Episode: “The
Monstrous Monkee Mash”, in which a vampiric Count and his sultry niece want to plop
Peter Tork’s brain into the skull of the Frankenstein Monster. Based on Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein,
the vampires of “The Monstrous Monkee Mash” one-up Bela Lugosi by turning all The Monkees into famous monsters of
filmland. Fuzzy-haired Micky becomes The Wolf Man. Uptight Mike gets wrapped up
as The Mummy. Heartthrob Davy’s powers to mesmerize ladies are put to use when
he becomes “Count Dracula reborn!” “The Monstrous Monkee Mash” is both a
deliriously fun opportunity to see the boys merge with Universal’s greatest
monsters and a crazy continuation of the loosening up of the show’s format.
More than ever The Monkees seem like they’re working without a script, or at
least, not paying that much attention to it. The guys behind the cameras are
goofier too, as seen in Micky’s multiple “scare take” outtakes left in the
episode to disorienting effect. Plus, all of our monsters and Monkees end the
show by grooving to the awesome “Goin’ Down”. Love is the ultimate trip!
