Monday, May 26, 2025

"Monkees in Texas"

This morning, I watched "Monkees in Texas" and noticed a variation of a joke that's also in "Monkees a la Mode."  Both seem to be adapted from the Marx Brothers' A Day at the Races (1937).  Early in the episode, the Monkees grab guns to join the shootout at Aunt Kate's ranch, and each announces to the camera what type of gun he has:
Micky:  "Winchester 73"
 
Davy:  "Colt 45"
 
Mike:  "Smith and Wesson 38"
But then Peter breaks this pattern with "Vintage '66," holding up a bottle of what is presumably champagne.

As I wrote about with "Monkees a la Mode," the same sort of joke is in A Day at the Race, where three doctors step forward to introduce themselves and give their credentials:
Johnson, Bellevue Hospital, 1918

Franco, Johns Hopkins, '22

Wilmerding, Mayo Brothers, '24
But then Groucho, as Dr. Hackenbush, gives the model and year of his car:  "Dodge Brothers, late '29."