THE CLONES OF DAVY JONES

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.

FRANK TYSON

"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!