"Monkees in the Ring"

Backdated, archival post

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I noticed a couple things yester-day when I watched "Monkees in the Ring."

There's a running gag where the Monkees mis-name a character, saying "Shylock" instead of "Sholto."  I'm not sure, but I think this is a reference to the character Shylock in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.  I haven't read it for a couple years, but from what I remember Shylock - like Sholto - is something of a scheming character.  He's definitely the antagonist in the play.

The other thing I noticed is that in the background of a scene, Peter plays a bit of Bach on the banjo.  It's commonly referred to as "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," but originally, the melody is in the 7th and 10th movements of Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147.

"Monkees in the Ring"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Monkees in the Ring" - the twentieth episode of The Monkees series - was broadcast fifty years ago to-day (30 January 1967).  It was written by Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso, directed by James Frawley, and featured the songs "Laugh" and "I'll Be Back up on My Feet."  Sandoval describes the plot as: "A shady promoter enters Davy into the ring as an unlikely boxing champion."