Monkee Vs Machine

Written by David Panich

Directed by Robert Rafelson

Produced by Robert Rafelson&Bert Schneider

Songs: “Saturday’s Child” by David Gates “Take The Last Train To Clarksville”

by Tommy Boyce&Bobby Hart

Guest Appearances

                              J.B. Guggins Jr.              Severn Darden

                              Pop Harper                   Walter Janowitz

                              Miss Zuckerman            Dorothy Konrad

                              Secretary                       Elaine Fielding

                              Daggart                             Stan Freberg

Premiered September 26, 1966

Summary

At the Monkees' pad, the group are searching in the Wanted Ads for work to pay rent after a nasty phone call from their landlord.  They find an ad in the paper for a position in a toy company that doesn’t require any training or experience and select Peter to apply since he’s the only one qualified.

At the company, Peter is interviewed by a talking DJ-61 computerized machine (since they avoid the human error).  After a few mess ups from Peter, the machine gets all the information wrong and rejects him.  Peter is upset about failing to get the job and explains to Mike exactly what happened.  Then Mike goes to the toy company and confronts the machine where he turns the tables on it by asking the machine the same questions and deliberately gets information wrong causing it to explode.  Daggart, the company’s manager arrives and is impressed by Mike that he hires him on the spot.  He then introduces Mike to the company’s president, J.B. Guggins Jr.  Guggins who inherited his late father’s company appears to be a spineless man who agrees with whatever Daggart says.  While intrudcing Mike to his other computers, he meets Pop Harper, the company’s elderly toy designer. The old man tries to show Daggart his latest invention, a toy that can assume any shape or form.  However, the ambitious Daggart prefers the new computerized toys created by the company over the hand made ones Pop Harper has made over the years and fires him declaring him a has been.  Back at the pad, Mike is still feeling guilty over Pop Harper’s firing and the others try to cheer him up by playing the musical number “Saturday’s Child” while romping around with children in a playground, riding on unicycles and motorcycles.  Mike wants to help the old man get his job back and remembering that the company is testing the new toys by using a panel of children, he comes up with an idea.

At the panel, Micky, Davy, and Peter take turns disguising themselves as a child and mother (and kicking Daggart in the shin) with first Davy a child and Peter a mother.  As the children test the toys Davy distracts the class by playing with a yo-yo and when Daggart takes it away it causes a raucous in the room.  Next, it’s Micky as a child and Davy the mom and while the children are playing, Micky causes the next toy to blow up with dynamite.  Last, there’s Peter as a child and Micky the mother and during testing the next toys Peter angers Daggart by playing it wrong which leads to another huge raucous.  After his toy testing proves a failure, Daggart covers by explaining to Guggins that the purpose of the toys to break easily or loose a child’s interest is so that the parents will buy more toys thus tripling their sales.  But Mike reminds Guggins that the real purpose to toy making that the computers can’t give is happiness and he brings Pop Harper in to show him his latest invention making Daggart suspicious. 

When he confronts Micky and Peter still in disguises, Peter inadvertently gives himself away and Daggart takes off their disguises.  He even mistakes a mother of a child as another imposter and rips off her skirt causing the lady to beat him with her purse.  Mike ends up fired as well and later at their home, a depressed Pop Harper tells them to throw his toy away.  However, the toy now shaped like a boomerang keeps coming back whenever they throw it out the window and realizing this they show it to Guggins and demonstrate how it works.  Guggins is impressed by the toy and for once contradicts Daggart’s objection and which he fires the greedy manager and hires Pop Harper as the new general manager of the company.  Mike throws to toy out of the window while trying to think of a name, expecting Peter to catch it in the other window but Peter closes the other window and it crashes in.

Later at their home, Mike is showing the others a DJ-69 computer that Guggins gave them to help them find another job and during a number of “The Last Train To Clarksville” the computer offers several types of jobs from construction workers to fireman and farmers in which none of them appeal to the guys.

Trivia Notes:

On the May 22, 1967 repeat (which was also

when Monkees album “Headquarters” was

released) of this episode it added the song

“You Told Me” by Mike Nesmith.

When it appeared again on the CBS Saturday

Afternoon run it added “Listen To The Band”

also by Mike Nesmith.

In the original storyline, the ending has the landlord

phone the Monkees for rent angered by Peter sending

him a bunch of toys instead of a check.

This episode has Mr. Schneider, their dummy who was

named for their co-creator and co-producer Bert Schnieder

making its appearance.

The voice of the DJ-61 computer was known other than Monkees

Director James Frawley.

Stan Freberg(Daggert) did numerous voice-overs for Looney

Tune Characters between 1944 and 1958 and is best remebered as

the voice of Junyer Bear in Chuck jones "The Three Bear" cartoons.

The late Walter Janowitz(Pop Harper) is best remembered in CBS

classic sitcom "Hogan Heroes" as recurring character Oscar Schnitzer.