History Series / TheMonkees

* {{Corpsing}}: In "Art, For Monkees' Sake," not only does Mike collapse in laughter watching [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Liberace destroy a piano in an art museum]], but the camera also helpfully zooms in on him as he does.
** And that's just one of the few examples that wasn't from the boys cracking each other up through ad-libbing.
** In "Fairy Tale," Mike can't help but laugh when Peter says that he's too young to get married (in real life, Michael was already a married father and was ''younger'' than Peter, not to mention that Peter had already been married and divorced at that point).

* NiceHat: Mike's iconic wool cap. He rode his motorcycle to the audition and was wearing it to keep his hair out of his face. The producers used this as an easy way to remember him ("Let's see Wool Hat again"), so he kept it for the show.
** Also the leafy green bathing caps that made an appearance in two stories: ''Find the Monkees'' (in which they were worn by the members of The Jolly Green Giants), and ''Captain Crocodile'' (in which they were used in a PieInTheFace gag).

* YouCalledMeXItMustBeSerious: In "The Devil and Peter Tork", Mike challenges Peter to play the harp in the courtroom without the Devil's help. Peter, uncharacteristically panicked, says "Michael--I can't!" It's one of, if not the only times Mike is called by his full first name by one of the other Monkees.

* AbsenteeActor:
** Davey does appear in "Alias Mickey Dolenz" except for the closing interview tag.
** Mike is absent from "The Card Carrying Red Shoes" except for the closing performance of "She Hangs Out."

** TheSmartGuy: Mickey is usually the one who comes up with all the plans, loopholes and technical repairs.

** TheSmartGuy: Micky is usually the one who comes up with all the plans, loopholes and technical repairs.

* GayParee: "The Monkees In Paris." The opening has the guys flat out saying they don't want to do the episode's spy story but just take a vacation in France.

* FormulaBreakingEpisode: Apart from the concert episode, "The Monkees on Tour", the first season generally stuck to the usual formula. Things became a lot more unconventional in the second season, with such things as a FairyTale spoof, a plotless romp through Paris ("The Monkees in Paris"), and guest appearances by other musicians, such as Music/TimBuckley and Music/FrankZappa.

** The OnlySaneMan - Mike is considered the leader of the group and has the most common sense of the four.
** TheSmartGuy - Micky is usually the one who comes up with all the plans, loopholes and technical repairs.
** TheCharmer - Davy tends to attract a lot of women and even gets distracted by girls himself sometimes.
** The ButtMonkey - Peter is the goofball of the group and is often a victim of hilarity.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Apart from the concert episode, "The Monkees on Tour", the first season generally stuck to the usual formula. Things became a lot more unconventional in the second season, with such things as a FairyTale spoof, a plotless romp through Paris ("The Monkees in Paris"), and guest appearances by other musicians, such as Music/TimBuckley and Music/FrankZappa.

* AbsenteeActor: Davy was written out of "Alias Micky Dolenz" so he could attend his sister's wedding. Mike Nesmith is absent from "The Card Carrying Red Shoes" and "I Was a 99 Lb Weakling". Nesmith also disappears from "Hitting the High Seas" a few minutes in, reportedly because Mike became genuinely seasick.

---> '''Mike:''' We made it awfully easy. You don't suppose it could be some kind of a trick, do you?
---> [''cut to Mike and the others chained up in chairs'']
---> '''Mike:''' It was some kind of a trick...

---> '''Ronny:''' A gentleman does not stare at a lady!
---> '''Peter:''' A beggar can look at a queen.

** The show has several Beatles shout-outs. In "Mijacogeo," the foursome wakes up to an alarm clock/radio blaring the song "[[Muic/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Good Morning, Good Morning.]]" In "Success Story," Davy's British grandfather pays a visit, echoing a major plot point in ''Film/AHardDaysNight''. Many of the song interludes in the show feature the foursome jumping and running around in [[FastForwardGag sped-up fashion]], also mirroring the "Can't Buy Me Love" sequences in ''A Hard Day's Night''.

** The show has several Beatles shout-outs. In "Mijacogeo," the foursome wakes up to an alarm clock/radio blaring the song "Good Morning, Good Morning." In "Success Story," Davy's British grandfather pays a visit, echoing a major plot point in ''Film/AHardDaysNight''. Many of the song interludes in the show feature the foursome jumping and running around in [[FastForwardGag sped-up fashion]], also mirroring the "Can't Buy Me Love" sequences in ''A Hard Day's Night''.

-->'''Davy''': Would you please raise your right hand and put your left hand on the Bible?\\

* PhraseCatcher: In "The Devil and Peter Tork", when Mike calls Mr. Zero to take the stand:
-->'''Davy''': Would you please raise your right hand and put your left hand on the Bible?\\
'''Zero''': You must be joking.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Besides the name of the band, there's a stuffed monkey in the boys' beach house.

* InkblotTest: In "The Monkee's Paw" a [[HerrDoktor German psychiatrist]] (played by an uncredited Severn Darden) administers one to Micky, who can't talk. The doctor insists that the inkblot shows "a bunny and a chicken" and gets in an argument with the other Monkees over it (Mike sees flowers, Peter says it's a ketchup stain and Davy thinks it looks like a bunch of dancing women).

* MickeyMousing: Slapstick gags are punctuated by the music.

* BalletEpisode: "The Card Carrying Red Shoes" centers on a prima ballerina who tries to defect to America as she gets caught up in a spy game and falls for Peter.

* {{Expy}}:
** In interviews they've said that the creators also used Creator/WillRogers (Mike), Creator/JerryLewis (Micky) and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bowery_Boys Huntz Hall]] (Peter) as archetypes.
** As the chipper, boyish Limey, Davy also recalled Peter Noone of Music/HermansHermits, to the extent that when Noone first saw an episode of the show, he remarked "He does me better than I do!"
** Maw Weskitt and Ella Mae Chubber, of Daisy Mae "Granny" Moses and Elly Mae Clampett from ''Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies''.

* NoHoperRepeat: ''33 and 1/3 Revolutions per Monkee'' was broadcast opposite the Academy Awards. As a further indicator of how seriously [=NBC=] regarded the special, its segments were aired out of order.

** The pilot episode is director Mike Elliot's sole credit on IMDB. He was actually a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbIg9_5j-f4 highly-regarded director of TV commercials]][[note]]among his most notable commercials was the Daisy ad for [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ]], the Keep America Beautiful "Crying Indian" spot, the AMC Rebel "Driving School" spot and Alka-Seltzer's "Spicy Meatball" ad[[/note]] who was hired because the producers wanted a fast-paced show with lots of quick cuts like in a commercial.
** The Peter Tork-[[DirectedByCastMember directed]] "The Monkees Mind Their Manor" is his only directorial credit of any kind. It's actually a pretty entertaining episode, with one of the more memorable supporting characters of the series (Lance Kibbee the Sot) and a BreakingTheFourthWall moment with Davy confronting series prop man Jack Williams about his cameo as the customs agent.

** The guys were loose parodies of Music/TheBeatles - Micky Dolenz as Music/JohnLennon (the madcap clownish one); Davy Jones as Music/PaulMcCartney (the cute one); Mike Nesmith as Music/GeorgeHarrison (the deadpan, semi-serious one); and Peter Tork as Music/RingoStarr (the unlucky everyman).

* TheBoxingEpisode: "Monkees in the Ring"

* BillBillJunkBill...

* TheCameo: Liberace in one episode, smashing a piano to pieces with a sledgehammer as a performance piece, and Burgess Meredith in "Monkees Blow Their Minds" as [[Series/Batman1966 The Penguin]].
* CatchPhrase: "HE/SHE'S GONE!" Said by all four in unison whenever someone disappeared or pulled a StealthHiBye.

** In interviews they've said that the creators also used [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Rogers Will Rogers]] (Mike), Creator/JerryLewis (Micky) and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bowery_Boys Huntz Hall]] (Peter) as archetypes.

** Maw Weskitt and Ella Mae Chubber, of Daisy Mae "Granny" Moses and Elly Mae Clampett from Series/TheBeverlyHillbillies.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The apartment sequence and ending sequence of "Monkees on the Line"

* ItIsPronouncedTroPay: In "Monkees Marooned", Major Pshaw's name is pronounced "shaw" with a silent 'P', not 'Pe-shaw'.

** Besides writing the pilot episode, Creator/PaulMazursky and Larry Tucker appeared in the opening scene (Mazursky conducting a man-on-the-street interview with Tucker).