They're not really clones, although I suppose an argument could be made for some of them. This is just about those other characters played by Davy Jones on TV. Yes, Sleepy Jean, he did play more than a televersion of himself......
It's a standard conceit in Toobworld to think of TV characters surviving beyond the lifespans of the actors who portrayed them. However, when dealing with the fictional televersions of those actors, we have to consider them as having died as well. And unless otherwise stated in some TV show, they died in the same manner as the originals in the Trueniverse.
So it is with Davy Jones of the Monkees, who passed away last week at the
too young age of 66. But in Toobworld, Davy left behind quite a few
"tele-folks" among the citizenry of the TV dimension.
Let's take a look at the main ones of interest.....
PRINCE LUDLOW
"THE MONKEES"
Davy may be gone, but his identical "twin" from the musical sitcom should
still be around - unless he was murdered in some palace intrigue. Prince Ludlow
was 17 in the episode (He had to be married by the age of 18 in order to inherit
the kingdom.) so he was younger than Davy. He'd be about 62 years of age
today.
Next up, the triumvirate of aging rock stars. I think each of them is an
individual and not just operating under stage names in one or the other. But
they could all have a Monkees connection - perhaps they all started out in the
business as Davy Jones impersonators......
MALCOLM O'DELL
"MY TWO DADS"
Malcolm was a former glory rocker who was an old friend of Joey Harris.
When he first dropped by, he believed that Nicole's other dad, Michael, was a
bad influence on Joey. He came to visit the next year in hopes he might find an
idea for a new rock album. After bleeping off Nicole, he wrote a song for her as
an apology......
REGINALD FAIRFIELD
"BOY MEETS WORLD"
Reg, along with Gordy (whose full name may be Norman Gordon, further
research required) and Jedidiah Lawrence, showed up at a rave turned anniversary
party, where they performed "My Girl" and "Not Fade Away". Reg, a professional mooch, claimed that he
first met Alan and Amy Matthews during their college backpacking trip (not
realizing only Amy was enrolled in college.)
Plus - check out the TV crossover by the end!
JOHNNY JAMES
"LUSH LIFE"
Davy appeared in the last episode of the series, "The Not So Lush Rock
Star", which was never broadcast. The general description of the plotline is:
"For her new job, Margot must keep a struggling rock star out of trouble until
his comeback -- but George has other plans for him."
I'm assuming Davy's character of Johnnie James was the rock star.....
Then we've got the record executives......
ALBERT LYNCH
"ABC AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL" ("IT'S ONLY ROCK AND ROLL")
Lynch was a record company executive, a total sleazebag, who wanted the
lead singer of Hallie's Comets to sex it up in the presentation of their songs.
This led to a showdown with the town's arch-conservative sheriff.
JERRY VICUNA
"SLEDGE HAMMER"
Once again, Davy Jones played a sleazy record producer; this time he was a
suspect in the murders of a heavy metal rocker and his band. As it was such a
publicity-hungry business, I don't think it would be logical if Vicuna escaped
from jail and then took on the persona of Albert Lynch in that "ABC After-School
Special". However it could be that they were twins who had followed the same
dream - only Albert changed his last name to avoid any further connection to his
murderous brother.
It looks like he stayed in his comfort zone with his roles, even if some of
them were rotters. But then again, after producers weren't willing to give him
a shot at something completely different after 'The Monkees'.
Connected to another aspect of his real life, Davy also played a few
jockeys.....
"U.N. OWEN"
"TRAINER"
The name listed above is just my Agatha Christie way of saying I have no clue as to the
identity of Davy's character in the episode "No Way To Treat A Lady". (U.N. Owen = Unknown from "Ten Little Indians") This was
a BBC prime-time soap opera similar to 'Dallas' about the horse-racing set near
Lambourn Downs which lasted two seasons (series.) Since Davy had been a jockey
in his earlier years, he could have been playing a former jockey, a current
jockey, a jockey turned trainer, a racehorse owner, or even making an appearance
as himself.
"A HORSE IN THE HOUSE"
Once again Davy played a slimy bastid, a jockey in league of a crooked
bookie. They're determined to ruin Otterby Stables, but a young girl named
Melanie Webb (and a horse named Orbit) are just as determined to stop them...
DAVEY SANDERS
"THE BLUEGRASS SPECIAL"
Once again, Davy played a jockey, and once again he wasn't a very nice
guy. As this was broadcast two years prior to "A Horse In The House", I have a
"Game Of The Name" theory - Davey was soon barred from racing in the States and
he returned to England. There he changed his name to Frank Tyson and continued
his slide into the Dark Side.
And here, back before he got typecast......
GREG CARTER
"BEN CASEY"
Davy and the loverly Yvonne Craig played a couple of kids who got married
too young and had descended into a boozy existence, with Mary Carter ending up
in the hospital because of a very bad beating. Glue-sniffing Greg ended up in
the hospital as well by the end. The name of the episode was "If You Play Your
Cards Right, You Too Can Be A Loser" - I tells ya, they don't make episode
titles like that anymore!
And even earlier, back home in Jolly Olde....
WILLIE THATCHER & FRANKIE SALE
'Z CARS'
Davy appeared in three episodes of the series, but I earlier made the claim
that his role as the nameless "Boy Footballer" was probably Davy as himself.
Willie Thatcher was in the very first episode of this classic old warhorse,
while Frankie showed up only fourteen episodes later. I get the feeling that
somebody in that precinct had been tomcatting around fourteen years earlier!
Not only did Davy get to work with Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor who played
future Crossover Hall of Famers Barlow and Watt, but also Jeremy Kemp and Brian
Blessed (both of them as constables).
COLIN LOMAX
"CORONATION STREET"
We can't really consider this as one of Davy's characters. He appeared in
maybe one or two episodes of this series, as the grandson of Ena Sharples. But
when Colin returned years later, he was now played by another actor - a victim
of age recasting. At least as a boy he looked like Davy Jones though.
ROLAND ?
"THE FARMER'S DAUGHTER"
Now, this is a very interesting link to 'The Monkees' and technically it
has nothing to do with Davy. In this episode, he plays a teenager named Roland
who forms a rock band with Congressman Morley's son and a couple of other kids.
Katy Holstrum agrees to be their manager and helps them to record a song called
"I'm Gonna Buy Me A Dog".....
You might think I would take the easy way out and
claim that within a year, Roland would change his name to Davy Jones and hook up
with the other members of the Monkees. But you'd be wrong, dear reader! The
televersion of Davy Jones has too much baggage - for instance, I think we have
to accept that TV's Davy Jones was also on Broadway in 'Oliver!' but then cast
his lot with Mickey, Mike, Peter.
And there are too many questions regarding
Roland. Did this episode take place in Washington, D.C.? If so, at least then
we'd have a few reasons why this English kid was going to school with Steve
Morley.
But we can still connect this series to 'The
Monkees'! According to one of their episodes, Mike Nesmith wrote "I'm Gonna Buy
Me A Dog" and they all thought he was on his way to a fantastic song-writing
career with yet another sleazy record executive. (This time played by Phil
Leeds.)
Mike met Davy, and joined up with him and Peter and Mickey to record
the song themselves, and never once did they suspect that there was another kid
out there who already recorded it and who looked like Davy's twin
brother!
"LOVE, AMERICAN STYLE"
Davy appeared in three of the shorts in this series - two in its original
run ("Love And The Model Apartment" and "Love And The Elopement") while the
third was in the 1986 remake (either "Love-A-Gram" or "Love And The
Apartment"). Even though that was a remake, it can still reside in Earth
Prime-Time because the show had no real continuing characters, being made up of
vignettes - small slices of life during prime time.
And finally, to add to Davy's appearances as his cartoon self in 'The
Scooby-Doo Movies' and 'Hey, Arnold!' (with the 'Spongebob Squarepants' role an
in-joke based on his name), Davy also played Nigel in an episode of 'Phineas and
Ferb'. My friends in the TV Crossover Universe forum on Facebook tell me that
this series could be a real hub in their view of the world. (Although it's a
separate dimension for the Toobworld Dynamic and therefore not of great import to the TwD.......)
And there you have it, the clones of Davy Jones - although I doubt genetic
splicing was ever involved.....
BCnU!
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