If you've seen Episode #23 of
The Monkees (NBC, 1966-68), \"Captain Crocodile\" (prod. #4730, aired Feb. 23, 1967 [
1st-run] and Jul. 10, 1967 [
repeat]), you will notice the fantasy sequence in which The Monkees parody every type of TV show from news to quiz to crime. Many of you GS maniacs will take notice of the \"quiz\" portion of the sequence, in which two Mark Goodson-Bill Todman golden oldies,
What's My Line? (CBS, 1950-67) and
To Tell The Truth (CBS, 1956-68), are given the royal Monkee treatment.
First is the
What's My Line? spoof:
MICHAEL: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, I'm Mike Nesmith. And on my left is the delightful and charming personality, David Jones!
DAVID: Thank you, Mike!
MICHAEL (to DAVID): No sweat.
DAVID: And on my left is the charming and delightful, Peter Tork!
PETER: Thank you, David! And on my charming and delightful is the left---uh, moderator, Micky Dolenz!
MICKY: Thank you, my charming panel, and now let's play
What's My Scene?! Will our first contestant enter and sign in, please?
[
A person in surgical gear arrives, bows, and writes on a chalkboard, making screeching noises. The writing is all jagged, as if he is writing with the hand which he doesn't use to write, but it can be deciphered to say \"BRAIN SURGEON\".]
Then they change gears and parody
To Tell The Truth.
MICKY: This game isn't any fun! Let's play
To Tell A Fib!
[
Lights darken.]
DAVID JONES #1: My name is David Jones!
DAVID JONES #2:
My name is David Jones!
DAVID JONES #3:
My name is David Jones!
MICKY: Will the
real David Jones, please, stand up?
DAVID JONES #2: I
am standing up.
\"Captain Crocodile\" is available on the Rhino R3 2242 VHS tape (“Captain Crocodile”/“Fairytale”) and on Rhino's Monkees Season 1 DVD Boxed Set (R2 976076).
Check out my
Monkees Film & TV Vault.