Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Making the Monkees (2007x39)

:

In 1967, four unknown actors in a kids TV show become the biggest pop band in the world. In America they outsold Elvis and The Beatles combined. They were...The Monkees. But The Monkees were not a real band, they were a man-made money-making machine, driven by ego and ambition, a machine that would ultimately crash and burn. This is the inside story of pop music's first manufactured band. Labelled the pre-fab four, The Monkees were the first manufactured pop group. And with the radical TV show and contagious pop songs, they attracted a cult following that survives to this day. But behind the sugary smiles and bubblegum pop of The Monkees lay a cut-throat business enterprise, one fuelled by money, ego and the ambition of some of the biggest names in Hollywood. And one that, ultimately, was to end in tears. With access to Davy Jones, Peter Tork and Micky Dolenz as well as The Monkees archive, Making The Monkees is the inside story of the rise and fall of this unlikely group. It is the story of four young men who were hand picked to become overnight superstars melting the hearts of teeny-boppers worldwide and lining the pockets of their creators. But it's also the story of how The Monkees - and the men who pulled their strings - created the blueprint for the boy-band phenomenon that is so prevalent today - from the prototype casting and marketing, to the inevitable tantrums over artistic control and the ensuing commercial failure.