Monk (TV series)
The series debuted on July 12, 2002, on USA Network. It continued for eight seasons, with the final season concluding on December 4, 2009. The series held the record for the most-watched scripted drama episode in cable television history from 2009 through 2012 (broken by "The Walking Dead") with "Mr. Monk and the End – Part II", its series finale, with 9.4 million viewers, 3.2 million of them in the 18–49 demographic.
The Monkees
But the Monkees toured the U.K. in 1967 and found a chilly reception. The front pages of several U.K. and international music papers proclaimed that the group members did not always play their own instruments or sing the backing vocals in the studio. They were derisively dubbed the "Pre-Fab Four", and the "London Sunday Mirror" called them a "disgrace to the pop world". Jimi Hendrix was their tour-opener that year, and he told "Melody Maker" magazine, "Oh God, I hate them! Dishwater… You can't knock anybody for making it, but people like the Monkees?" Dealing with the controversy proved challenging on the television series. Episode No. 31, "Monkees at the Movies", first aired in April 1967 and Bob Rafelson asked the group about accusations that they did not play their instruments in concert. Nesmith responded, "I'm fixin' to walk out there in front of fifteen thousand people, man! If I don't play my own instrument, I'm in a lot of trouble!" But the "Devil and Peter Tork" episode serves as a parable, as a Kirshner-like producer has Tork sign over his soul to be a success as a musician.