Monkees music in this quote I used in Why The Monkees Matter. He will be missed by many. — Rosanne
The Monkees were on TV. They appealed to the broadest audience possible. The Monkees were sanitized. My mom and dad would watch the Monkees with me, and other than their stupid haircuts, Mom and Dad weren’t bothered much by the Pre-fab Four.
Mom and Dad bought me Monkees records. I read Monkees interviews and through them, learned about a guy named Jimi Hendrix who was their opening act in cities I couldn’t get to. I saw Frank Zappa of the Mothers of Invention on the Monkees TV show and in their movie, “Head,” and soon I’d moved from the innocuous to full blown dangerous rock ‘n’ roll. Things that are for everyone sometimes suck us into things that aren’t for everyone.
In 2003, the film was selected for preservation in the United StatesNational Film Registryby theLibrary of Congressas being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.[3]
At the time of the film’s release, Rudolph Valentino was attempting to make a comeback in films.[4] He rose to international stardom after the release of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and The Sheik in 1921, both of which were box office hits and solidified his image as “the Great Lover”.[5] By 1924, however, Valentino’s popularity had begun to wane after he appeared in two box office failures, Monsieur Beaucaire and A Sainted Devil, both of which featured him in roles that were a departure from his “Great Lover” image. He also squabbled over money with Famous Players-Lasky, the studio he was signed to, which eventually led to him walking out on his contract. Famous Players-Lasky eventually released Valentino from his contract and he signed with United Artists in 1925.[4] In an effort to capitalize on the success that Valentino had achieved with The Sheik, United Artists’ president Joseph M. Schenck bought the rights to Edith Maude Hull‘s novel Son of the Sheik and cast Valentino in the dual role of father and son.[2][6]
* 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!
I teach several classes for the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, including History of Screenwriting. In fact, I created the curriculum for that course from scratch and customized it to this particular MFA in that it covers ‘Screenwriting’ (not directors) and even more specifically, the class has a female-centric focus. As part History of Screenwriting I, the first course in the four-class series, we focus on the early women screenwriters of the silent film era who male historians have, for the most part, quietly forgotten in their books. In this series, I share with you some of the screenwriters and films that should be part of any screenwriters education. I believe that in order to become a great screenwriter, you need to understand the deep history of screenwriting and the amazing people who created the career. — Dr. Rosanne Welch
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: Sadly, he passed away of a heart attack in about 4 years ago and the band had been talking about having a 50th Anniversary Tour. So after he died, the three of them did get together and do a short tour and it went well, so they did actually a longer tour the next year and actually they did a big 50th Anniversary Tour last year that was only Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork.
Jean:…but they won’t replace Davy right?
Rosanne: No, they chose never to replace him because he was unreplacable. When he died it was announced on television that the episode — he did a guest spot on The Brady Bunch, which was a big sitcom — a couple of years after the movie and that turns out to be — according to ABC News — the most rerun episode of television ever of any show in the years of reruns. He was that popular.
Jean: I remember that like when Davy Jones shows up on The Brady Bunch.
Rosannne: Marsha wanted him to sing at her prom because she was the president of the Davy Jones Fan Club and he shows up.
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.
During their 2013 reunion tour blogger Russ Kazmierczak Jr., commented that “the line between the Monkees as actors and their zany onscreen personas was so blurred because they opted to use their real names throughout — a logical choice when establishing a franchised band, but rather short-sighted in retrospect if the guys had any hopes of shedding their Monkee skin later in life.
Adolescents are eager consumers of mass media entertainment and are particularly susceptible to various forms of media influence, such as modeling, desensitization, and contagion. These once controversial phenomena are now widely accepted along with the recognition that th media are a major socializer of youth
During the economic boom of the post-World War II era, marketers and advertisers identified adolescents as a major audience, which led to the emergence of a pervasive youth culture. Enormous changes ensued in the media’s portrayal of adolescents and the behaviors they emulate. These changes were spurred by increased availability and consumption of television, which joined radio, film, and magazines as major influence on youth. Later, the rapid growth of the video game industry and the internet contributed to the encompassing presence of the media. Today, opportunities for youthful expression about to the point where adolescents can easily create and disseminate content with little control by traditional media gatekeepers.
In The Changing Portrayals of Adolescents in the Media since 1950, leading scholars analyze the emergence of youth culture in music and powerful trends in gender and ethnic-racial representation, sexuality, substance use, violence, and suicide portrayed in the media. This book illuminates the evolution of teen portrayal, the potential consequences of these changes, and the ways policy-makers and parents can respond. — Amazon
The Poor Little Rich Girl is a 1917 American comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Tourneur. Adapted by Frances Marion from the 1913 play by Eleanor Gates.[1] The Broadway play actually starred future screen actress Viola Dana.[2] The film stars Mary Pickford, Madlaine Traverse, Charles Wellesley, Gladys Fairbanks (returning from the play) and Frank McGlynn, Sr.
The film was shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey when early film studios in America’s first motion picture industry were based there at the beginning of the 20th century.[3][4][5] In 1991, The Poor Little Rich Girl was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. — Wikipedia
* 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!
I teach several classes for the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, including History of Screenwriting. In fact, I created the curriculum for that course from scratch and customized it to this particular MFA in that it covers ‘Screenwriting’ (not directors) and even more specifically, the class has a female-centric focus. As part History of Screenwriting I, the first course in the four-class series, we focus on the early women screenwriters of the silent film era who male historians have, for the most part, quietly forgotten in their books. In this series, I share with you some of the screenwriters and films that should be part of any screenwriters education. I believe that in order to become a great screenwriter, you need to understand the deep history of screenwriting and the amazing people who created the career. — Dr. Rosanne Welch
In the case of The Monkees, identity confusion came from the start since they were not immediately recognized entities coming into the production and the choice was made to use their real names rather than fictional ones. Of the group of them, Dolenz had the greatest chance of being recognized by the television audience due to the two seasons he spent playing Corky on Circus Boy in the late 1950s.
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: So between the two of them — Micky Dolenz sang most of the leads on the rock songs and Davy sang most all the ballads the girls remember and anything that had a girls name in it because that’s why the girls would by it because Davy was singing to them.
Jean: Singing to them personally.
Rosanne. Exactly. So he was — and it was funny in driving to your house today I didn’t realize that the exit off the freeway is 7a and that’s the phrase at the beginning of Daydream Believer which is his big hit. They have a little snippet of conversation on the album and he says ‘What number is this?” 7a is the number that they are recording at the time which is Daydream Believer so that’s known in Monkee circles as a very important number. I thought that was very — it said something about destiny of doing this recording.
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.
“Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe”
Stansborough LTD Woolen Mill, Petone, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.
This small and unique mill produced fabric for costume for The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Narnia and more. They raise their own unique sheep herd that produces naturally colored wool in a a variety of shades from black to gray to white.
You can get an overview of what they do and see their turn of the century looms working on their factory tour.
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