This story was inspired by about a million goofy commercials!
"Yeah," Davy Jones agreed. "We 'aven't got a gig in days!"
"Maybe there's something good on TV," Peter Tork suggested.
"It's worth a shot, I guess," Mike Nesmith said slowly.
Peter snapped on the TV. "Hey, where's the channel changer?" he asked.
"Over here, Pete," Micky replied, waving it around.
The picture on the TV began to focus. A baby was sitting in his high chair, watching his mother attempt to fix him a bowl of ice cream. Apparently, the freezer had been working very well—the mother could hardly dig the scoop into the carton.
"Another commercial," Micky groaned.
Suddenly, the whole carton soared out of the mother's hands, through the kitchen window, around the neighborhood, and back in through another window—where it plopped into the baby's dish.
The Monkees snorted. "Oh, now that's a goofy one," Mike commented. "That's about the silliest I've seen yet!"
"Change the channel, Micky," Davy encouraged.
Micky pressed the button on the channel changer. Now they were looking at Witch Hazel, cackling as she rode by on her broom. Various other Halloweenish creatures flew into the sky to join her, and the words, "A Halloween Reunion" appeared on the screen in blood red.
Peter grabbed a pillow and covered his eyes.
"Hey, this doesn't look too bad," Micky said.
"Uh uh," Mike said, shaking his head. "It'll give Peter nightmares."
"Aw, it's just a cartoon," Micky protested. "It won't give you nightmares, will it, Pete?"
Peter slowly lowered the pillow. "Well, I don't know . . ." he said hesitatingly.
"Let's try it," Davy urged.
Mike sighed. "Well . . . alright," he finally agreed.
They watched for a little while. Peter was actually starting to relax and enjoy it. Mike adjusted his woolhat and shook his head. "I can't believe we're sitting here watching a cartoon show about Witch Hazel, of all things!" he muttered.
The screen went blank and an advertisement for JC Penney's came on. "Commercial break," Micky stated, grabbing the channel changer.
"Why don't you see if you can find something more sensible to watch?" Mike asked.
"I was actually starting to enjoy the cartoon," Peter protested.
"We'll come back to it after the commercial," Micky suggested.
The next channel up featured a young married couple looking dreamily into each other's eyes.
"'ey, this looks promising," Davy said.
The romantic moment was shattered when the husband was suddenly hit with green peas. The camera panned backward to reveal a kitchen setting, where the baby was playing with his food.
Micky burst out laughing.
"Try the next channel, Micky," Mike suggested.
"The cartoon's probably back by now," Davy said.
Micky flipped back to the channel showing the Halloween Reunion. It was just returning. All the Halloween creatures were holding a party.
"Of all the nutty . . ." Mike muttered.
Suddenly the familiar strains of a song echoed throughout the room.
The Monkees looked at each other in shock. "Hey, it's us!" Peter exclaimed. The song "Let's Dance On" began.
Mike bolted up out of his chair and stared at the TV set. "It is us!" he said in disbelief.
"Hey, who's singing this groovy song?" a girl ghost asked a talking black cat.
The black cat stopped dancing long enough to reply, "A new group out of Malibu called The Monkees."
"Wow!" Micky gasped. "This is great publicity!"
"Yeah," Davy agreed. "Maybe this'll be our big break!"
Shortly afterward, the TV show ended. The Monkees, still more than a little shocked at what they had seen, looked for something else to watch.
"Let's see what the next show on this channel will be," Peter said.
And so they waited. Before long, an oversized brown paper lunch bag wearing a mask and cape flew onto the screen and the title, "The Adventures of Lunch Bag Man" flashed across the top.
"‘Lunch Bag Man'?" Mike repeated in disbelief. "Give me a break!"
The other Monkees were cracking up. Micky reached for the channel changer.
The next channel showed a closeup of a kitchen table after a party. Leftovers were everywhere. Suddenly, a chorus of whistles started up, and a whole line of plastic sandwich bags marched across the countertop.
Micky and Davy snickered at Mike's appalled expression. Peter grabbed the channel changer and pressed the button.
Now they were looking at an overflowing garbage can in a kitchen. The stick figure family in the picture on the fridge looked at the can, horrified.
"What's this supposed to be?" Mike demanded.
"An advertisement for some kinda stuff that makes your house smell good," Davy replied.
Throughout the next few minutes, they went through all the rest of the channels. Among other things, they encountered a man covered in magnets hitching a ride on the back of a car, a whole field of dandelions with pollen dancing through the sky, and the contents of a medicine cabinet doing a tap dance around the bathroom sink.
Mike finally leaped up, throwing his hands up in the air. "There's nothing sensible to watch!" he exclaimed.
"I think you're right, Mike," Micky agreed, turning off the TV.
"Why don't we go practice that new song you wrote, Mike?" Peter suggested.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Davy agreed. "Maybe it'll get on TV, too."
Micky nodded. "You havta admit, Mike, it was pretty groovy to see our song turn up on TV!"
Mike didn't say anything, but his friends could tell he was pleased.
The Monkees made their way to the bandstand and practiced long into the night.
"I'm bored," Micky Dolenz declared, plopping down on the couch.
