Hitting The High Seas
Written by Jack Winter
Directed by James Frawley
Produced by Robert Rafelson&Bert Schneider
Songs: “Daydream Believer” by John Stewart, “Star Collector” by Gerry Griffin&Carole King
Guest Appearances
Captain Chip Rafferty
Frank Ted De Corsia
Harry Noam Pitlik
Mayberry Leslie Randall
Premiered on November 27, 1967
Summary
Micky, Davy and Peter are drowning their sorrows at a bar with buttermilk after half the audience (one patron) walks out on their performance at a waterfront café costing them their jobs. Then they overhear two rough looking sailors, Harry Hooker and Frank Reynolds discussing needing some guys for a job that consists of them being strong, good with their hands and having knowledge of the seven seas. Upon hearing this, the guys try to impress the men by showing these abilities with Micky breaking a chair, Davy juggling and Peter naming the seven seas. Harry suggests the guys but Frank doesn’t think the look like sailors and in seconds the guys present themselves as sailor uniforms and are hired for $15. Then their told to report to pier 3 at 6 A.M. the next morning. The guys celebrate getting a job declaring themselves the fastest talking, cleverest and sure to sail the high seas. Meanwhile, Harry and Frank tell their boss on the phone that they got the dumbest, dullest suckers in the world.
The next morning, all four of the Monkees arrive onboard a ship and are soon giving the task of hoisting the mainsail only to cause it crashing down. Whne they feel seasick due to the rocking, Mike takes some seasick pills from Micky causing to be real sick he so the guys send him to the galley to rest (for the remainder of the episode). Mean-while now a trio, the guys are called for roll call but Peter is detained when he's lifted in the air from holding on to the rope during hoisting the mainsail. With the Captain now present, Harry gives roll call but the Micky and Davy’s ignorance gets them in trouble. Then Peter is spotted on top of the pole and when he's ordered down, he winds up landing head first in a cannon. The the Captain orders the guys to cut their long hair which they refuse(they’ll lose their strength) and as punishment for disobeying orders, he orders them to be keelhauled and lashed ten times for insubordination and ten more times if they laugh. Davy claims this punishment against Naval law and when the captain asks who he is, Davy tells him his name. Upon learning his name is Davy Jones(as in Davy Jones’ Locker), the Captain spares the guys since he's feeling lucky to have Davy on his ship. He then orders Micky and Peter to swab the deck but promotes Davy as his cabin boy and orders him to the galley.
At the galley, Davy carries a tray of the captain’s lunch to the captain after entering the wrong cabins, first Micky’s as Captain Ahab still looking for the great whale Moby Dick, Peter as Giacoma Casanova forcefully seducing a damsel, and Micky as a groovy trumpet playing Captain Hornblower. When he finally enters the Captain’s cabin, the Captain quickly orders him out claiming he’s in a middle of a conference. A curious Davy peeks in and sees the Captain talking to his parrot, Horace about two million dollars in gold which convinces Davy that he’s gone crackers. After informing the others what he overheard, they want find out more so they decide to sneak into the Captain’s cabin later that night as the Captain sleeps. Then with Peter taping the parrot's beak shut, Micky impersonates the parrot as he grills the Captain about the plan. The captain angrily reveals about how he was Captain of the Queen Anne for thirty years when they sacked him and in revenge, he plans to hijack the ship.
The next morning on deck, Micky tries to convince the others it’s all a fantasy until they see the Captain and the other crew members in pirate gear carrying swords and soon they hoist the Jolly Roger and unwrap a cannon. Back in their cabin, the guys try to come up with a plan to stop the crew from hijacking the Queen Anne and decide to incite a mutiny. Peter whispers to each of the crew members and soon Micky makes a speech to the guys before he informs the Captain of a mutiny and orders him to hand over his sword. When the captain refuses, he orders the men to seize him but they don’t do anything since Peter only mumbled in the ears. The Captain grabs Micky while Davy and Peter try to play innocent but they're exposed as accomplices and the captain orders them to the planks. Soon they're on the planks as the captain declares them guilty of insubordination to a commanding officer, inspiring to mutiny and impersonating a parrot and forces them to walk the plank. Micky and Davy stall a little by pretending there's a secret interesting the Captain until Peter gives them away. Then the guys are saved when the Queen Anne is spotted and the crew prepare for battle with cannon. The Monkees managed to stop the attack by snatching the cannon away and soon there’s a musical romp to “Daydream Believer” in which they spar off with the crew in swordfights and finally managed to overpower them with fish nets.
After the fiasco, Captain Mayberry thanks the guys for saving the Queen Anne, the gold and its passengers and to reward them he declares them first mates of the ship and presents them as their new captain, Horace the parrot!
This episode ends with all four of the Monkees performing “Star Collector”.
Trivia Notes
This episode was the first of the second season to be produced without
the laugh track.
The original storyline had the Queen Ann named the Queen Elizabeth and an
alternate ending has the Monkees bowling the pirates over with cannonballs.
During filming, Mike got seasick for real causing him to remain out of the
episode for the rests of filming.
The song Micky and Peter sing in the galley is called “Tear The Top Of My Head”
which Peter records three months after this episode aired. It was shelved until the
1991 four CD Monkees box set “Listen To The Band”.
Late actor Ted De Corsia (Frank) also appeared in the Monkees episode “The Devil
and Peter Tork” as Blackbeard, the pirate and would many villainous roles including
Captain Farragut in the 1954’s Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic “20,000 Leagues Under
The Sea”.
Micky provides the screeching voice of Horace the parrot.
Monkees stand-ins John London, David Pearl and David Price had cameos as the
Captain’s seamen.
The CBS Saturday afternoon repeat of this episode had “Daydream Believer”
replaced with “Oh My My”.
The Monkees were taken by the ship used in filming this episode that they made
plans to buy it but unfortunately they watched it sink just before final details
could be drawn up and completed.
