Every ‘Monkees’ Episode: “The Prince and the Paupers” (S1E21)
This past summer, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Monkees as a band by counting down our top 50 Monkees songs. Now, we’re celebrating The Monkees TV show by profiling each and every episode — exactly 50 years after it first premiered.
Tonight’s episode: “The Prince and the Paupers” (Season 1, Episode 21)
Air date: February 6, 1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JRtrFU-kUc
This episode finds our heroes in a comic adaptation of Mark Twain’s 1882 book The Prince and the Pauper, a story of two kids — an unhappy young, rich noble and a poor urchin dreaming of a better life — switching places. Writers Gerald Gardner and Dee Caruso give us double the Davy, with Jones playing both boys.
Badly needing a gig, the Monkees audition for an embassy ball for a country known as “Peruvia.” Though it has a name similar to an existing South American country, some characters have a Germanic accent, others British, others American. This is a very multicultural place! Maybe a tax haven in Europe?
At the audition, Max, the aid to the country’s nefarious Count Myron, meets Davy and mistakes him for Prince Ludlow, the head of the country, who by law must wed by the age of 18 or give up the throne to the scheming count.
The actual Prince Ludlow then enters the scene, and Max is astounded to see that David and the prince are identical. He tells the count about this amazing incident.
Ludlow tells Davy about his marriage predicament and admits to being shy around girls. His unluckiness in love has also been the product of a plan concocted by his evil uncle; the longer the prince is single, the closer the count is to the throne. The count tells Max of his greatest success, warding off a certain Wendy Forsythe, who likes the prince, by telling her how Ludlow is “a sly, malicious, pathological liar who is also a sadist.”
When Wendy arrives, Ludlow asks Davy to change places with him, as he’s too nervous to speak to her.
Always up for a fun scheme, the guys agree to the impersonation. Wendy tries to break up with her prince (actually Davy), but the ever-charming Mr. Jones has other plans. He woos Wendy back and, at the prince’s urging, asks her to marry him. But rascally Max, Count Myron’s henchman, has secretly overheard all and phones the count to tell him his plan might be in jeopardy.
Peter and Micky then take the Prince back to their place with the intention of teaching him how to woo a girl, enlisting the aid of a stand-in named Gloria — a similar scenario to the episode “One Man Shy” (aka: “Peter and the Debutante”), where Peter is similarly tutored.
(Digressing just a bit: the jacket worn by the Courtier may look familiar to many of our readers. It was the one worn by William Campbell in the original Star Trek series episode “The Squire of Gothos” where he played Trelane. The coat was made by Western Costume Company and was also worn by Jim Backus in Gilligan’s Island.)
Wendy pens a note to Ludlow declaring her love for him, but Max snags it before the Prince sees it. He then enlists a chemist to put poison on the tip of his foil for an upcoming fencing exercise with the prince, planning to kill him to make extra sure the count’s ultimate plans aren’t foiled (foiled… get it?). But the bad guys are thwarted once again as the swords are dropped during the fight and Davy picks up the poison-tip one, forcing Max to flee.
Davy knew that danger was afoot for Ludlow and Wendy after he accidentally touched the tip of the foil to a potted plant, and the plant immediately shriveled up and died. So our romantic hero (still posing as the prince) tells the count to immediately prepare for the wedding ceremony.
Mike calls Peter and Micky to bring the real prince to a reception that night, but when they arrive, the count pulls a gun and throws the real prince into the dungeon while threatening the Monkees with death if they reveal anything.
At the wedding ceremony, the count appears and tells the gathering that unfortunately, the prince has been called back home on some state matter. As the crowd murmurs and mumbles among themselves, Davy, still dressed as the prince, enters to state the marriage will go on. At the same time, Micky and Peter run down to the dungeon to free the real prince.
Down in the dungeon, Peter and Micky confront the burly guard in charge of the Prince’s cell. In typical Monkees’ fashion, the two ask the guard if he has seen Road to Morocco, the 1942 Bing Crosby/Bob Hope “road” film in which they foil a similar guard with a game of “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man.” When he says no, they do the routine and knock the guy out with a double punch.
Upstairs, Michael stalls the wedding until the guys arrive from the dungeon. Then, the real fun begins. The prince takes Davy’s place, the priest begins the vows, and the Monkees begin a romp reminiscent of the pie fight in the Tony Curtis/Jack Lemon picture The Great Race, albeit without the pies. In this case, the guys fling smaller food items and cake at the Count and Max, distracting them as the vows are completed.
Playing over this scene is the sublime Michael Nesmith-penned “Mary, Mary,” one of my favorite Monkees songs. Nesmith said of the song, “That song was written to be a hit. I knew it would be a hit. I never once thought of me doing the lead on that one. Micky was my choice for that.” And he does gives us a cool vocal of a guy pining for a girl, searching for and wishing he could be with her. In my estimation, Micky had one of the best rock ‘n’ roll voices of the ’60s and is underrated to this day.
After the wedding, our villains are roped up like steers and taken away. Back at their pad, the guys read the newspaper and see that the prince and Wendy are happy in their new-found bliss.
Mike sees that Davy is sad and tries to tell him that another girl will come along, but he’s not convinced. (After all, Wendy fell in love with Davy, not the prince.) The guys leave David to his thoughts and just then a blonde approaches from outside and
The guys leave Davy to his thoughts. Just then, a blonde approaches from outside and tells him she’s from Teen Tale magazine and wants to interview the group.
Davy removes her sunglasses and is shocked she is an exact double of Wendy. He turns to the camera and smiles and then sits her down and kisses her. Happy ending!
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Guy Smiley