The Monkees On The Line

Written by Gerald Gardner, Dee Caruso& Coslough Johnson

Directed by James Frawley

Produced by Robert Rafelson&Bert Schneider

Song: "Lookout (Here Comes Tomorrow)" by Neil Diamond

Guest Appearances

Ellen                             Susan Browning

Manny                                Milton Frome

Arnold                                    Tom Bellin

Drehdal                             Helen Winston

Mr. Smith                        Richard O'Brien

Mrs. Smith                            Lea Marmer

Director                                Jack Donner

Premiered on March 27, 1967

Summary

At the Monkees pad, after everybody is too be busy to answer the phone, a frustrated Mike calls a meeting complaining about being out of work for three or four weeks since no one answers the phone when they're home or they be out when it rings.  So he decides that they should sign up for an answering service but when Mike calls them up there's no answer.

At the Urgent Answering Service, The Monkees try to get a cut rate for the services since they can't afford to pay the whole amount until they get jobs.  However, Mrs. Drehdal, an employee offers them a job for a free answering service instead. The Monkees are hesitant until in a fantasy sequence, she as the statue of liberty gives a moving monologue about why the importantce of working for the Urgent Answering Service sending the guys to tears.  When she hires them, she warns them not to get involved with the clients . Then Mike gets the first shift so Mrs. Drehdal sends him straight to work as she prepares for her vacation in Jamaica.  Before she leaves, she tells Mike the red button on the wall is in case he gets tired and sets off.  Mike being curious presses the red button and a bed emerges from the wall.  When he answers the first call it's from a woman Ellen Farnsby who claims she's planning on committing suicide.  Soon several phones ring and in between answering calls and taking messages and still trying to convince the woman out of suicide, Mike becomes confused and exhausted.  After passing out from exhausting, Davy, Micky and Peter now donned up as surgeons manage to revive Mike by squirting him with seltzer water.  After he snaps out of it, Mike tells them about Ellen's suicide call and manges to find her address.  He and Micky then set off to find her leaving  Davy and Peter to answer the excessive ringing phones until exhausting. 

Davy finds a message asking a Mr. Smith to call Zelda Baby and since Mr. Smith hasn't called in yet to ask for the message he decides to deliver it himself.  When he arrives at the Smith's apartment, Mr. Smith, a policeman claims he doesn't know a Zelda but his jealous wife doesn't believe him and begins chasing him around and soon Mr. Smith chases Davy  and then Davy chases a half naked woman with a towel around the hall starting a row.  Meanwhile, Micky and Mike enter Ellen's apartment to find the place full of knives and ropes and they find two suicide notes.  Then they search through her address book and learn she's at the theatre soon on their way.  At the theatre, Ellen who is actually an actress playing a part is rehearsing the scene she tried with Mike while the director continues to encourage her to live the part. 

Back at the Answering Service, Peter receives a call from Manny Spink claiming to be a theatrical booking agent who tells him to give a message to Freddie that he has a booking for The Popsicles, a vocal group on the third and pay $10,000.  Then Manny, who's really a bookie brags to his sidekick Arthur of his plan to place gambling bets using the answering service by pretending that the horses are a vocal group.  Mike and Micky arrive at the theatre and ask to the director about Ellen who tells them that she's departed----to her apartment.  Micky decides to relieve Peter who upon pressing the red button winds up on the bed that emerges while Mike heads back to Ellen's apartment.  Meanwhile Davy is still in the middle of a huge chase at the apartment complex that now consists of the Smiths, a track runner, football player, the half naked lady and a gorilla!   He's finally able to make his escape and heads back to the Answering Service.  Mike shows up at Ellen's place where she has a noose around her neck and continues to play the part as a suicidal woman.  Mike manages (or so he thinks) to stop her from jumping out a window, stabbing herself, taking pills and hanging herself before receving a call from Davy and Micky about Peter's whereabouts.

Davy and Micky search more for Peter  and stumble upon him when they press the red button, only to find him now sleeping on the emerging bed.   Mean-while, Mike believing he's convinced Ellen not to do anything until tomorrow leaves her alone at her pad.  At the Answering Service, Manny and Arthur arrive with guns and after exposing his scheme he accuses someone at the service of fouling up his bet by changing it to the Pelicans and Peter admits he changed it thinking it was a gig since the Pelicans needed the work.  Since it cost Manny $90,000 he demands the money but the guys only have $8.12.   Manny and Arthur are prepared to get rough, when a uniformed Mr. Smith shows up with his wife demanding Davy to tell his wife that message he gave him wasn't for him.  Davy exposes the two crooks sheme to the cop and soon there's a mad chase to song "Lookout (Here Comes Tomorrow) while the phones continue ringing which ends with the two criminals trapped underneath the receiver of a giant telephone.  As Mr. Smith arrests Manny and Arthur, Davy convinces Mrs. Smith that the message was from another Mr. Smith after all.

The guys ask about Ellen and when Mike brags about how came to her rescue, she barges into the place now dressed in a mink coat to thank Mike for helping her rehearse for a play before rushing off leaving Mike a little embarrassed.  Peter reminds them of the bright side claiming what would have happened if they had gotten involved with the clients and the annoyed guys places his hands over his eyes before exiting.

Trivia Notes

This episode was the final episode to be filmed for the first season.

This episode was loosely based on the MGM’s 1960 musical “Bells Are Ringing”

which co-starred two Monkees guest appearances actors Don Cart and Milton Parsons.

On the CBS Saturday afternoon repeat of this episode, the song

“Lookout (Here Come Tomorrow) is replaced by Micky Dolenz’s

song “Little Girl” from the Monkees eighth album “The Monkees

"Present Micky, David and Michael”.

An alternate ending of this episode has the Monkees getting a

good lead on a job but finds that the answering service didn’t

get the address.

The late actor Milton Frome (Manny Spink) also appeared in another

Monkees episode during the second season “The Monkees

Blow Their Minds” as Dr. Latham. He also portrayed Lawrence

Chapman on CBS’s classic sitcom “The Beverly Hillbillies”.

Late actress Helene Winston (Mrs. Drehdal) also appeared as Big Flora

in a previous episode “Monkees A La Carte”.

Actress Susan Browning(Ellen) portrayed Pat Gimble in “Mary Hartman,

Mary Hartman”.