Monday, December 13, 2021
Disney Orders Traditional Sitcom Meet the Mayhems; Remembering Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

Disney Branded Television has begun production in Los Angeles on Meet the Mayhems, an original live-action comedy series about a family of raucous supervillains who recently ran afoul of the League of Villains and now must somehow beat a path to normalcy in a small Texas town. The series is scheduled to premiere in summer 2022 on Disney Channel and Disney+ platforms around the world. Meet the Mayhems was created by Chris Peterson and Bryan Moore, who are also its executive producers and showrunners. At the center of the story is teenage Havoc, who stands up against the leader of all villains, forcing her entire family to change their identities and relocate to a Texas suburb where she now goes by the name Amy. With the help of her effervescent new neighbor Hartley, she must somehow hide her superpowers and quell her villainous nature in favor of something she's fought against all her life — being normal.
Meet the Mayhems stars Isabella Pappas (Finding Alice) as Amy/Havoc, Lucy Davis (Wonder Woman) as Eva/Surge, James Patrick Stuart (General Hospital) as Vic/Kraniac, Malachi Barton (Disney Channel's Stuck in the Middle) as Colby/Flashform, Reed Horstmann (The Expanding Universe of Ashley Garcia) as Jake/Chaos and newcomer Kayden Muller-Janssen as Hartley. Patricia Belcher (The Week of) recurs as Celia.
Musician, songwriter, actor, and producer Michael Nesmith, who was best known as a member of the pop rock band The Monkees and co-star of the TV series The Monkees, has died. He died from heart failure at his home in Carmel Valley, California, on December 10. Mr. Nesmith was 78.
The Monkees were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider specifically for the sitcom The Monkees. Davy Jones had a long-term contract with Screen Gems to appear in television programs. He was shortlisted for the auditions and identified in advance as a potential star for the series. Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter ran an ad to cast the remainder of the band/cast members for the TV series on September 8-10, 1965. Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork were chosen out of 437 applicants. Nesmith had been working as a musician since early 1963 and had been recording and releasing music under various names, including Michael Blessing and "Mike & John & Bill" and had studied drama in college. In October 1965, Nesmith landed the role as the wool hat-wearing guitar player "Mike" in the show.
The Monkees premiered on NBC on September 12, 1966. The series follows the adventures of four young men (The Monkees) trying to make a name for themselves as a rock 'n roll band. Mike ("Wool Hat") was the smart and serious one who played the guitar. Although the series ran for only two seasons (1966 to 1968) and 58 episodes, it remains hugely popular to this day. They received two Emmy Awards in 1967: Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy (James Frawley). Nesmith wrote and directed the 1997 ABC comedy special Hey, Hey, It's the Monkees. It was the last time all four of the original Monkees appeared together in a new television program.
The band was originally active from 1966 to 1971. They released six albums, four of which went to No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Some of their big hits included: (Theme From) The Monkees; Last Train to Clarksville; I'm a Believer; (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone; A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You; Pleasant Valley Sunday; Daydream Believer; and Valleri. In 1968, they appeared in the feature film Head. They appeared in the 1969 NBC TV special 33 1⁄3 Revolutions per Monkee. The band reunited in 1986 and toured intermittently with different lineups for a number of years.
Nesmith continued his successful songwriting and performing career, first with the seminal country rock group the First National Band, with whom he had a top-40 hit, "Joanne." His songwriting credits include "Different Drum", which became a hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys.
He founded Pacific Arts, a multimedia production and distribution company, in 1974, through which he helped pioneer the music video format. He created one of the first television programs dedicated to music videos, PopClips, which aired on Nickelodeon from 1980 to 1981. In 1981, he wrote and produced Elephant Parts, an one hour long with parody commercials and comedy sketches, and features five full-length music videos. Elephant Parts won the first Grammy in the Music Video category in 1981.
Nesmith created the short-lived 1985 NBC comedy-variety series Michael Nesmith in Television Parts. The show was a mix of music videos (by both himself and others) mixed in with comedy sketches, commercial parodies, and general silliness. Guest appearances included Martin Mull, Whoopi Goldberg, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling and Arsenio Hall.
He guest starred as the father of the mayor (Kyle MacLachlan) of Portland, Oregon, in a 2014 episode of Portlandia. Some of his film appearances included Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann (1982), Repo Man (1984), Burglar (1987) and Tapeheads (1988). He was the executive producer for the films Repo Man, Tapeheads, and Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann. He also did the music score for Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann.
Mr. Nesmith was a man of many talents. He was still touring last month with Micky Dolenz, who is sadly now the last surviving member of The Monkees. They deserve to be in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. We thank him for the music and entertainment he brought us during his career. He will be greatly missed.
Share your memories on our The Monkees message board. View photos in our galleries.
MeTV aired four episodes of The Monkees as a tribute on December 12. Decades will be doing a two day binge (84 episodes) of The Monkees starting at noon on Saturday, December 18 until Monday, December 20 at 6am.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, April 21
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Your Own Medicine" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
After Dave’s disastrous attempt to dunk a basketball, Calvin takes care of his injured neighbor. Also, Gemma befriends a cool mom group while babysitting Daphne.
Poppa's House - "Babygirl" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Junior’s sister, Natalie (Amora Wayans), visits and reveals her engagement, he insists that she make up with their father, whom she still blames for their parents’ divorce.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 21)
Monday, April 21
- Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) - Watch Quinta on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) - Hannah is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Nathan Lane (Mid-Century Modern/Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Anna Camp (Perfect Harmony/Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt/The Mindy Project) and Milana Vayntrub (Other Space) - Anna and Milana are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Christopher Meloni (Happy/Surviving Jack/Misery Loves Company/The Fanelli Boys) - E! News has an interview with Christopher at 11pm on E!. He will also be on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - Gayle King sits down with George on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Penn Badgley (Do Over) - Penn talks about You on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) - Eva stops by Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Annaleigh Ashford (B Positive) - Annaleigh chats with the hosts on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Justina Machado (One Day at a Time) - NBC's Today catches up with Justina in the 9am hour.
- Sarah Jessica Parker (And Just Like That.../Divorce/Sex and the City/Square Pegs) - NBC's Today catches up Sarah in the 10am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - Chloe Fineman joins Drew and Valerie in the kitchen to share a delicious recipe on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Amy Schumer (Life & Beth), Jillian Bell (Bless the Harts/Idiotsitter/Eastbound & Down/Workaholics) and Brianne Howey (Dollface) - Amy, Jillian and Brianne about starring in Netflix's new comedy Kinda Pregnant on a repeat of Sherri, so check your local listings.
- James Brolin (Life in Pieces) - James talks about Netflix's Ransom Canyon on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
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