Hey Hey It’s ‘The Monkees’ on AXS TV!: Classic Sitcom Will Highlight Network’s New Friday ‘Retro Night’ Programming Block
AXS TV, already a great home for programming that should appeal to fans nostalgic for old-school pop culture, particularly music, is enhancing that enjoyment with the launch of a new “Retro Night” programming block on Fridays beginning April 7.
According to AXS, Retro Night will be “the ultimate celebration of the enduring pop culture that defined the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s. This nostalgia-fueled lineup puts the spotlight on the music, movies, personalities and more that made each decade so memorable, serving up a special roster of classic series, star-studded retrospectives and original premieres.”
Highlighting the block is the arrival to the network of the classic, Emmy-winning 1966-68 music sitcom The Monkees, which finds the iconic titular pop rock band’s members (Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork) playing fictionalized versions of themselves as musicians trying to make a name for themselves in rock ‘n’ roll. The Monkees episodes are now in HD, and will air at 8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT during Retro Night.
“The Monkees sitcom was truly ahead of its time and paved the way for countless series and bands throughout the decades and still is,” says Dolenz, the last surviving member of the Monkees, who will be on tour in select cities this April performing the band’s classic hits.
“I am so pleased that AXS TV is featuring [The Monkees] in their ‘Retro Night’ lineup,” Dolenz adds. “I hope that it will continue to inspire and entertain new generations of viewers for years to come.”
It surely will. Along with the great music, and the charm and humorous chemistry between the stars, The Monkees features a number of notable guests including Stan Freberg, Liberace, Burgess Meredith, Frank Zappa and Julie Newmar.
(Getty Images/Courtesy of AXS TV)
Leading into The Monkees, and kicking off Retro Night at 8pm ET/5pm PT, is AXS TV’s original series The Very, VERY Best of the 80s, which returns for its second season beginning April 7.
The Very, VERY Best of the 80s features a rotating panel of celebrity guests who breakdown the best of the 1980s in various themes, beginning with Teen Flicks on April 7, and also including Early ’80s Sitcoms, Fantastic Mullet Men, Epic Movies Of 1983, Aliens and Game Shows.
Highlights in Season 2 include appearances by beloved stars like The Brady Bunch duo Susan Olsen and Barry Williams; Growing Pains star Tracey Gold; Diff’rent Strokes standout Todd Bridges; The Facts Of Life favorite Mindy Cohn; Happy Days scene-stealer Anson Williams; film and television bombshells Morgan Fairchild and Tia Carrere; and horror icon Dee Wallace.
Rounding out the Retro Night lineup on Fridays, at 9pm ET/6pm PT, is the all-new original series Nothing But Trailers Flashback, which presents original theatrical previews of unforgettable films such as Return Of The Jedi (1983), Scarface (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), The Towering Inferno (1974), Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978) and many more across eight themed episodes beginning with ’80s Teen Movies on April 7, and also including ’70s Disaster Movies, ’80s Action Movies, and ’60s and ’70s Westerns, among others.
“AXS TV’s new ‘Retro Night’ lineup is like a perfect time capsule compiling everything we love from three of pop culture’s most definitive decades,” concludes Katie Daryl, executive producer and vice president of programming for AXS TV.
“The ’60s, ’70s and ’80s were packed with iconic music, groundbreaking movies, legendary series, timeless fashion and so much more, with each era leaving an indelible mark on entertainment that remains to this day. Whether you lived through it or wish you had, this block is the perfect chance for our intergenerational audience to fall in love with these decades all over again, and we invite viewers of all ages to join in on the fun as we take the ultimate trip down memory lane.”
AXS TV’s RETRO NIGHT LINEUP Beginning Friday, April 7
8pm ET/5pm PT — The Very, VERY Best of the 80s
8:30pm ET/5:30pm PT — The Monkees
9pm ET/6pm PT — Nothing But Trailers Flashback