The Monkees (TV series)  The Monkees is an American situation comedy series that first aired on NBC in two long series between September 12, 1966 and March 25, 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men (the Monkees) trying to make a name for themselves as a rock 'n roll band. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series television and won two Emmy Awards in 1967, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The program ended in 1968 at the finish of its second season and has received a long afterlife through Saturday morning repeats (CBS and ABC) and syndication, as well as overseas broadcasts. It later enjoyed a 1980s revival, after MTV aired reruns of the program in 1986. It has aired on Sunday afternoons on MeTV, since February 24, 2019, three days after the death of Peter Tork. The series centered on the adventures of the Monkees, a struggling rock band from Los Angeles, California consisting of Micky, Davy, Michael, and Peter. The comic elements of the storyline were provided by the strange and often surreal encounters that the band would have while searching for their big break. In the early 1960s, aspiring filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider had formed Raybert Productions and were trying to get a foot in the door in Hollywood. They were inspired by the Beatles' film "A Hard Day's Night" and decided to develop a television series about a fictional rock and roll group. Raybert sold the series idea to Screen Gems in April, 1965, and Paul Mazursky and Larry Tucker completed a pilot script by August entitled "The Monkeys". Rafelson has said that he had the idea for a TV series about a music group as early as 1960, but had a hard time interesting anyone in it until 1965, by which time rock and roll music was firmly entrenched in pop culture. Trade publications "Daily Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" ran an ad on September 8, 1965 seeking "Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series." As many as 400 hopefuls showed up to be considered as one of "4 insane boys." Fourteen actors from the audition pool were brought back for screen tests, and Raybert chose their final four after audience research. Micky Dolenz, son of screen actor George Dolenz, had prior screen experience under the name "Mickey Braddock" as the 10-year-old star of the "Circus Boy" series in the 1950s.