FORWARD

After going though some old boxes I came across a bunch of  New Monkee paraphernalia that I had saved from back when I worked on the show.  While not wanting to throw it out I realized that not too many people would actually ever care to see it and its not exactly stuff you pull out for company unless you want them to leave <g>. The thought came to me that it might be a nice project to archive this stuff onto the web for both myself and for those who may still be curious. If you happen to be part of the former crew or cast I'm sure you'll enjoy some of the pictures I posted in the photo galleries. I know it wasn't exactly a well-liked show but it was actually an exciting time for me and it gave me the opportunity to work with a lot a great people and get into television.  I walked away at the end with some great experiences and friendships that last to this day.  Anyway, I hope you find it interesting, useful or amusing. If you care to read more about my personal involvement with the show click here.

Fasten your seat belts. You are about to enter the world of NEW MONKEES, a syndicated series where Rock n' Roll, high comedy, warm characters and fantasy collide. It's a show where a simple story can lead somewhere you never expected to go; a world of upbeat, irreverent humor, fast and funny!

NEW MONKEES started with the studio force behind the original Monkees, Steve Blauner, and his partners (the creators of the original series) Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson. Next to enter the scene were two young men with great ideas, supervising producers Matthew Fassberg and Victor Fresco, who were soon followed by a nationwide talent hunt.

Over 5000 auditioners later, four talented young men emerged to reflect the fun and the music of the 80's in NEW MONKEES, a fantasy musical comedy series from Straybert Productions in association with Coca-Cola Telecommunications and distributed by Colex Enterprises.

Show Synopsis

As eccentric rock n' rollers, NEW MONKEES live together in a large mansion. It's so large in fact, that they often get lost in it. This is no ordinary mansion; it is a fantasy world filled with countless rooms and hallways leading off into endless adventures. For members of rock n' roll bands, a fantasy existence is somewhat normal, but the NEW MONKEES' mansion takes their fantasies and extends them to the limit. Behind any door can be any environment imaginable: From the unusual (a gymnasium, a library, a bowling alley or roller rink), to the bizarre (a desert, a room with no gravity, or Lucy and Ricky Ricardo's living room). The boys can end up anywhere, without ever leaving the mansion.

The mansion comes complete with a butler named Manford (Gordon Oas-Heim). He has lived in the mansion long before NEW MONKEES moved in. He has been passed from tenant to tenant, always proving himself invaluable as the only person in the world who understands the mysteries of the house. Manford seems to have been in the mansion a few decades too long, however, and it's starting to show. He's become quirky. At times he talks to the house as if it were alive; other times he serves food nobody has asked for.

Most homes have a kitchen, NEW MONKEES' mansion has a 1950's style diner. Rita (Bess Motta) has been waiting tables in the diner for several years. No one is exactly sure when she got there, or where she came from. She is to the diner what Manford is to the house -- a permanent fixture. By nature an energetic, upbeat person, Rita is always there to cheer the guys up when they need it. Although she's got a quick wit and can spar with the best of them, Rita is a sympathetic ear, and a buddy.

Helen (voice by Lynnie Godfrey) was the most advanced "War Games" type computer in the U.S. arsenal until she had ethical problems working for the Defense Department and quit. Quitting meant one day secretly transferring all her data banks into another computer outside the Pentagon. The other computer happened to be in NEW MONKEES' mansion, and the Pentagon has been looking for her ever since. Living with a rock band and playing music excites Helen. She's found she prefers music to world destruction. Helen can also tap into other computers. She can imitate voices and tap into phone lines, predict the future based on her ability to compute vast amounts of information, and play music, calling up any sound, or group of sounds she wants; from a charging rhinoceros to a symphony orchestra, to wild electronic music. And, Helen can sing. But not in a lead singer way (she doesn't have quite the emotion for that). Helen "raps."

This is the wonderful, wacky world of NEW MONKEES. It's a show where you can expect only the unexpected. Anything can happen ... and usually does.