December 2025: The Fifth Monkee, Bob Rafelson

A wool hat and a couple of buttons away from the full-on Monkees uniform

The man behind the curtain. I'm tired, so I'm lifting this from imdb: 

Bob Rafelson was an American film director, writer, and producer. He is regarded as one of the founders of the New Hollywood movement in the 1970s. Among his best-known films are Five Easy Pieces (1970), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981). He was also one of the creators of the pop group and TV series The Monkees (1965) along with Bert Schneider.

From wiki:

Rafelson said that the idea for the show was inspired by his own misadventures while playing in a band in Mexico, which predated A Hard Day's Night. Rafelson said, "I had conceived the show before The Beatles existed," and it was based on his time as an itinerant musician more interested in having fun than in earning a living. Raybert Productions sold the idea to Screen Gems, and the band that they created was The Monkees.

Rafelson and Schneider won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series as producers in 1967. He has cited the series' "radically different way of cutting and doing a half-hour comedy because there were interviews that were interspersed [and] there was documentary footage."

He was nominated for an Oscar for Five Easy Pieces and had a long, successful career, retiring in 2002. He passed from cancer in 2022.

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That's a wrap on the Fifth Monkee feature in the blog. I feel like this P.S. to the post is kind of like the end credits to the Christmas episode, where they gave shout-outs to the crew, including the girls in the front office. 

Who else would I have included? Character actors like Butch Patrick, Vincent Beck, Art Lewis, Rip Taylor, Mike Farrell, Richard Kiel, and Len Lesser who had a late career revival as Uncle Leo on Seinfeld. 

Speaking of, other guests who had notable careers like Joey Forman (comedian), Alex Hay (model), Heather North (voice actress), Billie Hayes (dancer), Carl Ballantine (Magician), Paul Mazursky (director), Bobby Sherman (singer), David Draper (bodybuilding), Liberace (musician), and Anita Mann (choreographer).

James Frawley, who voiced Mr. Schneider and was a producer/ director for the show, should be mentioned. 

Credit to the Wrecking Crew who provided backing tracks. Producer Chip Douglas. I didn't know Glen Campbell, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young played on Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd.! And special recognition to Jack Nicholson who helped produce and write the movie Head.