Koenig revealed Chekov was supposed to resemble Jones. “The character was inspired by Davy Jones from The Monkees and for the first six or seven episodes I wore a wig — a woman’s wig for that matter and I wore that until my hair grew out and then it was my hair — until I started to lose it and we went back to a hairpiece!” Koenig recalled.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Koening further discussed how Jones inspired Chekov. “He inspired the studio,” Koening said. “They were looking for somebody that was somewhat like him and that appealed to the same category as him, and it had the desired response. I got an enormous amount of fan mail from kids 8-12, generally on lined paper in pencil.” Related
Thanks for this! I’ve always been aware of The Monkees, and the fact that they hit popularity around the same time that TOS was aired. It is a shame about what happened with The Monkees, though. They eventually really proved themselves musically.
Even in the early days, they had a strong stable of songwriters, including folks like Carole King and Neil Diamond. They were a manufactured band, to be sure, but they were manufactured from solid parts.
Have you ever seen Head? It was a movie The Monkees made in the late 60s that was co-written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Bob Rafelson, who also directed Five Easy Pieces. It’s utterly insane and anarchic. Their songs were their own in that film. A lot of people hate it because there’s no plot and nothing makes sense. But that’s why I love it.
Definitely. Help! came out three years earlier and had already upped the surreality factor from A Hard Day’s Night. And then everyone started doing LSD…
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