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

"Why The Monkees Matter'' sounds like an argument I had with my parents in 1968, and Rosanne Welch's new book with that title would have been a handy thing to have had then.

Welch's subtitle, Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture, sets the Monkees in their time and place and explores and settles the old arguments, like whether they were actors or musicians. (Most of them were actors first, but they became a band that survived the TV show).

The book is much more than a memoir of TV watching in the late 1960s, though Welch name-checks the other surreal and 'hip'comedies of the day, including "Laugh-In,'' "Batman'' and "Get Smart.''

A college professor and screenwriter, Welch excels at explaining how the late 60s counter culture show more created the backdrop for the show -- it really couldn't have existed in any other time or place. When adults insisted that the half-hour comedy "made no sense'' they didn't realize that was a lot of its appeal.

The book traces the evolution of the Monkees as a band and sets it against the politics of the time. "Last Train to Clarksville'' had an anti-war message that was subtle enough to sail over the heads of some people. "Pleasant Valley Sunday'' was an indictment of the suburban lifestyle that was highlighted by mowing the lawn on a Sunday.

"I'm A Believer'' and "Daydream Believer'' were the earworms of two consecutive summers and still, 50 years later, can bring back that time and place for those of us who came of age then.

She draws on perceptive interviews with people covering all aspects of the show, the cast/band and the times, and includes an impressive bibliography.

This slim volume is recommended particularly for those interested in pop culture and for those "of a certain age.'' show less

Why The Monkees Matter: Teenagers, Television and American Pop Culture
Rosanne Welch
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
2016

An Early Reviewers book.
First, let me start off by saying that the book was not what I was expecting. What it is, is a media/film studies textbook focused on the Monkees TV show. This is why it took me so long to get through it. I treated it with the serious study it deserved, so I could give it a critical review in context.

The text is divided into ten chapters:
• One. Sweet Young Thing: Contextualizing The Monkees with a Short History of Teenagers in Television
• Two. Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow: Counterculture Comes to Television and Middle America
• Three. Words: Who Wrote the Episodes and What Was That show more Something They Had to Say?
• Four. The Kind of Girl I Could Love: Feminism, Gender and Sexuality
• Five. Early Morning Blues and Greens: An Ethnic Studies Look at Minority Representation.
• Six. We Were Made for Each Other: The Menagerie of Metatexuality
• Seven. We Were Made for Each Other, the Sequel: Television Aesthetic Technique
• Eight. Theme(s) from The Monkees: Narrative Structure and Themes
• Nine. A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You: Identity Construction and Confusion
• Ten. What Am I Doing Hangin’ Round? The Cultural Cachet of The Monkees

As you can see, the author takes a look into all aspects of the television show. The format would work nicely in a college level class revolving around The Monkees TV show. Or, instructors could borrow chapters for a more inclusive television show focused class.

One of the problems that I have with the book is that it has no photographs, stills, or visual aids. None at all. Photographs would be useful when she is describing the characters/actors by their looks. Photographs would be useful when she is talking about how the set or prop placement affected the show. Photographs would especially be useful if you are teaching a class of students who don’t know who The Monkees are, or what Counter Culture or Hippies really looked like.

In a related note, the author also neglected to include Minute/second information on the relevant scenes from the episodes she discusses. She does post some Youtube links in her End Notes, but Youtube clips are not always guaranteed to be there.
I also found that she reused examples in multiple chapters of the text. I understand that the show only had two seasons, so relevant examples might be hard to come by, but I found it repetitive. I would have appreciated a little more diversity in the examples.

In the end, I found the work interesting at first, but it began to wear on me by the end. Yes, The Monkees were an important TV show and broke new ground. I agree with her there. Unfortunately, the authors’ enthusiasm was not helped by the scholarly writing style she chose for this project. I only finished the book so I could give it a comprehensive review, not because I enjoyed the last couple of chapters.

I give it 3 stars. Why? I enjoyed parts of the book, it could be useful in a media studies class, but it needs tweaking in order to become a really good book. show less

This wasn't what I expected - I think I saw that it was about the Monkees and didn't read the description. That said, I did like the book. There were many behind-the-scenes stories about each of the guys and the episodes, but there were no pictures (which was a little disappointing). The book is more about how the Monkees - the show and the guys - impacted the teenagers and the culture (and counter-culture) of the 1960s. It was interesting, just not what I expected.

This ER book was a disappointment to me. I expected the focus to be on the band, The Monkees, but it actually focused almost entirely on the TV show. The book read like a scholarly book that could be used in a college media/communications class. It was somewhat interesting but not a book that I could recommend.

WHY THE MONKEES MATTER was an interesting read as far as a description of the tv show featuring the 60s band. I was very disappointed that so little attention was paid to the actual music made by the group. To this day, their music can still lead to arguments about their abilities and talents. It gets barely a mention in the book.

A very well-written, informative, insightful book about the influence of The Monkees on "Teenagers, Television, and American Pop Culture." I enjoyed it very much. Which Monkee was YOUR favorite? ;)

I found the book to be interesting and premise that the author presented to be engaging.

I was a small child when the Monkees first got their start; I do not have memories of them not producing music and television.

certainly they were dismissed in the 1960s as a lot of pap, but their influence in lives of the children at the time is more noticeable than first imagined.

8/10