SEPTEMBER 12, 1966 – NBC aired the pilot episode of “The Monkees” TV show. The Monkees story began in 1965, when Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, a pair of producers, came up with an idea for a television series about a rock group. Inspired by Richard Lester’s groundbreaking comedies with the Beatles, “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” Rafelson and Schneider imagined a situation comedy in which a four-piece band had wacky adventures every week and occasionally burst into song.





