Monkees 50th Anniversary celebrations start with a bang: Rhino annou﻿nces expansive Blu-ray limited edition box set, which will include never-before-seen outtakes from "Head"

Monkees 50th Anniversary celebrations start with a bang: Rhino announces expansive Blu-ray limited edition box set, which will include never-before-seen outtakes from "Head"

9/8/2015

On the 50th Anniversary of the initial casting call for The Monkees television series, Rhino Records announced the first of what is promised to be many surprises planned to celebrate The Monkees' 50th Anniversary in 2016:

(Image courtesy of Rhino Entertainment / Click to pre-order)

THE DETAILS

• All 58 episodes, newly remastered in stunning HD from the original negatives for the very first time, plus the 1969 TV Special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee"
• Bonus material featuring commentaries from all four Monkees, original Kellogg’s Monkees commercials, and more
• The 1968 Monkees film "HEAD" in HD with never-before-seen outtakes
• Unique packaging including a 7" of two previously unreleased TV mixes
• Strictly limited to 10,000 individually numbered sets
• Only available at Monkees.com

PRESS RELEASE

50 years ago today on September 8, 1965, when producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider placed a classified ad in The Hollywood Reporter seeking "4 insane boys," they had no idea that they were about to unleash Monkee-mania! But that’s exactly what happened the following year when the first episode of "The Monkees" debuted on NBC on September 12, 1966.

On the 50th anniversary of that fateful casting call, Rhino is excited to announce the upcoming release of the entire series (58 episodes) in stunning high-definition Blu-ray for the very first time, painstakingly restored from the newly located original film negatives. The 10-disc Blu-ray collection will also include the 1968 cult-classic "HEAD," along with many never-before-seen outtakes from the film. It’s the beginning of many surprises planned to celebrate The Monkees’ 50th anniversary in 2016.

While we don't have final package art yet, we will be revealing it soon, along with behind-the-scenes making-of videos and samples of the stunning new transfer vs. the current versions, plus plenty of surprises, like this original TV spot, unseen for nearly 50 years!

Shipping January, THE MONKEES - THE COMPLETE SERIES ON BLU-RAY is now available for pre-order exclusively at Monkees.com. This fan edition is individually numbered and is strictly limited to 10,000 sets – this WILL sell out quickly, so place your pre-order now!

COVER ART

Presenting - the front cover of THE MONKEES - THE COMPLETE SERIES on Blu Ray!The actual photo will be a mounted...
Posted by The Monkees on Monday, December 21, 2015

PREVIOUSLY UNSEEN ORIGINAL TV SPOT

Monkees Original NBC TV Spot
We are kicking off The Monkees 50th anniversary celebration with THE MONKEES - THE COMPLETE SERIES on High-Definition Blu Ray! We've located the original 35mm negatives and are currently remastering the entire series in stunning HD! The set includes all 58 episodes, the "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee" TV special, the cult classic Monkees movie HEAD, never-before-seen HEAD outtakes, original Kellogg's commercials, commentaries and more surprises to be revealed.This deluxe fan edition is strictly limited to 10,000 individually numbered sets and is available ONLY on Monkees.com - not from any store or other online retailer!Pre-order yours now before they're gone! Here's the ONLY place you can get this fantastic set: http://smarturl.it/MonkeesD2CTo whet your appetite, here is an original NBC network promo we've located (it hasn't been mastered yet, but we couldn't wait to share it!) - this hasn't been seen for nearly 50 years!
Posted by The Monkees on Tuesday, September 8, 2015

PRODUCED BY MONKEES ARCHIVIST ANDREW SANDOVAL

RELEASE DATE

April 29, 2016 (Original release date: January 29, 2016)

SPECIFICS & BONUS FEATURES

Producers of Blu-ray box reveal more details

UPDATE 1/12/2016: Full contents revealed!

21 Comments

JJ Lloyd

9/9/2015 07:00:25

I'm saying "yes" but my wallet is saying "Um.... what?"

Michael

9/9/2015 09:20:14

I hear you! I really want head on blu ray and I have the dvd sets and I am positive that a lot of time and work went into restoring these and will look great...but...Whew! I don't know.

Jen

9/9/2015 11:27:33

Why is it so expensive? 😭😭 :((

Jessica edwards

9/9/2015 12:19:41

I agree the price is too high. I could see maybe $75 but no higher. Remember most of us are reaching retirement age (ouch) and have to save for our old age (ouch)! Kidding aside--I'm on a strict budget due to disability & that cost would be 1/5 of my check!

9/9/2015 17:34:25

I'm only 32 and I can't even justify spending $200 on this.....shame because it seems like a cool set....but gosharooney it's expensive

Rich C

9/10/2015 02:32:51

I am much more interested in their music, I listen to it all the time. I have the DVDs and I honestly have not watched them in years. If I can pick the Blu ray set up eventually for $50 or less, maybe. But even then, I'd have to think about it.

Tony

9/10/2015 11:16:54

I agree with everyone else that this set is just way too expensive. Even though there are only 10,000 of them, I can't see them selling too quickly at that price point. Really, I think this is worth $99 and maybe $129 at most.

I already have the series on DVD and don't have a strong desire to upgrade to Blu ray. But I do really, really want Head on Blu ray. Hopefully that will be released separately as well next year.

9/10/2015 13:22:17

My thoughts exactly! When this was first announced I guessed the price to be roughly $99 + shipping so imagine my surprise!

My Dvd sets will have to suffice which i paid a pretty penny for at the time also.Hopefully i can score the criterion version of Head on blu ray and get the band commentaries which I don't believe have been announced for this set.

9/10/2015 15:19:37

After the initial shock of seeing the price for this set wore off, I decided that there's no way I'll be spending $200 (plus shipping and/or tax) on this. I have the DVDs, and they look just fine.

Whoever decided on that price should be ashamed. Price gouging the fans is a bad way to kick off the 50th anniversary.

Robert

9/12/2015 14:05:14

I disagree with all of you! Each disc is about $20. Is that price gouging I don't think so. I am pretty sure they will come out with a cheaper box set at the stores. This is a Rhino issue only. I broke down and bought and I have no regrets buying this. I hope I don.t hear later on when the box set sell for three times the amount!

9/12/2015 18:32:00

Actually yes,$20 is too much for one disc. Would you pay $20 for say disc one only of "Gilligans Island"?

Not to get into a huge debate about the price of this,it's cool for those that don't mind paying that amount.I personally think that it would have made more sense to make the exclusive box limited too about 2500 copies and also manufacture a standard release for approx. $99. Releasing 10,000 at that price with no other options gives the impression of price gouging.

9/13/2015 10:06:08

The average price for a single season of a TV show on Blu-ray runs between $20 and $30 brand new. A new movie on Blu costs around $20 - $25. You can get all 10 seasons of 'Friends' on BD right now for $120 on Amazon! It's regular price is $200..... for ten seasons. So yes, charging people $200 for two seasons of a show plus a movie is way too high.

Mark Alan

9/17/2015 23:15:26

For those concerned about the price. Per his Facebook page, Andrew Sandoval breaks it down like this: "The cost of restoring the series is more than a quarter of a million dollars. The films haven't been transferred in over 20 years and the old DVD box was just clones of the VHS box. Don't care if anyone buys this, but it is costing a fortune to make. So all who balk at the price must understand that this was the only way I could preserve this history in HD."

9/18/2015 09:08:58

I totally understand the time,money and effort that must have went into restoring the series and it is exciting thinking about watching them in HD quality.

But no matter how you slice it $200 + $33.00 for shipping & tax for two seasons and a movie is staggering!

And even though the DVD box sets are "Just clones of the VHS box" that still didn't stop Rhino for charging $40 or more each at the time.

And Andrew also states that "He dosent care if anyone buys this." No worries,I wasn't. As stated before,my DVDs and criterion blu of Head will suffice.

But I do hope the set does well for everyone involved.

Aaron Handy III link

9/19/2015 13:55:37

I have both seasons of The Monkees TV series on DVD by RHINO from 2003, to which I contributed Episode Trivia from my Monkees Film & TV Vault site <http://monkeesfilmtv.tripod.com/>, in my collection. Since then, I have expanded, corrected, updated, and revised many of the trivia/production/guest cast notes in the Monkees episode pages in my site. Hopefully they'll include said expanded trivia to this set; maybe not, but it's sure to be quite a catch! :)

And yes, I agree with many that there SHOULD be a retail version and/or a regular DVD release as #1) I no longer have a means of playing back Blu-ray DVDs and #2) as I have no credit card I can't order online. :/

Timothy Swan

9/19/2015 16:30:54

I'd say that it is about time. With the 50th anniversary approaching, this will be a fine addition to their ever-growing legacy. Too bad that this is a limited edition of only 10,000 copies. Noetheless, this should truly appeal to every demographic of the collective MONKEES fan base.

robert

10/19/2015 18:54:46

To all of you complaining about the price of the boxset, you are all going miss out the great quality that Rhino is doing to put this set together. I can't wait till January. I want it out now! I guess I will be patient until then.

mapledurhamfox link

12/12/2015 16:30:09

I would only buy it if the Screen gems logo was on every episode(all 58) and also on 33 and a third revolutions per Monkee -that's what I remember seeing it on the monkees tv series..

Monkees Live Almanac

12/12/2015 22:01:19

You are in luck, then! Check it out:

https://twitter.com/MonkeesOfficial/status/659446276451254272

Dan

12/15/2015 06:28:03

I was never quite pleased with the video quality of the DVD releases. When I seen how it was remastered for blu-ray I was stunned!! Totally blown away, especially the "Paris" episode. I just ordered it.

Monkeesfan1965

12/21/2015 12:35:43

I will wait it out- someone will offer them burned... 200 is ridiculous even for a lifelong Monkeesfan... MAYBE if all 10,000 were signed by all FOUR monkees...