The Monkees TV Show aired on US TV for the very first time on Sept 7th 1966. For Christmas 1966 I received my very first record player, which was green and beige. The Monkees TV show was first shown on British TV on New Year's Day 1967, on BBC TV, and each and every Saturday evening at 6.45 pm until 7.10 pm. Some of the evening shows back then included "Juke Box Jury", where panalists voted new singles a hit or a miss, and Dee Time with Simon Dee, which Davy also guested on. Remember these shows were in glorious black and white (B/W). Back then, I was hooked on the Monkees - Davy and Micky in particular. In Jan 1967 I was in a store with my Dad and I bought the "I'm a Believer" single. I can remember a poster in the store promoting the single, my Dad knew the owner, if I had only asked him to keep that poster for me. What a collector's item that would have turned out to be! Still I was only 10 years old at that time, and couldn't wait for each Saturday night to watch the Monkees on TV. In January 1967 "I'm a Believer' was No 1 for 4 weeks and sold 400,000 copies in its first week of release, an unheard of amount at that time.

On May 13th 2003 Rhino in the US released the long awaited Monkees Season One on 6 DVD discs Cat No R2 976076. The discs housed in a replica of an old 60's record player, very similar to the one I had back in '66. There is a wonderful booklet and the 6 DVD discs are housed in replica 60's record sleeves. The discs all have grooves just like a record.

Disc One, episodes 1-6, replica sleeve of US Colgems "Last Train to Clarksville" - special features include, commetaries on "Royal Flush" by Director Jim Frawley and Davy.

Disc Two, episodes 7-12, includes commentary on "I've Got a Little Song Here" by Mike. All episodes in the set feature the Season One opening clips. This sleeve is a replica of the Spanish"I'm a Believer" single.

Disc Three, episodes 13-18, has replica sleeve of Australian "I Wanna Be Free" and includes commentary on "Too Many Girls" by Davy.

Disc 4, episodes 19-24, is replica of "I Wanna Be Free/Monkee Theme" from Japan. This disc has play songs only and 5.1 audio and no other special features.

Disc 5, episodes 25-30, is a replica sleeve of "A Little Bit Me" 4 Track EP from France and has play songs only and 5.1 audio as the only special features.

And Disc 6, episodes 31-32 and Bonus Features, has a replica sleeve of an Australian 4 track EP. This disc has the most special features, which include separate commentaries on "Monkees on tour" by Mike, Peter and Bobby Hart. This disc includes the original unaired "pilot" episode 16mm version which is from the collection of Bobby Hart, and has only ever been available firstly as part of the Monkees complete TV episodes video box 21 tape set released by Rhino Cat No R32960; which incidentially is now popping up like daffodils on Ebay. And secondly as part of a rare Australian Monkees Limited Edition nostalgic 2 video box set pack, Cat No 3984237433, released by Warner Music Vision Australia in 1995. This Pilot has a completely different opening and closing footage, superb. Disc 6 also includes - Monkees Discography and memorabilia gallery, a super interview by Bobby Hart, and vintage Kelloggs commercials, two of which I've never seen before.

Several episodes on this box set feature Kelloggs commercials on them, and a couple of "Black Label by Yardley" plugs on the end of some episodes, two of the shows sponsors back in the 60's. The thing I like about this set is you can choose your favourite episode and play it. There is a superb episode trivia for each episode, very interesting they are too. As with viewing the discography, it is better to use the zoom on your remote. Some of the episodes are not top grade picture quality, but are the original 35mm tapes that Rhino owns, and considering they are some
35 years old you can't complain.

This box set is an absolute must for all Monkee fans. One of the nicest items I have seen in a long time. Only disappointment is Micky is the only Monkee not to give any commentary on any of these episodes, in the Season One set. Still that will be resolve when Rhino releases the Season Two DVD Box set in time for Christmas 2003. Now a Christmas with Season 2 Box Set under my tree and outside is snowy white, will turn out just right.

Review by Kevin Findlay