The Monkees television show, a thirty minute sitcom, premiered on NBC on September 12, 1966. Four actors played the parts of four fictional Beatlesque band members. In an interesting twist, the characters bore the names of the actors who played them, forever confusing the public about their origins. The kids who made up the majority of the show's audience knew they were watching actors in a fictional TV show, but somehow the press got the idea that The Monkees was a real band, then criticized them for being actors! After all, the show had released soundtrack material (produced by the legendary Don Kirshner) as music albums, so they had to be a real band, right? Things got even more confusing when the actors, tired of being slammed for not being something they never were, reacted by learning some songs and going on tour as a real, live band. Fiction became reality, and eventually the cast members gained control of their contracts and released several good albums recorded as a band.

The four characters established by the script are still seen in sitcoms today. There was the smart one, the funny one, the dumb one, and the cute one. Mike Nesmith was the smart one, a lanky Texan who played the band's unofficial leader. The funny one was Micky Dolenz, with his rubber-faced expressions and witty lines. Peter Tork played the "dumb" one, the flower child whose simplicity could be perceived as stupidity or great wisdom. And of course there was the hearthrob, Davy Jones with his non-threatening boyish good looks and dreamy British accent.

The Monkees television show lasted only two years, and their music career as a group of four only slightly longer. Their feature film, Head, bombed at the box office but eventually became a trippy cult classic.

The Monkees were dead and buried when MTV brought them back to life in the mid-80s with a Monkees marathon, running nothing but Monkees episodes for 24 hours. This triggered a surprising renewal of interest in the group. They reformed (mostly without Mike, though he did a few appearances) and went on the road throughout the rest of the decade. There was another surge of interest in the mid-90s, when nez rejoined the group for a tour of England.

Today, the former cast members continue to make music on their own, but we have probably seen the last full Monkees reunion tour.