The Monkees TV Show Hasn't Aged Well

abartman

This is coming from a guy who used to be a really big fan of the show. I remember first watching the show when I was around 6. This was in the late 90s. Looking back at it as a 25 year old, the show has not aged well at all (with an exception of a few episodes being pretty good). The slapstick and comedy feels either really forced, formulaic (that's to be expected from a 60s show), or just lame at times. The second season especially when the show became more meta and too "on the nose" with how it makes fun of itself. Let's just say it was hard to sit through.

What has aged really well is the music. Many people, including myself, love the Monkees for the music more so than the TV show. There's a reason why the albums sold so well (even beating out the Beatles in 67)

If you want to watch good Monkees content (albeit very bizarre), I would recommend Head (1968) instead of the show. I personally think it's a lot better.

For people who do like 60s slapstick comedy and have some nostalgia for this show, I think you'll like it. As someone who has grown up, it's really not for me anymore.

score 6/10

abartman 11 August 2018

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4279601/