Steve Nyland (Squonkamatic) I must admit that the first forty minutes or so of my first screening of ELEPHANT PARTS was one of confusion bordering on indifference. Some of it is really, really good, some of it more eyebrow raising. As in, why is this on my TV? Half offbeat video shorts, half music videos, all of it featuring the unique talents of former Monkey Michael Nesmith. Initially conceived of as a "video album", the music is taken from two of Nesmith's records from the era (later 1970s/early 1980s) and the videos are a mixture of commercial, game show and TV drama parodies touching on the topical issues of the day: Nuclear war, drugs, the energy crisis, rock music culture, you name it. Some of it works, some of it doesn't, but one thing is for sure -- None of it fails to be "entertaining", "engrossing", "thought provoking" and "enjoyable".There's no real linking story though a lot of what happens in one given sketch often suggests or leads to the given "subject" of another. Every third sketch is a Nesmith music video, so fans of his work will be pleased even if somewhat confused as to what car commercials have to do with it. And fans of offbeat comedy might be equally confused by a couple of moments that actually aren't that funny, not just because Nesmith seems to be a student of applied bad taste (like the "Elvis Drugs" commercial, the joke about dragging someone behind a truck, or the segment on "Battered Wives", which are downright awkward) but he seems genuinely interested in creating moments of tension with certain scenes. And all of it works as sort of little time bombs for your brain that go off after the show is over.A couple of words need to be said about the role that drugs play in the special. It isn't the 1970s anymore and some of the drug humor not only falls flat, but suggests that maybe some of the gags were conceived of if not outright performed while under the influence of mind-altering substances. I say, so be it, if so, it reinforces how the special was a product of a specific period of time in popular culture & entertainment. There is just as much drug use going on today in our entertainment industry, it's just that political correctness has made it uncomfortable to joke about it in the way that Nesmith finds appropriate. Not to make a big deal about it, mind you, but it's a part of what's going on here, inescapably so due to my own history. Ahem.The special also has Nesmith's beguiling video for "Rio", the first of his solo songs that I ever really connected with, so much so that I bought the album it's from within a day of seeing ELEPHANT PARTS for the first time (everything else is from a different collection made at the time of the special). He was always my favorite one of the Monkees, and fans of their wonderful movie HEAD will find a lot of similarities between that film's free-form surrealism & Nesmith's unofficial solo job update here. It's not physical slapstick or guffawing hilarity ala the Monkees, rather a somewhat more sophisticated and laid back send-up of the popular culture that Nesmith had such an important hand in shaping: A lot of what we take for granted these days as MTV oriented "music television" was started here, or at least came to mimic much of the form that Nesmith's experiment takes.8/10

prisonerdrw My mom was a big Monkees fan back in the 60's and Mike Nesmith was her favorite. We had the VHS copy since the early 80's, even though neither my mom, dad or anyone else knows how they got it. Anyway, the comedy skits are funny and the music videos are time capsules. Four of the videos (Magic, Crusin' (also known as 'Lucy and Romona and their brother Sunset Sam'), Light and Tonite are from Nesmith's 1980 album 'Infinte Rider on the Big Dogma' and Rio was from 'From a Radio Engine to a Photon Wing' in 1976. Rio was on of the first commercial music videos released. The DVD features a running skit not featured on the VHS release (at least MY VHS) and a hilarious and baffling commentary by Nez himself.

Michael Daly Using as the title a line from an obscure Indian poem, Michael Nesmith branched out for this 1981 video entry as he explains in his wittily overblown introduction pontificating about rising gasoline prices. This follows his Godzill-esquire spoof of his 1970 country classic Joanne, an introduction that sets the tone for the special, a compendium of unrelated comedic shorts and five music video segments involving four songs from Nesmith's 1979 rock album "Infinite Rider On The Big Dogma" (the source of one of the video's cleverest bits) and the song "Rio" from "From A Radio Engine To The Photon Wing," a song that is the uncredited inspiration for a mid-2000-decade rash of country party songs themed around Latin American beaches.The comedic shorts run the gamut from brilliant to brilliant misfires; there are several drug-themed bits that fall into the misfire category, while several other skits stand out - the Infinite Rider bit, Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority, learning to fly (which resembles the airport gag from The Monkees episode "Success Story" involving Mike, Micky, and Peter), and the smartest bit of the entire special, Rock & Roll Hospital, as a doctor deals with patients exhibiting fits themed around rock music, such as Mike rampaging through the halls playing air guitar as a victim of Elvis disease, and the man who can only speak via 1950s-era babblingly rhythmic background vocals.Of the five video segments, the smartest video may be for the song "Cruisin'," cleverly inserting and crosscutting Mike amid the scene in LA, while "Rio" and "Magic" have proved a source for video images for such artists as Shania Twain for "Man! I Feel LIke A Woman!" A decidedly mixed package, Elephant Parts nonetheless has enough to warrant ownership, and further displays the multifaceted quality of Michael Nesmith.

slo-time I just got "Elephant Parts" on DVD and it made me laugh the same way it did 15 years ago. Some of the music videos are a little dated but considering this was made before MTV they show how far Nesmith was ahead of the crowd (to the point of poking fun at the format before it was widespread). In fact, Nesmith came up with the music video channel concept but was told no one would watch a 24 hour music channel. Right. The comedy segments still hold up very well and in fact are of higher quality than SNL or Mad TV any day of the week. Highlights are "Neighborhood Nuclear Superiority" and the horror movie spoof "Have a Nice Day". A hilarious and pioneering work, do yourself a favor and buy it right now!