Hey, Hey! ‘The Monkees’ Is Joining MeTV’s Sunday Lineup
Following the passing of famed Monkees keyboardist/bassist Peter Tork on Feb. 21 at the age of 77, classic television network MeTV offered a tribute to the late musician by airing episodes of the ’60s series The Monkees, in which Tork costarred with bandmates Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz and Michael Nesmith.
That tribute proved so popular with viewers that MeTV has now announced The Monkees will officially be part of the channel’s regular Sunday afternoon lineup of classics beginning Sunday, March 3. Episodes will air Sundays at 5pm and 5:30pm ET/PT.
“The Monkees is a truly memorable series, the first TV comedy of the 1960s to showcase musician characters with original popular music that charted, combined with zany comedy and the teen heartthrob phenomenon,” said Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co., which owns MeTV.
“Our recent tribute to Peter Tork sparked a significant amount of positive viewer feedback and delivered a very large national audience. Adding The Monkees as part of our Sunday afternoon lineup alongside The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island gives our MeTV audience even more to cheer about.”
More about The Monkees from MeTV:
“The Monkees originally aired from 1966-1968, employing avant-garde film techniques such as improvisation, jump cuts and breaking the ‘fourth wall,’ and earned two Emmy Awards in 1967 for Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy.
“Inspired by The Beatles’ classic films A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, the made-for-TV pop/rock band soon rose to international stardom. The beloved cast included the late Peter Tork, who passed last Thursday, as the band’s ‘lovable goof,’ keyboardist, bass guitarist and eventually songwriter. To round out the foursome, Micky Dolenz was cast as the ‘funny’ drummer, Michael Nesmith as the ‘deadpan’ guitarist and former child actor Davy Jones was the resident ‘teen heartthrob’ and lead vocalist.”
The Monkees, MeTV, back-to-back episodes Sundays at 5/4c beginning March 3
