Circus Season: Monkees at the Circus (The Monkees)

Welcome to the first in another series of themed posts, this time about TV episodes relating in some way to the circus. I don't particularly have a thing about circuses, but I suddenly had a couple of shows on the subject so looked out some more.

This first post is also about a show which, for no good reason, has never appeared here before. Actually I think the reason it's never appeared here is that it was one of my favourites on repeats in the UK in the early 80s, and it's always a bit difficult to look back on your past heroes. Of course there is also the reality that when I first saw it the Monkees' stage of life was ahead of me and I'm now looking back on it so it's slightly painful in all sorts of ways!

Another reason the show hasn't appeared here is that it really isn't at all as I remember it. It is very obvious that my memory is faulty in some ways because I don't remember them singing, wihch obviously isn't right, but nonetheless I do wonder whether certain selected episodes were broadcast here. I have no recollection of the interviews to make up time on episodes which ran short, and the laiughter track. Or possibly I wonder whether I happened only to see Series 2 episodes. 

Monkees at the Circus was the most popular episode of both series, watched by an incredible 12,080,000 people on its first US broadcast in 1967. You can see why: it's redolent of the absolute best of The Monkees. There is the kindness inherent in the plot, where they stop by a failing circus and save it for absolutely no reason other than they can. Drawing on other reviews online there are comments about the boys' engagement with their roles and how they actually seem to be enjoying themselves (possibly simply enjoying being around circus people). I'm going to put this idea out there: but this episode of The Monkees rather encapsulates what cult Tv should be about: TV models different ways of life for us and when they involve kindness and there is absolutely no nastiness going on, you're onto a winner. 

However I'm reminded of another fact here: I commented above that the Monkees were at a stage of life (very young adulthood in the show) which I am now looking back on, but they also embody the young futuristic approach of so much in the 1960s. This is of course, one of the things which make this show so good, because optimism, peace, and people working in harmony are a dream which we could all do with 55 years later. Even if I'm not sure that 'old people' (LOL) would ever realistically have allowed youngsters to just walk in and get everyone together and save the circus, that's certainly the kind of thing we could do with nowadays.

But you won't be surprised to read that it's that slight unreality which is one of the things I love most. Apart from anything else how do you do a show in a circus without featuring a heavy dollop of unreality? The camera techniques used heighten the unreality and of course visually it's excellent. You have to be a real dunce not to make a success of picturing a circus. The surreal ca,era techniques (noticeably in the high wire scene in particular) heighten the unreality, as do the lightning changes and pretence of the boys' stories and roles. Of course this is well beyond the magic of The Avengers but just feels like it transplanted to a different setting, in many ways. 

I have been trying to think of a criticism of this, but really the only way you could criticise it would be to detract from what it's aiming at. For example you could say that the complete unreality just leaves it a feel-good bit of fluff which is a bit of superficial entertainment. But that would be being unreasonable. You can't really expect a TV series about a band to be a proposition by Wittgenstein. There is, I think, a more valid criticism which is that another thing I have no recollection of is the (to me) quite prominent advertising actually on the titles. It's really strange seeing boxes of cereal sharing the screen with each of the Monkees in the title, and it suggests that while the young generation might have something to say they'll only say it if they're sponsored by the squares.

Of course, being The Monkees, this post has a soundtrack because one of the songs on the show was written by the legendary Carole King. As far as I can tell she doesn't seem to have recorded it herself.