The Monkees set was often divisive and disruptive
Several conflicts affected The Monkees during the recording of both their show and their music. Both Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith had some training as musicians. But they also shared a mutual dislike for one another. Years after the show was canceled, Nesmith told an interviewer, “I didn’t like Peter and Peter didn’t like me”. He elaborated that his comments referred to musical tastes and direction more than personal feelings, but the two communicated little beyond the lines of the scripts on their show. After the show was canceled Tork was the first to leave the band. Nesmith followed. Eventually both returned, only to leave again, a pattern which continued through the 1980s and 1990s. The success of the television show led its producers to push the group into live performances, which increased their confidence as a band as well as tensions with the producers of the show.
The Monkees used their improving musicianship and growing fan base to flex their creative muscles with the television producers, and the tensions on the set mounted. By the end of the 1967-68 season all four band members, the producers, and the network were heartily sick of the show, and polls showed records on radio drew a larger audience than the band on television. The program was canceled. Like many 1960s programs, it is a popular entry on nostalgia television today, though the number of episodes available for broadcast are limited. With the death of Michael Nesmith in December, 2021, only Mickey Dolenz remains from the group as of August, 2022 (Tork died in 2019, Davy Jones in 2012). Their music has survived internal bickering, critical disdain, and shifting tastes to remain popular to this day.